Chapter Text
The sun is up and providing what little warmth it can by the time Shuuhei reached the front door to the tattoo parlor. He’s shivering, pulling the scarf around his neck tighter as he breathed out, ignoring the fact that he can see his breath and reached for the keys in his pocket. It’s the middle of November and for someone who enjoyed the summer far too much, adjusting to the cold season was never easy for Shuuhei.
He turned the key and opened the front door. He checked the mail box first and grabbed whatever was left inside and then flicked on the lights to the first half of the parlor. The clock on the wall read 10:03. Rangiku and Izuru wouldn’t be long now. He sighed and dropped his bag on the counter and walked into the shitty excuse of a kitchen that they kept in the back and turned on the coffee maker.
It was particularly going to be a long day full of appointments and one session that was supposed to last three full hours. It was a continuation of a chest piece that he was working on with his roommate, Renji. Sessions with Renji were a handful but they were still fun and Renji’s enthusiasm for tattoos and art reminded Shuuhei now and then why he did this in the first place. Not that he thought otherwise most days.
Opening up a tattoo parlor that also offered piercing services (by Izuru) had been a dream for Shuuhei since he was very young. He was just glad that his two friends had been more than happy to indulge him on that dream. Seireitei was open all days of the week and featured four artists who contributed a one of a kind art. Matsumoto Rangiku was an illustration major who divided her time in the graduate program at a university and also working at Seireitei as a tattoo artist. Rangiku had made a name for herself in the art world, taking on apprenticeships and group shows. Izuru was more into the art of piercing and having a special way with needles. Shuuhei was after all, Izuru’s first client, having gotten metal studs on the back of his neck. He worked full time and managed Seireitei with extreme finesse.
Shuuhei had decided to not to go to grad school and he got by with the shop and other freelance projects he took on. Their clientele was steady and located in the heart of the city next to galleries, bars and neighborhoods that housed many university students. Shuuhei fully dedicated himself to working at Seireitei the majority of the time. Their newest visiting artist was a Yadōmaru Lisa who had applied in the spring and had been with them ever since then. She was quiet, reserved and kept to herself but she was also extremely attentive and talented in her art of ink. Momo had been the one to meet Lisa first, both having met in a class on Gender, Class and Race in Fiction. They had bonded over feminist Asian and African female writers. Lisa was another colorful guru but worked better on a larger scale and was usually the one who could take on big pieces like sleeves. She had been referred to the group by Momo when they had opened vacancy for a visiting artist and pretty much everyone had been on board to have her when they looked through her application and portfolio. She got along surprisingly well with everyone, especially Rangiku. While she was still under their wings and learning the way of making a living giving tattoos, Lisa also divided her time pursuing her masters in English and Women’s studies.
Shuuhei checked the appointment book again while he booted up the desktop at the front desk. He checked through his emails making sure he had replied to the inquiries he had gotten over the weekend while nursing a cup of fresh coffee. Suddenly, the front door opened and a woman came through. She was tall, had orange hair that was messily tied up and a beauty mark just above her lip. Shuuhei looked up from the screen and smiled. “Hey, Rangiku.”
“Dammit. And here I thought I’d gotten here first.” She sighed and walked in, clutching her trench coat. “It’s freezing out there.” She gave Shuuhei a quick hug before she took off her coat.
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Shuuhei exited the web browser and looked at her. “How was the interview?”
“Oh, it could have gone better. I’m apparently one of the finalists so maybe they’ll call me back?” Rangiku had been applying to other positions as an apprentice illustrator with some studios and designers. Her recent call up had been a printing studio that had an open position on their team. If hired, Rangiku would definitely have a full schedule. She and Shuuhei had discussed that if this came to pass, opening up another vacancy for another artist wouldn’t be a bad idea to help balance her absence.
“What’s in the book for today?” Rangiku asked as she leaned on the edge table and crossed her arms. She was wearing a cardigan with the sleeves rolled up, showing the sleeve of tattoos on her left arm.
Shuuhei removed his reading glasses and reached for his coffee mug again. “I got a session with Renji today to finish his chest piece. That should be fun. Izuru has a couple piercings today starting at noon and well, you’ve got your two slots. We’re supposed to have a couple walk-ins today so there’s also that.”
“Hmm, not a bad way to start the week.”
“Definitely.”
Shuuhei’s circle of friends was small but it was still the best that he could have ever asked for. Between the three of them, they had made Seireitei gain a reputation in a city that was booming with business for the art world. Mornings at Seireitei were pretty empty and it was around the noon and afternoon that it really started getting busy. The three of them have been childhood friends but if anyone asked either of them what brought them together to become best friends, the answer would undoubtedly be their shared love for illustration and ink. Renji and Momo and Ichigo were also part of the group of friends but weren’t necessarily artists but that didn’t mean they weren’t talented in their own right. Renji worked at an animal shelter and hospital as a nurse. Momo was also in graduate school along with Rangiku and Ichigo had started up a popular taco truck with his friend Chad.
When Shuuhei wasn’t working in the parlor, he was making a living dog sitting as well. Dogs and tattoos, those were the important things to him. He waited for their receptionist, Momo to get in before he moved to his station and started working on a sketch for a piece that he had a consultation with last week.
This time around Shuuhei was designing something for a woman named Nel. She had asked for a design of the skull of a ram surrounded by linear jewels with the finest attention to thin lines and a swirl of outlined thorns. No colors were going to be used, just the gradient of black on her pale skin. Nel, it turned out, was someone who had admired their work at Seireitei for many years but had taken a while to come to a final decision as to what she wanted. Shuuhei’s expertise was in lines and gradients and working in monochrome tones. Color was more of Rangiku’s style and focus as she was amazing at it. She had designed and done a couple of Shuuhei’s tattoos.
Shuuhei looked at his watch and hoped that the rest of the day would pick up soon enough.
+
“When are we going to find you a nice man to date?” Renji asked, an hour into their session. Shuuhei didn’t look up from where he was working on some shading, pulling back and letting his fingers flex around the gun. But he did smirk and roll his eyes.
“I’m serious, Shuu, you deserve the best.”
“Just because you have someone doesn’t mean that we all need the same thing. And besides, a single life is pretty nice. No commitments are nice. Plus, we can’t all find hot guys like Kuchiki.”
“Yeah but he’s like top fucking level, I’m still surprised to this day that he wants to date me.” Renji replied, sounding unsure. Renji worked at the local animal shelter and hospital under the apprenticeship of the new recently hired doctor, Kuchiki Byakuya. Everyone at Seireitei had learned about the relationship immediately. If Shuuhei was honest, it was still weird seeing Renji tied up with someone. From what he understood from Renji, Kuchiki was a great partner but preferred to keep their relationship separate from the workplace, much to Renji’s dismay.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Shuuhei answered giving him a smile. They passed the time catching up on other things that had been going on lately. Renji usually worked the night shift at the hospital and as a result, Shuuhei rarely saw him aside from some mornings and afternoons where they caught each other up on their lives. Today was Renji’s day off and he would eventually go back to work the following evening. Sometimes Shuuhei went on days without seeing Renji, later finding out what he had spent the night at Kuchiki’s.
“Ichigo heard the other day about a club that’s been getting pretty hot these days. It’s called Visored or something weird like that. We should check it out, though. I know most of us could use the down time.”
“Yeah, that wouldn’t be a bad idea actually. I know midterms are a bitch for Rangiku and Momo right now.”
After Renji left, with promises to buy them tons of drinks the next time they went out, Shuuhei took a break and checked his email. This time there was a new email from an email address he didn’t recognize.
Subject: Tattoo
Hey, my friend Lisa recommended you for an idea I’ve got. I’m interested in knowing if you have any availability to do a piece.
I was at the shop recently and Lisa showed me your portfolio and you’ve got some sick designs, especially some of your earlier designs. I’ve got the beginnings of an idea—I’m interested in a black panther on my upper arm/shoulder area. I’m willin to meet with you and bounce back and forth what we can come up with. Whenever you’re able, just let me know what your schedule is like.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Muguruma.
Shuuhei stopped for a moment and reread the name again. It sounded familiar like he had come across it before. He leaned back on the chair and turned to look at Lisa who was currently working on a young woman’s leg.
“Yo, Lisa,” he called out, stretching and yawning.
“Mhmm?” she said, not looking up from where she was working on the outline for a fox. After a couple of moments, she finally stopped. “Feel free to move your foot a little while I see what he wants,” Lisa jabbed her finger toward Shuuhei’s direction.
“Got an email from your friend Muguruma today,” Shuuhei said eyeing her. She stood up, wiped sweat from her brow and she took off her black latex gloves. She walked over to where he was with his laptop with a small cup of water from the fountain and looked at the email, pushing up her glasses.
“Oh, I didn’t think he’d actually go through with it.”
Shuuhei frowned. “How come?”
“Well, Kensei’s kind of a really indecisive idiot sometimes. This means he must be really serious about getting inked this time. He’s only done piercings before.”
“Know him well enough?”
“Oh, yeah, he’s the guy I share the other half of my studio with.”
“Oh,” Shuuhei replied.
“Don’t get me wrong, he’s a genius and fucking incredible at drawing. Think Tomer Hanuka.” Lisa said as she took a step back and crossed her arms. “I met him through Shinji, my roommate. Apparently they go way back, too. He came by a couple weeks ago because he kept bitching about wanting to see my work place and I showed him everyone’s stuff.”
“Well, thanks for the referral. It means a lot.”
“No problem. Your styles are alike so I have no doubt you’ll be able to help him get what he wants. Like I said, he’s really indecisive sometimes. Did he say when he’s coming over? I actually haven’t seen him in a while, he usually likes to work at night in the studio after I’m gone.”
“Not yet, he left that up to me.”
“Mhm, well if he’s here on a day when I am too I can formally introduce you guys.” She said as she walked back to her station, crushing the foam cup in her hand.
Shuuhei nodded before he leaned on his chair and chewed on the tip of his pen and thought of how to reply back. Somehow he was nervous and wanted to get the introduction right especially since he wanted to make a good impression after getting highly talked about from Lisa.
In the short amount of months that Lisa had come on board as a visiting artist at Seireitei, she had established herself as a really well rounded artist and colleague and an amazing critic. Everyone knew that Lisa had special cabinet of her finest bottle of liquor and whenever someone came to her, she’d break it out and they’d sit down at one of the couches in the back and just talk for hours. They all loved Lisa because really, she could sass the shit out of everyone but her criticism was like no other and they admired her honesty. She told everyone like it was. And as an artist, that kind of open honesty was cherished and no one at Seireitei took it for granted.
Subject: Re: Tattoo
Muguruma,
Thanks for hitting me up, Muguruma. I’d love to work with you. A black panther is definitely doable. Lisa says you’re a natural so I am sure we will be able to work something out. If you’re free sometime tomorrow or the day after, I’m free in the morning from appointments and can have a consultation with you and get to know more closely of the idea you have in mind. Let me know if this works out for you.
Hisagi,
Seireitei Tattoo
He reread it again just to make sure that he didn’t have any mistakes and then pressed ‘Send’ and eventually closed out from the browser.
+
“Hey Momo, did you have a good lunch?”
Shuuhei is working on some sketches and when he saw Momo walk through the door. He leaned his head on his palm, setting his pencil down. They all took turns covering Momo at the front desk when she went out for lunch, the least they could do for her. Today was Shuuhei’s turn.
She dropped down her purse and shrugged off her leather jacket and nodded. She smiled as she pushed over a takeout box over the desk. “I brought something for you, knowing that you would miss your break. What’d I miss?”
“You shouldn’t have. But thanks, I am starving a little,” Shuuhei said, smiling as he took the takeout box from her. “And you haven’t missed much. Pretty quiet day so far.”
Momo took on a part-time as their receptionist at Seireitei. When she wasn’t running the front desk, she was completing her masters in Literature with a minor in art therapy. At first the idea of having Momo run the front desk hadn’t occurred to any of them until she had proposed the idea herself. A job is a job but a job with your best friends was a little hard to pass up, according to her. It paid well and when she wasn’t busy she was free to do her own work and read for her seminars. Everyone at Seireitei loved Momo like the younger sister but Momo was more than that. She stood her ground, believed in a lot of things and had a moral compass better than anyone Shuuhei had ever met.
Shuuhei headed on to the back room and dug around looking for a plastic fork.
“Hisagi-san! You’ve got a walk-in asking for you.”
Shuuhei looked up and dropped the takeout box on the counter before he pulled back the sleeves of his shirt again. He also took one last drink from his coffee before the chucked the cup in the trash can. He then noticed who it was and he narrowed his eyes in confusion. Standing at the front desk next to Momo was a tall guy who had silver short hair with the sides buzzed. He was wearing a black zip up hoodie but underneath was a navy tank top if the tightness across his chest was anything to go by.
The guy didn’t notice Shuuhei at first because he was busy filling out the form Momo had handed out to him. Standard procedure for first time clients. Shuuhei got a couple more glances and this time noticed that his left ear had a couple golden piercings and he was wearing a small black gauge on his right ear. He also had one of the same golden piercings on his left eyebrow. When he finally looked up and slid across the form, the man met Shuuhei’s eyes. Shuuhei saw that his eyes were gold as well.
“Hi, I’m Hisagi. You must be…?” He quickly cleared his mind and stuck out his hand in front of him.
“I’m Muguruma. Sorry about droppin’ unannounced but I figured since it was the morning, you might still be free. It’s nice to meet you.”
His voice was deep and rich and Shuuhei composed himself and smiled. “Yeah, you’re lucky I don’t have any appointments today. Decided to take a breather after a long session yesterday. Come on back and let’s get started.”
He turned around and walked down the shop, stealing a glance at Rangiku who was working on someone and met her eyes. She looked at Muguruma and then back at Shuuhei and raised and eyebrow before going back to her work. Probably thinking the same thing, Izuru went on with his phone call with a client, swinging around on his chair.
“Have a seat,” Shuuhei said as he sat on his own chair and rolled up to the shelf on the wall to grab his binder. “Lisa’s told me a little about you,” he began.
Muguruma chuckled. “Of course she did. It’s hard not to when it comes to her. Talker that she is.”
“All good things—don’t worry.” Shuuhei said. He set the binder and slid it over so that its pages were facing Muguruma. “Alright, so first things first, this is for any references you might have but I guess since Lisa already showed you this, tell me what you have in mind and we’ll go from there.”
“A couple years ago I got this commission from someone on the other side of the world and it became this long project that evolved into something else.” Muguruma said as he flipped through some pages. “I’ve got some designs that didn’t make the cut but have stayed with me since then,” He then dug through his messenger bag and pulled out an iPad. He unlocked it and bumped up the brightness all the while Shuuhei tried not to stare too hard at his long and slender fingers working through the keys of the touch screen.
He moved closer to Shuuhei, placing the iPad facing up and scrolled through a couple of images.
They’re breathtakingly beautiful. They’re a beautiful mixture of cool and warm colors with a stark contrast. Lisa was right, Muguruma’s work was extremely beautiful and expressive. It was obvious with just a glance that Hanuka was an influence. And just like that, Shuuhei’s chest suddenly tightened because he remembered the name now. Muguruma.
A couple years ago, way before Seireitei had opened and while he was still in undergrad, Shuuhei became obsessed with a self-published webcomic that was short lived but had become a phenomenal in the underground world of illustrations and zines. Not many people knew who was behind distribution, only that it became available online every other month. Mugu was the only name attached to the credits page after each chapter but the colors and design were beautiful. The story had been about a girl waking up after being in cryosleep for fifty years. Part post apocalyptic and part cyberpunk. Not many people knew about it but Shuuhei had definitely spread the word to his friends.
“Holy shit,” Shuuhei breathed. His eyes widened because this guy named Muguruma was the Mugu. The artist that had motivated Shuuhei to get into illustration not only as a major but to also put that to use and into tattoos. There were a lot of things Shuuhei wanted to do after he got his degree and opening a tattoo shop had been the one dream he wanted to go after the most.
“Yeah, they’re not much but—"
“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, holy shit, you’re Mugu? The Mugu?”
The name obviously had thrown Muguruma off because he’s confused for a moment before it’s like it clicked for him and then he relaxed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s me though I don’t go by that name anymore.”
“I was... I mean, I’m in love with your work.”
“Huh, small world then.”
Shuuhei blinked before realizing that perhaps he had acted out of turn and he pulled back and bowed his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to gang up on you like that.”
Muguruma stopped and looked at Shuuhei before he chuckled, “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it, not like it hasn’t happened before. I’m not usually out fishing for compliments but I know how to take one. Like I said, I don’t go by that name anymore so it’s always nice when I run into people who liked my work back then.”
“What do you do now?”
“I still paint taking on some gigs and freelance work now and then. I kind of hate being tied down, though so offers and deals don’t sit too well with me. I like making my own books, that's kinda my thing but that’s about it. When I’m not doing that I’m moonlighting as a DJ in the city.”
Shuuhei grinned. “Is there anything you don’t do?”
Muguruma looked up and met his gaze. “I still can't photograph my work for shit.”
Shuuhei laughed, “Fair enough.”
"But I'm a fantastic cook, too if you’re wondering,” Muguruma then added. Shuuhei laughed.
“So one of these,” Muguruma said as he expanded on one panel, continuing on.
They went back to discussing the design for Muguruma’s tattoo which was going to be a black a panther that he wanted to snake around his upper arm and to his shoulder. The animal was going to be surrounded by a few outlined mandala designs that Muguruma had recently illustrated. He also pointed out some of his gradient work from the binder, explaining that he wanted some detail on the panther as well. As Shuuhei looked at the designs, he felt his hands itch because this type of line work was definitely Muguruma’s and just the type of work that he did himself. Before Shuuhei knew it, they had been talking for over at least an hour, now having moved to the detail of the white poppies that would be in the lower half background of the panther.
Muguruma had even removed his hoodie and was showing Shuuhei the area that he was envisioning the placement of the tattoo. Shuuhei had given back his own feedback too, going back and forth where the mandala designs would go.
“Sorry,” Muguruma then said as he noticed the time. “I didn’t know I would end up taking so much of your time.”
“No, it’s fine,” Shuuhei quickly said. “I mean, this is awesome. I’d take this over sitting and waiting any day.” Shuuhei then sighed and mentally reprimanded himself as he realized what he had implied. “I mean, you know what I’m trying to say. Sorry, I’m just really excited to be working on this, it’s fucking cool.”
“Yeah, Lisa said your work is hot shit. That sleeve you did and posted on your instagram last week was unreal.”
“Oh,” Shuuhei said, “Thanks man.”
“So, what’s your availability like? I’m freelance nowadays so I’m committed to working around your schedule.”
Shuuhei looked at Muguruma as he was looking down on his tablet and closing the windows. Shuuhei noticed the lines on his brow, probably from the permanent frown he always seemed to be wearing all the time. He was beautiful nonetheless.
Shuuhei blinked when Muguruma looked up and met his gaze.
“Oh, right, times. Let’s see,” Shuuhei said as he got up and walked over to grab the appointment book. He knew off the top of his head that he had a couple solid appointments the next few days but that was alright because it would give him time to sketch up a test and confirm with Muguruma.
“I’m free on Saturday? Around the same time as today? I should have the sketches done by then to show and discuss with you. If you’re up for it then and everything works out, we can start immediately.”
“Nice,” Muguruma said as he took out his own cell phone and pulled up his calendar. “Lisa’s always trying to get me to use the calendar more but between you and me, it’s fucking dumb.”
Shuuhei smiled. “It’s not for everyone, I can agree.” Shuuhei had brought Muguruma back to the front desk where he took over and wrote out a receipt for the down payment.
“Alright, Hisagi, Saturday at 11. If there’s anything else you need, just hit me up.” Muguruma reached in his back pocket and took out his wallet. He handed Shuuhei a business card with Muguruma’s name, email address and phone number on it. “And thanks again.” He got up and slung his bag over his back and headed out.
Shuuhei watched him leave and then looked down at the card with Muguruma’s information neatly embossed onto the card in a serif typeface.