Chapter Text
The arcade was quiet, barely a single soul except for the few people now and then. Adults and students who thought it best to skip school took their turns on the machines. It was rather enlightening, finding the soft chatter of victory and loss alike comforting, at least for the brunette it was. He couldn’t say the same for the red head who had been hyper focused the past few minutes, frowning at every possible noise.
“Come on Max…” the boy let out, hands curled into fists as he watched attentively.
“Shut up Shin.” Max snapped, eyes narrowing whilst her hands flew over the sticks, “I’m trying to focus.”
The boy in question, blinked. He glanced between Max’s hands and the screen, watching as the score rose by the hundreds. It was remarkable, a feat he could never do himself. He leant against the arcade game, holding his and Max’s skateboard in his offhand.
As the score racked up, Shin noticed the stress build on Max’s shoulders. He thought it was silly, watching the young red head work so hard on a game.
He looked above the screen, the words “Dig Dug” plastered on a sign above. He had watched Max stroll over to the game, glancing over the score before immediately betting on her success in destroying the high score. At first, he didn’t believe her, agreeing all to eagerly. With the stakes high, having bet his allowance for the week, Shin watched in both horror and amazement as Max surpassed the previous high score holder with a smirk.
Shin stood up from leaning against the arcade game, pressing a hand to Max’s shoulder in excitement. “You did it! Oh my god you did it!”
“Hand’s off, I’m still going!” Max said in annoyance, though Shin could hear the excitement in her tone.
When Max eventually did lose her game, she blinked, staring at the score at the top with a proud smile on her face. “Someone get tissues because that Dustin kid is going to cry at my feet when he sees my score.”
Shin wrapped an arm around Max’s shoulder, pulling her close while staring at the screen. “You did amazing! That’s two games in a single day where you’ve stolen the high score title!”
Max gave Shin a small hug in return, basking in the victory of the boy’s words.
“I’m waiting for my allowance now.”
Max’s voice broke the joyful moment, causing Shin to stop and look at her with a slow growing frown. His face caused Max to let out a small laugh, an evil smirk on her face as Shin brought out a small wallet.
“Awe, and I just got it too.”
“You agreed to my terms, this is your own fault.”
With Max now greedily looking down at the money in her hands, she let out a small thank you before pocketing it and walking through the arcade with Shin by her side. “Did you really think I wouldn’t beat his high score?”
“No, I just thought it would be fun.” Shin replied, his frown turning into a small smile. He brought Max’s own skateboard up, watching as she grabbed it eagerly.
Though they laughed with bright smiles, their faces dropped when they heard the loud honking of a car horn outside.
“Shit,” Max cursed under her breath.
Tires screeched as the two children rushed out the arcade doors, staring at the fleeting car with smoke rising from the exhaust. The black car which they had arrived in swerved through traffic.
Shin sighed, looking out defeated while Max cursed out. “Asshole!”
“There goes our ride home,” Shin let out, piercing his lips as he turned to look at Max.
“Come on, I’ll treat you to something on our way home.” Max said. Despite how annoyed tone, she gently pressed a hand to Shin’s back, pressing him forward as she tossed her skateboard down.
Shin followed before looking back up, “wait, you don’t mean with my money, right?”
“You mean my money, yes.”
Shin watched Max skate off with an evil laugh. Shin hastily threw his skateboard down, dashing to catch up with the red head. “Max!”
“What took you two so long?”
Max and Shin stood in the doorway to the house, a tall and irritated teenager in front of them, his curly mullet falling around his face. His shirt had been discarded somewhere else in the house, showing off his muscular physique, something the two had gotten annoyed of throughout the years.
“You drove off without us.” Max said, looking anything but pleased about seeing the man.
“You two were taking too long. I gave you 10 minutes.” He replied quickly.
“Billy—” Shin tried to start only to be cut off.
“I don’t want to hear any excuses, it’s your fault you two took too long, so quit complaining and get your asses inside.” Billy’s voice was nothing but cold, staring down at the 13 year olds.
Max didn’t even say a word, pushing past Billy shorty before he shoved her in retaliation. She cursed at him and Shin followed through into the house. He looked up at Billy, giving him a small glance before stepping out after Max. The two boys didn’t say anything to each other, something that they had gotten used too after the many years.
Shin walked quietly to his room, staring at the boxes he had yet to unpack, staring at the bare walls. He felt himself grow instantly tired, looking around with his skateboard still in hand. It was the only thing that gave him security at this point. Not even the braided bracelet on his wrist that he could never take off held as much value anymore.
Placing the board down, the young boy collapsed onto the bed, watching as the sun began to dip below the trees outside his window.
Had anyone seen how the three looked, Billy, Max and himself, they would never believe they were siblings, and Shin half wished it was true. Brought together by an abusive marriage, forced to call each other siblings despite how cold the older was, he couldn’t bare it.
Shin pitied Max, though he would never say. He hated how she was dragged into his family, hated how just like himself, she now had to deal with his brother and father. Years went by and still he couldn’t feel any differently.
Shin had almost dozed off if not for the curses that quickly arose from outside his door. A familiar chill ran up his spine, and he found himself reaching for his Walkman. The first thing he had ever saved up money for, staring down at the stack of cassette tapes he had collected over the years.
Picking up a cassette, music blasted into his ears, drowning out the arguments into nothing but a distant memory. Closing his eyes, he let himself sink into his bed. Minutes went by and the song scratched to an end, tap rolling as another begun shortly after. This kind of solemn peace was only ever possible with his music. And just like every moment he spent in peace, it was broken immediately.
A tin can landed on top of Shin’s forehead, jolting the boy up from his peace and quickly ripping the Walkman from his head. Shin’s eyes landed on Billy, standing in the doorway with a tired, bored look to his face.
“Oi kid, go out and fetch dinner would you, just the frozen ones from the market.” His voice was cold, though Max wouldn’t agree.
It had been clear since their father’s remarriage who Billy preferred between his two siblings. Whether it was the slightest change in speech or even how one would be completely ignored while the other received most of the harassment.
Billy didn’t even wait for Shin to reply before he began closing the door.
“Wait! I don’t have any money.” Shin let out, picking himself off the bed, sliding his jacket back over his shoulders.
Billy halted, opening the door with furrowed eyebrows. “Didn’t you get money for this week?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then just use that.” Billy said, looking down at Shin with a shake of his head, rolling his eyes.
Shin stared ahead where Billy closed the door behind him roughly. The sound of the door slamming echoed, making the young boy jump. He made a reminder to close his bedroom window next time before standing himself up and walking out.
His hands patted down his pockets, letting out a sigh as he thought back. Before he could even step out of the house, he found himself standing outside of Max’s room, fiddling with his fingers hesitantly.
“Max?” Shin said after a moment, knocking on the door lightly.
The door quickly opened to an annoyed red head, her face softening upon seeing Shin in front of her. “What do you want?”
“I know this is stupid, but can I borrow my allowance? I’ll give you back anything I have left when I get back,” Shin said slowly, averting his gaze from Max.
Max stood in silence for a moment, opening her mouth to speak before hearing the commotion down the hallway. She didn’t even have to utter a word before sighing. With pierced lips, Max ducked into her room and coming back with a handful of notes— Shin’s allowance.
The boy let out a rush of thanks, giving her a small nod before walking out of the house with his pockets filled. Throwing the skateboard onto the pavement, he awkwardly pushed forward, digging the money deep in his pockets.
The evening was cool, a nice comparison to the heat that wore him down earlier that day. The light had almost disappeared from the sky, watching as the sun dipped below the horizon in the distance and stars begun to show themselves through the clouds.
Shin glanced up at the sky, watching as a bright star gleamed down on him. He marvelled at the sight. Despite only a few stars making it into the sky through the sun’s dying light, one made itself known more than the others.
“Sirius,” Shin muttered.
He grinned to himself, slowing his pace so he could keep looking up without eating pavement. As time went on, the sky deepened from pale orange to soft blue, stars slowly pricking their way through the fading light. He named constellations as they appeared, connecting invisible lines only he seemed to care about. It’s all he could do to keep himself entertained.
The road stretched on longer than he remembered, following the path he’d made from the arcade. By the time the glow of the town centre finally crept over the horizon, it felt like he’d been skating forever.
Streetlights buzzed to life one by one, orange halos spilling across the asphalt. He’d always liked the colour of the streetlights glow, but in this new town, he couldn’t quite find them so comforting.
Every stretch of road left him feeling uneasy. Shops stood quiet, their windows reflecting the sky back at him in broken pieces that didn’t seem to match what was there. Even after shivering, shaking off any nerves, he couldn’t escape the growing feeling that he was being watched.
Shin left the market with a proud smile on his face. The plastic bag in his hands swung lightly, the cold seeping through the thin handles onto his knuckles. He nudged his skateboard forward with his foot, letting it roll slow as he passed through the town.
He found himself skating towards the arcade, seeing the familiar glow of the sign out of the corner of his eye. He would’ve kept going on home if it wasn’t for the small family walking out. His chest grew tight, skating to a halt just before the building.
Shouts and joy filled conversation burst from the doors as they opened. Muffled music leaked through the walls, the electronic churn of machines as they were brought to life. For a second, he considered going in, mesmerised by the life inside.
Walking up to the window, he patted down his pockets again, feeling the light change in his jacket. He didn’t want to go home just yet, dreading the pained sounds that await him at the front door.
He stood silently, staring through the window. He couldn’t help the jealousy building.
The door opened suddenly, bringing the boy out of his trance.
A kid stepped out, much younger looking, skinny. Brown hair fell over his face, just barely reaching over their eyebrows, jacket draped over his shaking body. Shin watched as he paused just outside the trance, hands clenched at his sides.
Shin watched him without thinking. Though he wore a jacket similar, he didn’t understand why the kid was shaking, it wasn’t freezing. He continued staring as the kid lifted his head slowly.
His gaze locked onto something in the distance, past the shops, past the streetlights. The colour drained from his face, his shoulder tense.
Shin followed his line of sight instinctively, but that only left him more confused. Behind him, there was nothing. An empty road and the hum of streetlights stood before an endless stretching night sky.
When he looked back, the kid was still staring, frozen in place-terrified.
“Hello?” Shin called out, trying to get the kid’s attention, but his eyes only seemed to grow wider.
“Kid!” Shin yelled, stepping closer.
His shout caused the kid to turn quickly, looking towards him in surprise.
Shin stared at him, holding a hand up as he got closer almost like a wave. “You alright?”
The kid only looked at him, nodding slowly. A small wave of relief washed over Shin at the answer, but he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at the response. Just by the kid’s shaking that only eased slightly, he knew the kid was lying.
He opened his mouth to speak again before a voice called out behind him.
“Will! You okay?”
Both Shin and who he could assume was Will, turned their heads to the arcade’s entrance. A boy no older than Shin stepped over, looking between the two in both confusion and worry.
“Yeah, I just— I needed some air.” Will replied sheepishly.
“Who are you?” The other boy said, his attention now completely turned to Shin with a stern voice. “What did you do to Will.”
Shin blinked, narrowing his eyes at the other’s tone. “I didn’t do anything, I just got here and found him out on his own.”
“Mike—” Will tried saying before the other cut him off.
“Yeah, well you can leave now, he’s fine.” The boy reached out for Will, dragging him to his side. “Come on Will.”
Shin watched taken aback by the interaction, catching Will glancing back at him with a sorry look while the other stormed back inside.
“What an asshole,” Shin muttered. He rolled his eyes, stepped away from the arcade and back onto his skateboard. Thinking to himself, he already hated moving. The town, the people, the young boy couldn’t see anything pleasing about it.
“What a welcome this day has become.”