Chapter Text

“Geez, these guys live really luxuriously, huh…” Riyo whispers, standing next to Enjin. Her eyes rake all over the Nijiku’s estate in awe. 

“I've heard that they hold a lot of power in this region. Seems like it's not just power that they hold, money too.” Enjin felt like they stood out like a sore thumb in this place, even though they were waiting outside by the streets, loitering around near the main gate. 

He had promised to pick a random teen up in a few days’ time who really wanted to join the cleaners, and he could only hope that the guy showed up soon. 

A set meeting time would probably be helpful, he mentally scolded himself for not even thinking about that. Then again, it's not like that was his main priority at the time. He came across the kid when he was taking Riyo out to get a bite. The boy was in a well, looking like he had gone through hell and back.

Enjin would've probably not even noticed him if it weren't for Riyo pointing out how she sensed another person near them. He's never been so thankful for her sharp senses, because of that, they found a giver with some potential in him.

After they exchanged a couple of words with each other—the boy mostly venting to them—Enjin agreed to come back. Mainly to get him out of that well so he wouldn't die of starvation. Riyo and Enjin passed the well this morning to make sure that the teen hadn't actually met his demise there. Much to their relief, the dark silhouette of a teen wasn't visible anywhere. So they headed here.

“Are you sure that he's going to show up?” Riyo asks, sipping on a small drink that she got. 

Come to think of it, it has been a while. They had gotten here when the sun hadn't even started to rise, and now it was nearing the time when the sun would set.

“I'm sure of it. Even if he's not going to become a cleaner, I'd at least like to know if he's alive or not.” Enjin taps his feet against the ground beneath him. 

“These guys are really important people. News would go around if such a prestigious family experienced some type of death happening to a member of theirs. Especially if it's by starving in a shady hole. We haven’t heard a peep of anything remotely similar to that, so relax, he's got to be fine. You look like you're about to shit yourself, man. Don't look so tense. We've got a new guy to welcome in.” 

Enjin doesn't know if those words were meant to comfort him or not.

“Guess you have a point.” He replies. 

The sounds of the gate behind them rustling—followed up with a grunt—quickly grabbed their attention. They fixed their stance and remained cautious just in case. 

“Speak of the devil himself.” Enjin lightly lowers his guard once he sees the culprit behind all the noise. “Hey man, glad that you showed up!” He waved at the boy who had just jumped over the tall gate. 

“Uhh—You’re Zanka, right?” Enjin could've sworn that the suicidal teen he talked out of that well sounded like a guy; they talked for a decent amount of time, so he should be able to tell. 

Said teen stood in front of him now, and Enjin wondered if he had it all wrong. The well that he—or she?—hid themselves in was a dark place, so Enjin couldn't exactly get a full grasp of their appearance.

The person he assumed to be Zanka looked relatively masculine with slight traces of femininity. Their face was slightly softer on the edges, they had long, natural eyelashes, large eyes, void-looking pupils, and their hands seemed gentle. 

Not that any of those traits made someone less of a man. Men could have long lashes, soft faces, and delicate-looking hands. The kid was the closest thing that the ground could have to a spoiled rich kid, so they probably don't have to lift much housework. The soft face could just be them having a baby face; it's something that they could lose when they grow older. And long eyelashes on men were not something uncommon. None of them were strictly feminine or masculine features. 

Perhaps it was the hair that made Enjin confused. The back of their hair reached their shoulder and was thinner on the bottom than it was on the top. Their bangs were a bit long, and they had side pieces of hair framing their face.

He scratches the back of his neck, unable to pinpoint what made it hard to know if he was a girl or not. 

“Yes, I'm Zanka.” They confirm. 

“I didn’t realize that you guys were being for real about picking me up…so sorry for keeping you guys waiting, you’ve been here for a while, right? I saw you guys through the window a couple of hours ago, and I got out as soon as possible! My siblings were upset over the ‘stunt’ that I pulled, and they notified the attendants to keep an eye on me. I had to wait for them to be occupied with something before I could sneak out.” They rambled off aimlessly, attempting to explain their tardiness even though they technically didn’t have a set meet-up time.

“Hey, calm down, man. It’s no big deal! The worst-case scenario was that you ditched us, but you showed up. That’s all that matters now.” He gives them a playful light smack on the back.

It instantly backfires on Enjin.

At first, they stiffened up and let out a tiny yelp, nearly tumbling from the rash impact. Not bad, right? That is, until Enjin hears the teen start coughing, and unexpectedly, a splatter of blood falls out of Zanka’s mouth.

“Enjin, what the hell did you do?” Riyo is quick to accuse Enjin. Mostly jokingly. Enjin hopes. She pulls out a pack of tissues that she carries around in her jacket and offers it to them.

“I didn’t do jack!” His voice lightly pitches up in disarray and astonishment.

“T-Thanks—” Zanka tries to thank Riyo, but is interrupted with more coughing fits. They cover their mouth with a few tissues that they pulled out of the tissue pack, and they use them to stop spitting up blood on the ground. 

“Easy there…” Enjin rubs their back. “Did you injure yourself whilst trying to run away?” 

“I—We should get out of here before anyone notices that I’m gone. I’ve already caused a bit of a ruckus, so they should have detected my disappearance soon. Can we please get going? I’ll explain later! I can’t afford to be caught now after all the trouble I’ve gone through to get here.” Zanka speaks, switching the subject after their coughing fit dies down. 

“She—they’re right, we should leave.” Riyo tucks the travel-size tissues pack back into her jacket. She also discards her empty drink cup into a nearby trash bin.

“...What did you just call me?” Zanka lifts their head, looking at Riyo with a raised eyebrow. They stand next to her to throw away the bloodied tissues.

Enjin holds back a sigh of relief. Seems like he wasn’t the only confused one here. And he’s glad that Riyo was the one who technically sparked up the topic. He wasn’t sure how to bring it up himself without coming across either like a creep or a jerk.

Enjin can see Riyo’s blood slowly depleting from her complexion, making her look paler than she already is. 

“You’re on your own here.” Enjin mouths to her.

Riyo, however, does not elaborate at all. Rather, she begins speed walking away towards the area where Enjin parked. Acting like she didn’t hear them loud and clear. Zanka follows after her with Enjin trailing behind the two. There’s an odd moment of silence that falls between the three of them as they make their way to the jeep. 

•·················•·················•

Zanka’s stomach is reversing itself inside and out.

He had somehow pulled off running away from his household. Technically, he wasn’t really running away. Zanka had already been semi-disowned for lack of a better word. Just living there rent-free until his family figured out what to do with his fresh fixation on a ridiculous stick. His siblings effortlessly discovered that he’d come to be a giver—he didn’t conceal that fact well enough—so they could piece together where he’d run off to.

Prior to when he left, he felt an itch to at the very least convey some sort of final goodbye, perhaps drop the news casually to them, then dash out of the house before they could begin to process the words that left his mouth. Even a written memo would have been satisfactory for him. But the penalty he endured for running off for 3 days made him reconsider that idea. His body hurt enough already. 

Zanka shouldn’t stir things up more than he already has; he doesn’t think that he’ll be in proper condition to prove his worth to the cleaners if he decides to bid them a farewell. He'd rather not. The risk wasn’t worth taking.

In the 3 days in which he went missing, no one had bothered to look for him. A few thoughts had cropped up to claw at his brain every time his head was even the slightest bit silent. He wondered if anyone truly cared about him. A dumb thought, he knows. 

How long will it take for them to notice his disappearance this time? Would they try to find him? He really doubts that. Zanka wasn’t much of a valuable asset to his family; his fleeing would honestly be the least of their worries. 

Kyouka and Goka already had a pile of responsibilities to tend to. As his older siblings, Zanka was their problem. Now that he’s gone, he hopes that their work pile will reduce. This would theoretically make their lives easier. 

He never conformed to his family anyway. Just had to be different in more ways than one. The universe was probably laughing at him for trying to become a part of something he’ll never be.

“Get in, kid.” Enjin cuts in his train of thought. 

He nods, hopping inside. 

The passenger seat remains vacant. Zanka looks around for the other girl that he assumed would sit by the front to accompany Enjin. Riyo had nestled at the very back of the jeep, lying down carelessly with a yawn, her shoes resting on the headrest where Zanka sat. 

Seems like she’s the care-free type. He deduced. 

Zanka’s sitting position was far more neat than Riyo’s. His back didn’t even touch the seat, his posture was straight, and he had his hands folded on his lap. 

“Buckle up, Zanka, Enjin drives like he’s a drunk teenager without a proper license.” Riyo peeps her head up, pointing to his already fastened seatbelt. “Uh—or just hold on. Prepare yourself, is what I’m trying to say.” She corrects herself after realizing that the seatbelt was already fastened.

“Don’t go scaring off our new trainee. T-They’ll be fine.” Enjin starts the vehicle, and Zanka can see a slight frown form on the older man’s face through the rearview mirror. He also watched his lip twitch hesitantly when he had to refer to Zanka. 

Zanka feels a shiver go down his spine at that. He brings one of his hands up to check the length of his hair. People always seem to confuse his appearance whenever he didn’t cut it short. It made his chest feel funny, quite honestly. Dare he say that he gets a bit…giddy…whenever they take a second to guess as to what he was. 

He shakes that thought away, not wanting to dwell on it too much. He really shouldn’t. 

What was he thinking in the first place again? Oh, right, his hair. He’s going to focus on that instead.

He completely forgotten about getting it trimmed, too busy trying to figure out how he’ll make a break for it, when his siblings would least expect it. He hopes that his hair doesn’t make him look unprofessional.  

Speaking of his new journey to become a cleaner, he should probably correct them before he causes more confusion, as nice as it felt. 

“...I’m a dude, you know,” Zanka comments after mustering up the balls to do so. 

Both Enjin and Riyo twitched suddenly.

“Pfft—yeah—I knew that.” Enjin staggers, trying to laugh it off. “Wasn’t thinking otherwise, dude.”

Zanka didn’t buy it. They both are aware of it.

A small pang of disappointment makes itself evident in Zanka’s chest. He tries to shake it off. Not wanting to confront why it was there in the first place.