Chapter Text
Tsumugu Taki couldn't die. Not until it was over, until this case was closed shut and no one else would ever get hurt again. However, it seemed like that wasn't his choice anymore. The throbbing pain all over his body overwhelmed him to the point of numbness. Thinking kept the pain muffled, so he tried to hold onto the shreds of consciousness he has left. If he tried to focus on anything else, the pain would come back in an unbearable cacophony of screams. It was better to keep it as background noise.
The inside of his head wasn't any better. He probably had a concussion, but it was hard to tell if the throbbing was from being thrown on the floor or the usual migraine that came with the lack of proper sleep and stress. Holding onto a train of thought felt like pushing a boulder up a steep hill, always one wrong move away from falling into an endless sleep. The longer he laid there, the more he considered just letting go.
He had already done what he needed to do. He had faith in Sosei, and he knew Suguha wouldn't pass the opportunity he gave her. They'd handle everything just fine. Daimon could probably help out with the legal aspect of things.
Green eyes made their way to the forefront of his mind.
Ah, Tsumugu should've apologized properly, picked better last words. It was a bit embarrassing thinking back on how anti-climatic his last words were, sounding something like a script written by an amateur.
Oh well, it wasn't like he had time to make ammends or let go of his regrets before his demise. That was purely his fault, since he chose for his fate to be inevitable, but god forbid he let anyone, especially Kotoko, else take his place.
After all, everything before and everything after, was Tsumugu Taki's fault.
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The beeping echoed in Yu's ears as he stared at his friend.
"Remember to blink every once and a while, Okino."
It took Yu a few minutes to process the sounds into words. By the time he was finished, he was staring at an uncomfortable-looking Sosei Morotomiya. "Can't exactly have you end up confined here either. It'd be an insult to Tsumugu's hardwork."
Yu flinched violently.
That was the reason, wasn't it? Why his friend was stuck on a hospital bed, connected to tubes and wires, looking more dead than alive. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear his head along with his vision. Neither happened. He ended up just running a hand through his platinum-colored hair. Looking back down at his hands, he saw some strands had been caught between his fingers.
Sosei sighed. "I don't want to disturb you right now, but..."- The unease on his face turned into a more passive expression."...She's here."
"What...?" Yu didn't remember the moments between him sitting down and him standing up, his mind suddenly waking up like a jumpstarted car battery. It didn't take long for the anger to catch up. "After all she-"
"I suggest the two of you take it outside." Sosei's eyes looking at Tsumugu's motionless figure before landing back on a tensed Yu.
"...I don't want to leave him." Slumping back down on the hospital's uncomfortable plastic chair, Yu tried to swallow his anger. It tasted like bitter betrayal. Did Tsumugu feel the same way when Yu tried to join that godforsaken club despite what they-
"I know, but she's not leaving. Talk to her or get her to leave before she makes a scene in here." Through the hair fallen over his face, Yu could see Sosei take a seat on the other side of the bed.
The anger welled up in his throat. She doesn't have the damn right to be stubborn.
Standing up more consciously this time, Yu made his way towards the door.
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Tsumugu’s convinced the only difference between Tokyo and where he came from were the amount of buildings. Not considering the food, beliefs, or accent, the people weren’t much different from where he came from. There were the rich, the poor, and the middle class; those who didn’t have much to do, those who had their whole life ahead of them, those who just gave up.
Yu, Tsumugu’s friend from high school, didn’t really share his sentiment. The taller man was looking around, eyes wide and filled with a certain light they get when he found something- or someone- interesting. For some reason they always got like that whenever Yu looked at Tsumugu. The latter didn’t really understand it, but he was always told that he was an odd one so he didn’t dwell much about it. Not like Yu ever gave him an understandable answer whenever he asked anyway. Maybe they were both odd in their own ways.
“Tsumugu?” Snapping back to the present, Yu’s eyes were focused on Tsumugu again, full of worry but never losing that light. “What’s wrong? Did anythin’ happen when you were packing up? You got here really late.” It was a bit strange now realizing that Yu had picked up a bit on Tsumugu’s way of speaking.
“Uhm, well….” He had absolutely no idea how to explain the events that occurred when he arrived at the house he was staying in.
‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅
It was six in the morning when Tsumugu arrived at the Wakaba House, a nice wooden old Japanese style house.
“Oh, you must be the new tenant,” a very enthusiastic voice greeted. A middle-aged-looking woman was standing in front of the entrance. “I’m Namiko Son, the landlady.” Her tone was really casual, which matched her posture and overall disposition.
“Tsumugu Taki. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Oh my, you’re a polite one, aren’t you?” She laughed a bit. "Welcome to the Wakaba House, Tsumugu. Your stuff's already in your room, the door at the end of second floor's hallway."
"Thanks-" Tsumugu caught himself, but decided it was fine to speak as he usually did to his new landlady. She didn't seem like the type to mind being formal too much, and he already made a good impression of himself earlier, didn't he?
Namiko smiled. "Well then, I'll be off now. I need to get a new doorknob for the shed. If you need anything, you can go to Sosei or Kagemoto. They're also tenants here." With that, she went on her way, leaving Tsumugu alone.
The first floor of the Wakaba house had a living room and a kitchen that also served as a dining area. The chairs and table smelled like authentic wood.
The second floor was just a hallway filled with doors with a potted plant randomly placed on one side. It looked well taken cared of. Making his way to the end of the hallway, he noticed a small window beside the door which would lead to his room according to the landlady. From the window, you could see the shed she was talking about earlier. It looked more like a mini warehouse, a lot bigger than the usual sheds Tsumugu had seen. He would've continued his journey to his room if he hadn't heard harsh knocks coming from below and a muffled voice yelling, "Is anyone out there? I'm stuck in the shed." The voice didn't have an ounce of desperation in it but it was a plea for help nonetheless.
Sprinting towards the shed, Tsumugu noticed that it was way bigger than he thought. It looked liked the thing had a whole second floor.
The knocks had stopped, leaving an almost ominous silence. The doorknob looked... odd, but when he grabbed and turned it, it worked, letting him in the shed full of boxes and knick knacks.
Tsumugu stepped in, letting go of the doorknob as he searched the place for the person yelling for help earlier.
"Hey! Don't let the door clo-" It was already too late. The door had slammed shut with an ominous click.
A tall man wearing a black turtleneck showed himself, rubbing his temple. "Damn it. Now we're both stuck in here."
Tsumugu turned his back on the stranger and tested out the doorknob. It wouldn't budge. "Ah shit. You're right."
The stranger only sighed in exasperation. "Thanks for the rescue," he said, sarcasm so thick Tsumugu could choke on it.
"Gee, you're welcome," was Tsumugu's only response, awkward as hell. What was up with this guy? "Who are-"
"Help me search for something to get us out of here." The stranger turned away and strarted rummaging through a bunch of boxes. "You search upstairs"
"Hey-wait-!" But he could tell the one-sided conversation was over. What a prick.
It wasn't like he was getting anything done brooding over it, so he decided to try to find a way to get out of here.
"Don't you have the landlady's number?" Tsumugu asked. A part of him doubts the stranger would respond.
"There's no cell service in here," came the bland answer. True to the stranger's word, when Tsumugu checked his phone, not a single bar of service came up.
"I told you," the annoying deep voice from behind a pile of boxes said. Tsumugu could only grimace at him.
Up to the second floor Tsumugu went. The sight that greeted him was just more boxes and a small window. It looked like he could fit in there. Looking down, the distance between up there and the ground didn't look too far, but it wasn't exactly short enough to be considered risk-free. A wrong move could break his foot at best. So jumping down was their last option.
"If you're trying to take your life, there are better places to do it." Tsumugu flinched at the sudden comment, turning around to see the stranger holding up a screwdriver.
"...I see you found something."
"Use this to get the doorknob off." He held the screwdriver out for Tsumugu to grab. It was a large philips screwdriver with a blue handle that matched the stranger's hair.
"Sorry, I don't do favors for strangers. I'm not a good samaritan y'know?"
"...What?" The stranger had a confuse scowl on his- now that Tsumugu got a good look at it- handsome face. It was the type of face that would be famous with girls who liked mature men.
Tsumugu smiled. Instead of just getting this over with, might as well cause this stranger the same headache he's been giving him. A little taste of his own medicine. Also because Tsumugu was bored and absolutely needed to piss this guy off.
"Sorry, buddy. You can always do it yourself though." Actually, Tsumugu was wondering why the man hadn't just opened the door before going up to him. He was about to chalk it up to human decency, but then the man ordered him to get the doorknob off.
The man just stood there, scowl getting deeper. He looked...embarrassed?
"Wait a minute. Don't you know how to u-"
"Sosei Morotomiya," the man blurted out, going back to his stoic expression. Tsumugu could only look at him in silence. "You?"
"...What?"
"That's my name. Now give me yours." This man could not be real.
"Tsumugu. Tsumugu Taki."
"There. Now we aren't strangers." Sosei smiled. It carried an air of arrogance that could only fit a face like Sosei's.
Tsumugu laughed. "Nice to meet ya, Morotomi-"
"Just call me Sosei," the man said exasperated.
"Got it. Just call me Tsumugu then."
"What a mouthful." The smile was there again.
"Hey, it's not like we're close enough for nicknames yet."
"Good point."
"Okay, time to get out of here."
"Finally."
The two finally got out of the shed to find Namiko outside, a screwdriver and a new doorknob in her hands.
"Oh dear, how long were you two locked in there?"
"It wasn't that lo-"
"Thirty minutes." Both Namiko and Tsumugu stared at Sosei who was already walking towards the house.
Once he was out of sight, Tsumugu turned to Namiko.
"...Is he always like that?"
Namiko only huffed out a laugh and smiled. "He is, but you get used to it. He can be pretty charming when he wants to be."
"Uh huh." At least Sosei wasn't putting his good looks to waste.
‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅
"And that was about it."
Yu, who was still staring at Tsumugu once he finished telling the story of getting locked in the shed with one of his new living mates, started to laugh. Tsumugu couldn't help the offended look on his face, even if it was just for show.
"It's very you to get involved in something like that on your first day moving in," Yu said, the vestiges of laughter still not having faded out from his eyes.
"And what does that mean?"
Yu only smiled. The other man had gentle features, despite a sharp jawline and an air of maturity. His green eyes soften just a bit when he smiles, making you feel like you can trust him, which was true overall. Yu Okino was a gentle soul, but Tsumugu knew his friend well enough to know about the other's penchant for making reckless decisions just for the thrill of it. He couldn't exactly blame him. There was a reason why Yu stuck with someone like Tsumugu for as long as he did.
Tsumugu huffed out a sigh.
"Come on. We need to get to our classes." He pulled Yu's arm, dragging the slightly laughing man.
"What course did you apply to by the way?" Yu asked as they were halfway through the campus ground, Tsumugu letting go of his arm.
Tsumugu froze for a brief second before answering, "Literature."
It was Yu's turn to freeze, before that gentle smile that only he could make showed up again. "I should've known with all the writing you've been doing. When are you going to let me read it?"
"You've already read some of it."
"But I wanna read all of it."
"You're really taking the whole 'number one fan' thing literally, huh?" It was a random school day when Yu decided to proclaim that he was Tsumugu's number one fan. The latter almost couldn't bring himself to remind his friend that he was his only fan.
"I can be your beta reader."
"...Did you just search that up?"
Yu quickly tried to shove his hand in his pocket, completely missing and ending up almost dropping his phone. A small embarrassed laugh came out of him as Tsumugu could only stare at his friend.
"You're really not going to let this go, are you?"
"Absolutely not."
Tsumugu sighed, which was more dramatics than an actual act of exasperation. "Fine." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a green spiral notebook. "Here's what I've been working on so far. Tell me what you think after class."
Yu took the notebook with both his hands, holding onto it as if it was something sacred. Tsumugu silently realized that it was the same color as his friend's eyes, which were now glimmering with happiness. He didn't think he'd ever understand how he could bring this man so much joy.
"We better go to our classes." That seemed to snap Yu out of whatever euphoria-induced daze he was in. "See ya!"
"I'll see you at lunch!"
Tsumugu ran to the opposite of where Yu was going. He couldn't help but feel someone's gaze on him, but when he looked behind him, Yu had already turned a corner.