Chapter Text
It was a casual Thursday for Ayato sitting at the table practicing calligraphy as a way to calm himself to prepare for the next big storm. He was about to end all the uncertainty not only in his life but also for Ayaka’s future. As the heir of the Kamisato clan – one of the 3 largest yakuza organizations in Inazuma, Ayato faces enormous pressure from all sides of the gang after his father's sudden passing. It is now his duty to bring the gang back to its grace, but deep inside, Ayato knows he doesn’t do all this because of duty. He recalled his long passing mother: “protect the family, protect your sister”.
But there is a certain someone that prevents him from doing it.
This man whom he calls “uncle”. The line on paper is suddenly disrupted. Ayato used so much pressure that the word “peace” he wrote seems out of shape. Ayato slightly frowned. He changed to a new paper and threw away the old one.
This supposed uncle is not related to him or Ayaka by blood. They “dearly” call him uncle because his father treated this man as one. The man who was supposed to be his father’s blood brother, swore to be family and to protect the family and the gang till the day he dies.
Funny how the gang and the family are separated. Now it seems it was all about the gang.
A smirk was present in the Kamisato leader’s face.
Everything's in place ... Now is the time to start reeling them in.
He will not allow anyone to bring harm to his family and will do anything to cut off the danger, even if what it takes is to work with the shogunate’s – Inazuma’s security forces. Ayato knows it’s a risky business and if ever the information broke out, it will leave a bad taste in the other two gang leaders’ mouths. But it is what a person does when in a room of 10 people, 7 want to make him disappear from the face of the earth.
Ayato took a sip of tea and rested from the long concentration. The meeting of the 10 Kamisato’s branches will be held tonight at the Kamisato Estate. After settling the deal between him and the shogunate, all he needs to do is to wait.
But it was not in his anticipation that the shogunate would invite him to their local police station, right before the meeting tonight. It was also for a very absurd reason: one of his gang members was caught “luring” children on the street in broad daylight. They agreed to not make a scene before the plan got in place. Ayato trusts his people to follow his order by every means. Not to mention, “luring children” is not something his people usually do.
After getting informed by Thoma – his loyal assistant, Ayato quickly arrived to the police station just to witness such unspeakable scene: A red horns Oni sitting behind cell screaming at the police officer: “trust me bro, I have nothing to do with those yakuza thingy you mentioned, I don’t have the means to afford getting arrested : ((( I didn’t do anything to the kids, I just want to do beetles fight with them.”
In front of the cell were three men nodding to the Oni’s words.
“Yeah, chief, the three of us combined don’t even have enough money to bail him out! Do we look like that type of people?” – Said the big one out of the three friends.
They did live up to their words as they did not look like that “type”. At least the three of them all looked like ordinary citizens with a simple-mind type of aura. But the Oni though, his appearance sure will catch anyone’s attention by just walking freely on the street, not just because of his Oni’s origin. Apart from the two pointy red horns poking out of his head, the Oni’s height nearly matched the ceiling of the cell he was in. His messy long silver hair hugged around his muscular figure where his two arms were covered by tattoos. His strong brows along with his big red eyes make him look even more intimidated. He did wear a spike necklace and a black band-Tee resembling the type of brat who always looks for trouble. The Oni’s present was as impressive as it can be.
It's a rare occasion to see an Oni in the modern days. They were once living among humans until humans overpopulated them which led to discrimination and the shrinking of the Oni’s bloodline. Nowaday, the Onis still face many stigmas of being aggressive and hot-headed. That’s how they always describe the Oni in folklore and fairy tales. Ayato read some when he was young and knew about the existence of Oni but he had never seen one in real life. Time is brutal and there is not much Oni left.
As for why Ayato was summoned, it didn’t take him more than two glances to take the hint. The Oni had a big eye-catching Camellia flower tattoo on his neck. It is well-known that Camellia is the Kamisato clan’s symbol. Ayato sighed, but this one was not the design his clan uses.
“He’s not my gang member”. Ayato told the officer. “You can let him go”.
As he was about to leave, Ayato got interrupted by the huge figure Oni. The Oni said while catching up with him after getting free from the cell:
“Heyyy, aniki, wait up!”. The Oni approached Ayato. At this distance, it’s further their differences in size, Ayato only reaches the Oni’s nose. “Wow, how can you do that! One word and they let me go immediately! Well, just come to say thanks! Oh oh... wait!”. The Oni remembered something and took out a card from his pocket and gave it to Ayato. “Here, for you, aniki! Oh, my name is Itto, I’m the tattoo shop owner over there. This is our discount card as a way to repay your help!”. Itto said as he grinned brightly, taking away the intimidated impression.
This was not the response Ayato received every day, the smile on Itto’s face caught him off guard. Thought tattoo is an important part of a yakuza, each gang have their own tattoo artist that work solely for the gang and is the only one who is allowed to tattoo the gang’s symbol. Which mean, the discount card was basically worthless in the hand of someone like Ayato. But without further the conversation, Ayato politely received card then said something along the line of him being in a hurry and quickly leaved the scene while the Oni and his friend waving toward him.
It was indeed a strange occurrence.
But nothing can compare to the meeting of the 10 branches tonight. Walking into the room full of his enemies, Ayato then walked out trying to suppress his anger. As soon as the 10 branches leader left his sight. Ayato let out his blood thirst gaze, he wished he could dilute his anger by breaking things but it’s not how his mother taught him.
His uncle came closer and closer to Ayato’s breaking point. First mentioning Ayaka coming of age with the intention of arranging his sister’s marriage, treating her like an object to bribe others in return for power. Ayato clenched his fist. There is still a year before Ayaka turns 18, at that point, his plan would have already taken place. Ayaka will have the freedom to be whoever she wants to be by then. That is something he can control in the future. Ayato assures himself. He takes a deep breath.
Still, all of the plan and agreement cannot prevent the next thing from happening to him.
“Fuck”. Ayato pushed out that one word.
His uncle had decided on the tattoo for the ceremony celebrating Ayato’s taking over the gang. His uncle’s, not Ayato’s decision.
Apart from the clan’s symbol, the clan leader has to get his or her own signature tattoo that presents his or her era when gaining control of the clan. It’s often an animal or an object. The former leader – his father chose to tattoo a crane on his back. Ayato wanted to do the same to honor his father but things got out of his control when his uncle brought up the fortune teller’s “recommendation” to tattoo a tiger for “luck”.
Things got ugly when six of the ten branch leaders supported his uncle. “It’s for the clan”, they said. Ayato can’t have the same symbol as his father since his father passed early thus bring bad luck, they said. As if his uncle didn’t pay the fortune teller to spill those bullshit. As if Ayato didn’t know his uncle “complimented” his father by comparing him to the tiger while saying his father is a pussycat behind his back. This man always finds a way to get his hands on Ayato’s business. With six other leaders that his uncle bribed the shit out of, they shoved “for the clan” in his mouth every time to make him do things he didn’t want to. He got to end this.
Ayato reminded himself to be patient. Damn. He has lost control of a lot of things after his father’s death. He missed the day he walked under the broad daylight, merging with the ordinary citizen on the street of Inazuma. The day he was just someone’s son and someone’s brother.
Itto yawned as he stretched, putting his two-tattoo covered arms across the sky. He checked again and again and... again for any appointment on his shop’s website. Nope, not a single one. Itto rolled his eyes and started laying on the table again.
“C’mon, boss. Maybe tomorrow will be different” – Shinobu, his employee, and also his childhood friends, cheered him up.
Itto nodded as a response. It’s been more than a month since they opened their tattoo shop. Even though he knows well that it takes time to gain more clients, Itto was still not used to this slow pace. As someone who used to work at a super busy tattoo shop at day, as a construction worker at night and as delivery man on the side, sitting here doing nothing was a brand-new experience for Itto. He let out a long sigh.
Who knows achieving your goal would be like this. He had worked so hard for so long to open his own tattoo shop. Please, someone out there come and witness Arataki numero uno Itto’s coolest tattoo shop ever!
Doing nothing got Itto into overthinking mode. He started to think maybe the shop won’t be successful, he actually hadn’t achieved his life goal aka become an independent and successful man to take care of his (adoptive) granny. Maybe he’s the problem, why would anyone want to get a tattoo by an intimidated 2 meters high Oni. Maybe that is why he got brought up to the police station for just a friendly interaction with some kids. Itto is always proud of his Oni heritage, but one an Oni, always an Oni and people don’t like Oni.
The door suddenly opened cutting all the negative thoughts surrounding Itto. The door opened ... Client!
Itto got his spirit up and to his surprise, the client was no one but the MAN, his savior, the one who had saved him out of the police station a month ago. He thought the man would never come. In the end, who would want to associate with an Oni, not to mention getting a tattoo at a random shop from a stranger. But he’s here, the blue-haired man with an elegant breeze.
“Heyyyy! It’s you, man, I thought you would never come! Come in, aniki! The discount is still valid. Welcome to the Arataki shop!”. Itto greeted the man and his blonde buddy with enthusiasm.
The feeling was mutual. Ayato would never, in a million years, think he would come to a place like this. A month had passed by, and a lot of things happened. Looking back at what had happened brought a breeze of red to his foggy mind. Let’s just say things have gone as planned and the Kamisato clan leader was in the mood for doing something obnoxious that day! And while tidying up his office, the discount card popped out. It gave him an idea and brought him to the strange tattoo shop of the strange person.
“Do you have any idea of the tattoo you want?”. The green-haired girl asked him. And the answer is no. The thought popped out of nowhere and as a yakuza gang leader, Ayato would never have to go out seeking for a tattoo artist. Oh well, he does now, after what happened last month...
They sat down for a bit discussing what kind of tattoo Ayato wanted to take. It was enough time for Ayato to take a glance around the little shop. As he just described, the shop is small to the point that taking two clients at once would make the shop run out of its capacity. It’s small but new and fascinating as Ayato would describe. The shop’s color theme is mainly black, red and some dark blue here and there. Catching Ayato’s attention was the two ferocious red and blue Oni masks which were neatly decorated alongside the shop’s name on the black wall.
“The blue Oni mask, was it supposed to symbolize your brother or family member?”. Ayato asked.
This put Itto on a motto to finally have someone ask him the RIGHT question. Itto started telling Ayato about his favorite story from childhood about the blue and the crimson Oni. It pumped his enthusiasm even more seeing how concentrated Ayato was while listening to him telling the story. It ended with Ayato’s foggy eyes getting lost in his thoughts, leaving the room with utmost silence for a few seconds.
Before letting Itto get back to his overthinking status, Ayato broke the atmosphere by announcing his choice of tattoo. He wanted to have the crimson Oni mask on his back.
Itto was caught off guard by Ayato’s decision. Who would have thought just after a fairy tale, a grown man would choose to have this tattoo on his body for the rest of his life.
Ayato chuckled. He was as surprised as Itto. Something sparked inside his head while deciding to get the crimson Oni symbol on his back. He can only guess that having such baggage that you can never deny or change resembled a lot to his situation. He can do anything but it won’t change who he is. Despite that, Ayato still wants to stand proudly like the Oni in the story.
Ayato started undressing to prepare for the tattoo session. He put his whole naked upper body in front of Itto who is now glancing at all the drawings on Ayato’s body. Camellia flourishes all over Ayato’s skin, complimenting the dancing water. Different shades of blue carved on his body leaving just the hands and the neck part. Taking a large portion of Ayato’s back is an aggressive looking tiger. Even though the tiger looks out of tune with the rest of Ayato’s tattoo, Itto recognizes how sophisticated the lining and the pigment of the tiger were. It had to be done by a true master who has immense experience in this art.
“I would like to have the mask cover up every single part of the tiger”. Ayato said.
“Are you sure?”. Itto starts doubting. “This tiger is a piece of art. Whoever did it has so much more skill than I do.”
“Oh?”. Ayato put out a smirk. “Where is all your mighty crimson Oni’s pride? How can this pussycat compare to that!”. Ayato glanced at Itto cheekily.
At this point, Itto can’t decide if Ayato’s words were sarcastic or not. But it did pump up his spirit. That makes sense, of course the mighty crimson Oni is so much better than a boring tiger!
Itto stopped talking and started sanitizing the skin area on Ayato’s back. Kuki was on the front of the store, taking a look at their paperwork. Thoma the assistant left doing something by Ayato’s order. So, there were only him and Ayato in the room. Silence covered the atmosphere as Itto started. This put a different perspective on the usually loud and bright Oni. A breeze of seriousness presented on Itto’s face as he had his whole concentration on Ayato’s back.
Laying on the leather mattress, Ayato calmly went through the activity he had done countless times, as expected from a yakuza. However, it’s a brand-new experience this time getting a tattoo from a stranger he just met on a random summer day. Now he just glances over every detail of the shop in waiting. But again, it’s a small tattoo shop, Ayato quickly run out of things to look at. It boiled down to the mirror in front of him where he can see everything going on behind his back.
Taking a huge portion of the reflection in the mirror was Mr. Almighty crimson Oni who was focusing on every detail of the pieces he was about to carve on Ayato’s skin. Itto tied his long silver hair loosely behind, some of the front hair left off wavering on his tan cheeks. His eyelashes having the same colours as his hair was glowing under the light.
The music got Ayato’s sight hazy. He was asked by the Oni if he wanted to play any music while waiting for his tattoo to be done. Ayato didn’t have any preference so he told Itto to play whatever the Oni wanted to. Itto then put on a slow tempo and relaxing song* that didn’t match his appearance. Nevertheless, Ayato was content with the choice of music.
Tribal-like tattoo danced around the arms which are now running through Ayato’s skin. The drawing looked heated and lively under Itto’s bronze background as if it contained some secret meaning only the Oni could know. His arms were all covered up by tattoos like Ayato but the shoulder and his upper body seemed untouched. Connected between the neck and the chest was a camellia flower flourished in crimson colour.
Down below the camellia, the entirety of the Oni’s pec nearly got exposed under his oversized tank top as he lowered his torso to get a closer look of the detail. The light painted on and off the exposing part a warm honey colour. This put Itto’s curvy chest on highlight, sucking Ayato’s attention. Somewhere between Itto’s ribs and his lower chest line that the light couldn’t reach, Ayato caught a small undefined drawing which made him wonder what it was.
Ayato took his whole session glancing all over someone's torso without realizing the tingling feeling it gave him. It was when the sculpted chest left his sight that Ayato startled and started reflexing what he did.
After the long hour of waiting, the piece was done. Some sweat presented on Itto’s forehead as he awoke from the session. He breathed in deeply then looked dearly at his creation. Gotta say he was out-done himself. Don’t know what the client gonna think but Itto was super contented by what he made. The red pigment sunk nicely on Ayato’s back without getting out of line with the rest of his tattoo. The ferocious Oni mask blended in perfectly with the dancing water that Itto implemented around it.
He gave Ayato a sign asking for approval. The blue hair man looked lost a couple seconds ago now got back to his feet examining his newly carved tattoo. He must say he was as content as Itto showed to be.
Thought that he got off the unspeakable acts he had just done during the whole session, Ayato turned around and received the brightest smile ever of a grown man who now looked like a puppy that wants to be praised. He got lost again in the white long fangs on Itto’s smile with his eyes shut loosely to the shape of crescent moon.
Ayato quickly gained back his consciousness and expressed his content of the drawing to the Oni. He successfully convinced the Oni to take his payment and fat tips despite having a discount. Thoma got back from his job and was waiting outside to bring his boss back home.
Now that he was in his car and the Oni was out of sight, Ayato could really have the time to make up his mind. He didn’t know what had gone through his head. Maybe it has been a while since he last received any intimacy from others. He recalled every detail of Itto’s body in mind. The crimson camellia, the undefined tattoo, the Oni’s curvy pec. This brought back the heat.
Didn’t think much of it, Ayato let the thought go without knowing he’ll be back to that shop countless times with the intention of having a new tattoo or not.