Chapter Text
He knelt in his stiff formal clothes in front of his father and siblings. The tatami mats of the room and the plain walls of the Nijiku home. Traditional and cold. His spine tingled with icy dread under the disapproving gazes of his siblings and father. “You're nothing more than a stain on the Nijiku name. Take your bag and get out of this house immediately, you're no longer a member of this family." The sharp hand of his father coming towards his face had him flinching away, arms raising in defense...
Zanka jolted awake, panting, hands trembling. The memory of the day he was disowned replaying in a loop. He tried to calm his heart, but jumped as his alarm went off. Just great... He had to get ready for work and university classes after that; today was going to be a long day.
He accidentally knocked over his pills and water from the nightstand. “Fuck my life.”
"Zanka! Over here!" Riyo called across the classroom as he walked in carrying drinks for the two of them from his job at the café.
"Thanks!" Riyo said as she took her drink from Zanka. "Looking forward to a new semester?"
"Yeah, not excited for some of these classes though, I'll need help with physics."
"Oh man, don't look at me! You know that's not my strong suit."
The conversation stilled as the professor walked in and began her introduction lecture.
"Huh, ain't that the Nijiku kid? You know that trust fund kid from High School that just disappeared in sophomore year?" Momoa whispered to Fu, Jabber leaned in when the other boy nodded."Who?"
Momoa tilted her head to the back of the room. "The blonde with the tassel earrings back there, Zanka Nijiku."
Jabber's eyes widened. "What the hell is he doing here then?" Momoa shrugged.
"Rubion, Zanka?"
Jabber raised an eyebrow at a surprised Momoa as the blonde with the tassel earrings raised his hand.
"I thought you said Nijiku?"
"No idea, but that's definitely him.., I wonder what happened..."
"Now, for our first project, I'll be assigning pairs. The packet is making its way around the room."
Zanka hoped that he would get a reliable partner, preferably Riyo, so when he heard
"Zanka Rubion and Jabber Wonger?"
He raised his hand, looking around the room before meeting a tawny-skinned boy with long locs’ gaze and giving a little wave. The grin he got back had him trying to return the gesture, but he was still in a mood from his nightmare earlier, so he was sure it wasn't much more than an upward quirk of his lips.
Zanka waved Riyo goodbye as he walked over to his new partner. "Hey there, Jabber, right?"
"Yo man! Zanka, yeah? Wanna meet later to get started on this?"
"Uhh, actually, I have work tonight, would tomorrow afternoon work?"
"Where do you work, man?"
"In the mornings, I'm at the café downtown on First, and Tuesday and Thursday nights I'm at the dojo my dads run. So most nights I'm free, what about you?"
"Tomorrow afternoon works for me. Can I get your number or whatever messenger you use?"
Zanka opened up the contacts section of his phone and handed it over.
Jabber added his number and Discord info, saving it and seeing the short list of contacts. He quickly hands it back after texting himself an emoji.
He winked at Zanka. "See ya later, Babe!"
The blonde went beet red and did an about-face to rush back to his chair.
Zanka wasn't used to anyone flirting with him after he had come out, let alone when Zanka also found the other handsome. He wouldn't be interested in Zanka ... he was just teasing him. He would be a good partner, complete this project, and then go about his life.
Jabber sat with Momoa and Cthoni in the quad, eating lunch. "I don't know, it's been bothering me... I'm gonna look him up."
Momoa quickly got lost in her phone after that.
Jabber opened TikTok and saw one of the cosplayers that he had befriended put out a teaser for a live cosplay Q&A later that night. Was that a Nifty Cosplay? Since the new season had come out, LovelyAssistStaff had been working on a few cosplays from the show. He admired the craft and dedication, but he never showed his face on his own channel, though.
He still couldn't believe that they were doing a Q&A. LovelyAssistStaff was a pretty private person, always dodging questions and teasing their followers. He set a reminder to make sure he caught it after classes tonight.
Zanka went to the dorm that he shared with his little brother Rudo after his last class.
"Ey Rudo! Riyo and I are doing a live stream later, so if my door is closed, don't come in, ok?"
The other waved him off as he continued tinkering with his engineering project.
Zanka smiled as he stretched and went into his bedroom to clean up and get the space ready. His life was so much better in two short years.
Enjin and Gris had adopted him officially, and he never had to worry about his biological family again. He had started cosplaying shortly after he had been taken in and made friends with Riyo.
Riyo had taught him to sew, and he had taken to it like a fish to water, completely taking over sewing while Riyo made their wigs.
He looked around his room again to double-check that everything that might give his identity away was safely put away.
Riyo waltzed in with a bag of snacks and drinks. "Zan-Zan! I got you black sesame Mochi and some manju!" He gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Riyo, I'm going to get changed before we do make-up and get started."
He slid on the tights, then the petticoats, before actually putting on the Nifty dress and then the wig cap. He wondered about just going out in a casual cosplay sometimes with Riyo; no one would know it was him.
He came out and let Riyo help him with his wig and makeup.
He had fallen in love with Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss after binge-watching them with Riyo.
He had two favorites in particular, Nifty and Angeldust. His cosplay dance to Poison was still one of his best videos.
Riyo was dressed as Cherri Bomb and sat next to him, their little spread of snacks looking like a kid's tea party.
"Ready?"
Zanka nodded.
The stream booted up, and they were live.
Jabber was chilling with his new roommate, Fu, when he joined the stream half an hour in.
LovelyAssistStaff was with ReaperScissors tonight; they were always doing collabs, so he wasn't really surprised.
Mankira: 'Yo! Lovely, nice Nifty Cosplay!'
Reaper smacked Lovely in the arm, and Lovely had a small smile.
"Thanks, Mankira, that means a lot coming from you. I can't wait to see that gender bent version of Medusa cosplay that you're working on!"
That... voice.... it was so familiar... He had been messaging Lovely for a couple of months now, but they had never actually been on a call, so he had never heard their voice before.
Nya001: 'I didn't realize you and ReaperScissors were so close. When did you two meet?'
Lovely rubbed the back of their neck. "It's kinda a long story..."
Reaper nudged them. "Come on, you can talk about it."
Lovely started fidgeting before taking a deep breath. "When my dads adopted me, I met Ri-Reaper at the high school we graduated from. We just started college together, too!"
User675272910: 'Are you two roommates then? ;3'
Lovely's eyes nearly popped out of their head. "Nononono!!! Reaper is basically my sister! Also, I'm a gay guy, so we couldn't be ‘roommates’ anyway!"
Reaper was cackling at Lovely's embarrassment.
Jabber blinked... huh... he didn't expect that. They had been flirty, but knowing for sure that Lovely swung that way put him a bit at ease.
Mankira: 'Man, I'm digging the LovelyAssistStaff lore drop... tell us more, spill the tea.'
Reaper looked a bit smug as Lovely got shy again. "Yeah, Mankira would like to know more about you.~" Lovely swatted at her with a glare before trying to look disinterested.
"Ummm, I'm Japanese, I was raised here in America, but my bio family made sure I'm bilingual.... they're a very strict traditional family and.. I was never enough, a disgrace..." Reaper rubbed his back. "I was disowned. The year I was on my own was ... rough..."
Jabber watched, his throat feeling like it was being squeezed uncomfortably. The boy on the screen was surprising him; he never thought he could feel this way for someone. He usually kept romantic interests at arm’s length; he had never seen a loving relationship growing up. Cthoni, his older half-sister, did her best, and her friend Zodyl was there for them both as well. He was able to make platonic connections easily, but Lovely was the first time he was emotionally attracted to someone.
Though he found it curious that he was instantly attracted to Zanka, physically, for sure, but also, he wanted to know more about the other, wanted to make him smile… Such a feeling was completely foreign to him.
Lovely looked so familiar, even under the makeup. Speaking of which, that room looked familiar too... It was just like the dorms here.
The door opened to the room LovelyAssistStaff and ReaperScissors were in, and a boy in casual clothes popped in, not paying attention to anything but the book he was buried in. "Nii-san, can you help me with-" He froze and seemed to stare at the camera before slowly backing out the door again.
Jabber snorted as Lovely lost it and started cursing in Japanese, then got up, flashing the camera his ass by accident.
Jabber short-circuited, and chat went wild.
'That cake omg'
'Lovely, God damn!'
"Oh my god, I can't believe people took screenshots of that." Zanka groaned the next day over coffee as he tried to think of what to do about it. It was futile, he knew, but still...
"It'll die down eventually, and at least no one knows who you are." Rudo's tone was deadpan as he took a sip of his own coffee. Zanka leveled a look at Rudo over his glasses that was promptly ignored.
"So, now that we're on our own... Are you still thinking about meeting up with Mankira?"
Zanka sighed, closing his eyes. "Maybe? He's becoming a good friend, and we're going to the same convention around Halloween, so it would be easy. I like him, but that stuff is still really difficult for me." He ran his thumb over the handle of his mug. He always glossed over his year on the streets with Rudo. Only his dads and Riyo knew everything, but Rudo was just a kid in his eyes still; he didn't want Rudo to look at him with hurt and pity.
"Enough gossip, we need to get to class. You can have the bathroom first."
Jabber spotted Zanka walking with a familiar-looking boy and dashed to catch up. "Ey! Zanka!~" The reserved boy turned at that, waving with a small smile. "Good morning, Jabber." Jabber slung an arm around his shoulders. Zanka was surprised he didn't mind, but Rudo sure as shit did.
"Hey! Get your paws off him, Shit Biscuit!" Rudo was screaming so early in the morning that he gave up on looking nice and went to open his mouth when Jabber's face got up close and personal. He could smell coconut, sandalwood, and a bit of weed; he froze up. He couldn't take his eyes off Jabber. "Tell him to buzz off, Zan-Zan, don't tell me he's your boyfriend..."
The two brothers made faces, Rudo making gagging sounds.
"Dude, we're brothers! What the hell?! Gross, Shit Biscuit!"
Zanka rubbed his temples, willing this to be over. "Jabber, this is my younger brother, Rudo. Rudo, this is Jabber, my classmate and partner for our English project. Now, can you two stop yelling and get the fuck out of my personal bubble?"
Rudo pouted and took a step back, doing the 'I'm watching you' gesture. Jabber took a step back, dropping his arm. "Dude, we need to work on your comebacks and insults. Shit Biscuit is mad weak."
Zanka could feel Rudo winding up.
"Rudo, get to class. I'll see you later for lunch, ok?" His voice was firm, but Zanka still caught the look Rudo gave between him and Jabber, pleading with his eyes. Even if Rudo didn't know what exactly happened to Zanka, he did know something had happened.
Zanka glared, completely fed up with his family treating him like he needed protection when he was a capable adult now.
"I'm fine, I'll text you later, ok?"
Rudo finally turned with a tsk and stomped off.
"What's got his panties in a twist?"
Zanka groaned and ran a hand down his face. "My family is overprotective, I get why, but it's frustrating. Sorry, he said all that."
Jabber just waved it off, an easy-going smile never leaving his face.
"Oh? Are you the princess of the family, Zanka?~"
Zanka gave him a cold look. "Keep it up, and I will kick you in the balls."
Jabber laughed, "Ok! Mr. Bad Attitude of the family, then! How big is your family anyway? Gotta worry about more crazy siblings?"
Zanka remained quiet for a minute, thinking over what to say.
"Just Rudo, me, and our dads. I was adopted when I was 16. What about you? Big family?"
Jabber put his hands in his hoodie pockets and looked up at the sky as they walked.
"Not really, it's just my sister and me now."
"I'm sorry, that's gotta be rough."
Jabber raised an eyebrow but let it go. How was he adopted then?
They made their way into the library to work on their English project, and Zanka lost in thought. Picking a table tucked away in a corner, they got set up. 'Why didn't it bother me when he put his arm around me? I still have a hard time hugging Rudo...' He looked over at Jabber, accidentally catching his eye before immediately refocusing on his notes.
"So we need an argumentative paper, hmmm... what about censorship?"
Jabber raised an eyebrow. "Are you pro or anti?"
"Anticensorship, censorship is a slippery slope and tends to lead to oppression."
"All right then, man, yeah, we can do that then. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, ya know."