Sum: Sawamura Eijun worked in the marketing department in one of a company in Tokyo. While being an ordinary worker, actually Sawamura had once lived in an orphanage which from there it affected his personality. From the people who had taken care of him in the past, he learned that helping someone in need was heroic thing to do and he vowed to help everyone in need as much as he could.
Until in one night when he came back late from overtime, he encountered a bunch of suspicious people surrounding a defenseless man into a corner. Because of his 'vow', he decided to save the man from the punks, despite being outnumbered and a bit scared. He ended up making his hand injured and he was lucky enough some policemen were patrolling around the place before the fight went too far. After the event, he didn't know the man that he just saved actually would change his life drastically.
Written for msbb and there's an art tagged by saionjiakane ( post/162192587720/my-works-for-misawa-bigbang-2017-in-collab-with)
Beta'd by theotherpolitegirl
This is going to be a long ride, so please prepare yourselves.
Confined
a Daiya no Ace fanfiction
Written by TwistedTwister
Art by saionjiakane
"Kira kira hikaru osora no hoshi yo
Mabataki shite wa
Minna wo miteru
Kirakira hikaru osora no hoshi yo"
Eijun was ready to pull up his blanket and sleep, but then someone tugged on his arms. Eijun turned and saw his roommate standing with a sad face. "What is it?" Eijun asked.
"Can't sleep," his friend said.
Eijun was confused, because they can't not sleep. They had to sleep at nine, and then wake up at five. That was the orphanage rule! Aunty Haru would be mad if they didn't obey the rules!
But his friend looked so sad. And Aunty always said that Eijun had to help those who are sad. Eijun moved over a little and let his friend climb in and sleep with him. It would be all right if they were scolded tomorrow. Eijun was in the orphanage before the kid, so he needed to be a big brother. He needed to be like a hero who protects everyone. Eijun looked at the kid sleeping with him and smiled. It was alright if he didn't have parents. Eijun loved his aunty and all his brothers and sisters. He loved the orphanage. He didn't need a mother like the other kids in school.
And quietly, Eijun sang the nursery rhymeonce again, letting the melody and the darkness lull him to sleep.
Such darkness, such calmness was created as the lyric of old nursery rhymes played in his head. It was nice, really. Eijun could sleep with this. He really could, if not for the heavy thwack that landed straight on his head.
"WAKE UP, BAKAMURA!" he heard yelled in his ear.
"I'M AWAKE! I'M AWAKE!" He scrambled, his messy desk becoming a lot messier with his sudden alertness.
"What the fuck, Bakamura?" The voice continued to shout, "I told you this is an important drinking party to talk about new clients! Why are you getting yourself drunk and falling asleep!?"
"Shut up, Kanemaru! I'm not sleeping," he shouted back. "I'm just, drifting off a little."
"Yeah!? And while you "drifted off", do you have any fucking idea how me and Kominato had to cover for you when Tanba-san went back from the restroom to find you just fucking fainted!?"
And he couldn't help but blush on that one. Damn, did he cause troubles for his colleagues again?
"Well, maybe he couldn't help it," came Haruichi's voice before his signature pink head. "Tanba-san did drill us pretty hard with the last job."
"Harucchi…" Eijun wailed. Seeing him was as soothing as always.
"But Eijun-kun really should control himself. It wasn't like he became a salesperson just yesterday," he continued.
"Harucchiiiii!" Eijun wailed louder. Well, at least, most of the times, Harucchi was soothing.
"But come to think of it, why is it only us here now?"
"Tanba-san said he saw a friend and left first. Luckily not that long after you slept," Kanemaru answered. "You should really be thankful to Tanba-san, y'know. He's very understanding. If I were your boss, I'd have thrown you out by now."
"Huh!? What time is it!?"
"It's 11.40. They left ten minutes ago," Haruichi answered as he checked on his favorite silver Seiko.
"Crap!" Eijun jumped. "I'm supposed to call Wakana!"
"You didn't tell her that you'd be home late?"
"I called her before but she didn't answer, so I texted her. But she'll be troublesome if I didn't really call and talk with her."
"To actually call your own girlfriend troublesome," Kanemaru griped. "I wonder what the hell does Aotsuki-san sees in you?"
"Well, Kanemaru-kun, why don't you get a girlfriend first and then critique me?"
"What the fuck did you say!?"
"Are you guys going to bicker any longer? Because someone is already outside to pick me up and I'm going home," Haruichi interrupted.
"Ah, I'm about to go home too."
"Argh! I still can't connect to Wakana! Don't tell me she's sleeping!?"
"You're so noisy, Bakamura! Anyway I paid for your share today. Return the money tomorrow," Kanemaru said as he trailed after Haruichi.
Sawamura watched the two leaving the booth, and proceeded to look at the mess they made. He looked back at his phone, which pictured his unanswered call towards his decade and a half time buddy and eight year girlfriend, and proceeded to sigh.
"Better go home as well," he said as he packed his stuff and exited the restaurant booth. It was raining a little, almost none at all, but going home a bit wet was better than going home a little later. He just had to rely on his long work coat and beloved red muffler to protect him from the cold.
He walked down the main road feeling bits and bits of rain hitting him all over his not-so-expensive coat every now and then. His mind sobered with each drop washing his face. Come to think of it, it had been quite a long time since he walked in the rain like this. Well, not really walked, more like getting straight soaked from it and making the adults worry. They were such children back then. Eijun chuckled because he remembered how much of a nuisance they must have been towards their foster parents now.
Eijun had never had any real parents for as long as he remembered. He grew up in an orphanage and the only adult that had ever nurtured him was Aunty Haru. The orphanage was always accepting and sending kids for as long as he resided there, which made Eijun have a lot of siblings. And very familiar with goodbyes.
The orphanage often struggled with funding, but always managed to send their kids to school. And Eijun was very grateful, because it was for that that he was able to play baseball, the sport that he loves and often played with the kids back in orphanage, until high school. And although they didn't manage to reach Koushien, baseball had secured him a place in high school without weighing his orphanage financially. This also deepened his love for baseball.
After high school, since he didn't have any foster parents, Eijun decided that it was time to quit playing and start to think about his life. He got a job through a brother of friend, and ever since he had been living his life as a salesperson. He loved to talk, and due to his vast experience with people, he knew how to handle people very well. He was liked by many, so much so, that even though he never actually got into a university, he managed to secure a rather comfortable place in the company. Being the manager was impossible, but being the chief of many projects was more than a person without an academically stellar background such as him could ever hope.
Another thing he felt grateful for was for him to have a friend that he coulf always trust by his side. Aotsuki Wakana was pretty, strong, and many people wished to be in Eijun's place. They met as freshmen in junior high school, and even after fourteen years, no matter how much Eijun annoyed her, she always stayed right beside him. They decided to move in together three years ago after Aotsuki graduated from her management major, and that was still one of the best decisions in Eijun's life.
However, they weren't forever young. They both had almost hit their thirties and even Eijun knew that their age wasn't appropriate for a woman to be unmarried. He had thought so many times about asking her for an engagement, but despite his loud voice and seemingly uncaring demeanor, Eijun cared deeply about his background and how Aotsuki's future would be with him.
Eijun sighed as he faced towards the sky. He really didn't want to think. How the hell did thinking about his childhood lead to him thinking about Aotsuki, anyway? And speaking about childhood, earlier today he was also dreaming of that child lullaby, wasn't he?
"Didn't they say that when you die, your memory would play in your head," he muttered. "Oh, well, as if I would die today. Hahaha…"
-BANG-
Eijun jumped as he heard the loud sound that looked like someone just got hit by a fucking wall! What the fuck was that? Was that aimed at him? Was he injured?
He then patted himself all over his own body to check whether it harbored any injuries, and was surprised to find none. Huh, that's weird. If it's not me, then…
As if hit by sudden realization, Eijun ran towards where he thought the loud sound came from. He had passed one or two alleyways void of people, before he stopped and found one that was occupied. The sight that greeted him really made him double take.
There were four, maybe five men, one of whom was handling a baseball bat very ungracefully to the point that Eijun's baseball blood couldn't help but want to correct. One of them had his back facing the wall and his face held in one of his hand, the other clutching his chest, while the rest of them form a half-assedly made semi circle around the guy. One look, and it was as clear as the morning dew passing through the rays of fucking sunshine what this was.
The guy with his back against the wall raised his head moved himself forward, and one of the other men mimicked his action, until they were face to face. The rest of the guys were closing in. To hell if Eijun could stand by watching.
Oh, he was very familiar with bullies, alright. Growing up without a family was something that society never considered "normal" brought him many chances to encounter some . And although the scene in front of him was consisted with adults rather than jeering kids and more muscles than taunts, he knew what the one guy was feeling. Being circled by random, unkind people was never fun. At least not for him and his siblings and most definitely not for this stranger. Eijun had spent half his life saving his siblings from this kind of feeling, a kind of torture, and he wasn't about to let this stranger feel that now.
Thus, without further thinking, he began to charge into the alley. As he accelerated, he stored some power into his fists, before he finally jumped and kicked the guy closest to the alleyway. Landing between the guys was a surprise and thrust his arm out to meet one of their jaws.
As both guys groaned, the one with the bat instantly zoned in on him. Eijun couldn't care less about bats if they weren't used for his favorite sport. They couldn't gang up on this guy, at least not in his watch.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Eijun shouted, voice loud and breath ragged from adrenaline. "Why are you ganging up on an innocent person!?"
"Who the fuck are you," the one with the bat exclaimed. The other two on the ground started to try to regain their footing, and Eijun spread his arms out in response. Some metallic noises made him realize that he might not be just dealing with a bat after all.
"Ganging up on one person is unfair! If you want a match then you have to do it one on one," he shouted.
"Don't fucking put your nose in other people's business, son of a bitch!" The man with a bat, bat-man, he dubbed, made a move and swung at him amateurishly. Eijun worried about the man behind him, but quickly ignored him and swung a foot to meet the bat-man's hand. His speed was nothing compared to Kominato.
"Argh!" The man growled and his bat clattered near his feet.
The previous man he kicked went to aid his partner and swung a fist at Eijun. His grip was awkward, and there's something glinting and extending from his fist, so Eijun assumed the man was waving a knife. Knife-man it is.
He couldn't let knife-man hurt the innocent man behind him, so Eijun stepped forward, and then he side-stepped out of the knife's target range. He then grabbed the extended appendage and turned it on knife-man's back and pushed him to the ground.
He heard knife-man's groan when he felt a figure accelerating toward him, but he turned too late. The fourth man lunged at him with arm adducted and flexed, one aiding the other. It was a pose of someone with clear intention to stab. Eijun extended an arm to block whatever was going to stab him. He preferred to be stabbed in the hand rather than his stomach after all.
And thus, the sharp object made contact with his hand, and he hissed –it hurt like a bitch– before he flexed his fingers around the man's wrist and pulled him further. His other hand then rose to met the man's solar plexus with an upper cut.
Not wanting to repeat the mistake of not being ready, Eijun scrambled back to his feet and went back to his protective stance in front of the first man, all the while grabbing his scratched hand. He felt his pulse strongly in his hand area in response to the trauma and blood gushed to drip onto the concrete. Damn, he must have been cut pretty deeply.
The men on the ground started to gather their footings as well. Eijun was confident that he was about to win and teach this assholes a lesson when another man made his presence known.
"Kid…" Eijun flinched. The voice was carried with such tone that sent chill up his spine. He looked around and saw the fifth man, one with the fanciest clothes of them all –he might or might not fell in love with that fur scarf– started to take a step forward. "Do you have any idea what you have just done?"
He was met with a tall man with hard eyes and light hair his annoyed face concealed by the darkness surrounding them and only prominent when the man stepped under the rare light shining from the main street.
"You're about to gang up on a person and that's just wrong!" Eijun exclaimed, despite having realized what situation he had put himself into. Against a group of men with weapons!? What the fuck, Sawamura Eijun!?
"Besides, I ain't a kid!" He continued anyway.
The fancy man ignored his shouting and pulled a gun from his fancy jacket. The other three complimented their maybe-leader by showing their own weapon of choice.
"Let me ask again," he tsk-ed as he pulled the safety off of his gun. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Eijun gulped because now it was a gun, a bat, a knife, and another knife that was longer and four people against a person and a helper. Crap. He was fucked.
"I… If you shoot, then the police will come!" Fuck that stutter!
"You really think they would come at this kind of hour, in this kind of alley," the fancy man said plainly as he aimed his fancy gun at Eijun. What the hell is wrong with his mind, where were all of these fancy words coming from?
He had half a mind to remember his time from coming this way home after an over-time shift and he
hadn't met any police roaming at this hour. None of his friends had ever mentioned any patrols done this late. So, yeah, it's the fancy man's win.
Eijun could see the man's finger twitch and, well, it wasn't like he could let this poor stranger behind him die. So, he spread his arms and closed his eyes. Come to think of it, today a lot of his memories came to his mind. I wonder if this is how I'm going to die, huh.
He had resigned his fate when he felt a hand on his shoulder trying to push him away, and a soft "wait-" uttered behind him when all of his senses were surrounded by bright light and loud siren going off near him.
"Shit! It's the police!" A person said, more like yelled. "Just you wait," another muttered. Eijun opened his eyes then, to see retreating figures and blaring blue light with silhouettes getting bigger. Huh? What was happening?
"They're gone now." A soft, nasally voice was spoken near him. "And the police are here."
Eijun turned to see the man that he was defending was smiling to him. That… was probably one of the prettiest faces Eijun had ever encountered. And he had live his life long enough to travel around Honshu.
However, the smile morphed into a cold, expressionless, model-like face as his eyes made contact with Eijun's.
"You..." The man muttered. He seemed to disbelieve what was happening.
Poor, innocent bystander, Eijun thought. Eijun was still feeling like jelly from his several-weapons-and-a-gun-against-none experience, but he couldn't look weak now that the man's condition looked worse than his.
"Are you okay?" Eijun asked. "I don't know why or how, but the police are here. So, I think we're saved," He chuckled.
The man still looked like he was shocked. Eijun decided to leave the man with his own mind. The police were already coming and surveying the area. Their lights and sirens started to attract various bystanders as well. As many as one could gather at midnight anyway.
"Are you two okay?" One of the police came at them while some other chased on the fading figures. "There were reports of fighting in this area. Do you see any suspicious men around here?"
"There were three of them. They were running over there," Eijun answered, and saw the police nodded and run before turning toward the man.
"Are you okay?" He asked, a hand rested on the man's shoulder.
"Ah," The man seemed to be awoken from his trance, glasses askew from his sudden jolt. "I'm fine. They didn't manage to do much."
Eijun nodded, satisfied.
He then saw another incoming figure approaching them, and he knew just what was about to happen to him.
Ugh. Getting questioned when it was nearing midnight while he still had work for tomorrow was not fun. Eijun glanced at the man beside him, and the twinkle in his eyes told that he shared the same sentiment. But there's no way escaping the police. The man was ganged up before he came, so he must be very shocked. Maybe he wanted to spill it all to the officer.
"Do you think you can tell it all to the police?"
The man laughed self-depreciatingly. "I don't think I'm ready to meet a police."
Eijun nodded understandingly. Some things could only grow more in trouble if other people were dragged inside. But someone still should place charges on those assholes after, all.
So when an officer came and ask what they were doing, Eijun answered, "I was walking to the station when they tried to extort my money. This guy had nothing to do and only tried to save me." The man gave him a very subtle sign of surprise –seriously, had Eijun not work in sales and tried to read so many people he might miss that subtle change in his expression.
The officer did try to question the both.
"Can it be just me? I can tell everything but this guy here's very shocked," Eijun asked. And after giving the man a once over, the officer nodded. It wasn't usually this easy to escape being questioned.
"Alright. Please follow me. And there's tea and security blanket near the police car. You can take one from the officer there." He said before turning his back and returning towards the car.
"Hey, I'm sorry you have to go through this. Just take the tea and go home," Eijun said when he was sure the officer was out of earshot. "Next time please be careful when passing alleyways."
"You're going to take my place in being questioned?" the man asked.
Eijun chuckled. "You don't seem like you're ready to be put on hold for all night long," he answered, "Or would you like to be questioned yourself?"
"No, no. I appreciate that. However, what about you?"
Eijun just shrugged. "Eh, extorting money's a usual business now, isn't it? Beside, I have evidence of violence." He raised his injured hand.
The man quickly grabbed Eijun's hand with both hands and brought it to his face to examine closer. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Because of me..."
"It's alright," Eijun said instead. "Not many people get injured for protecting another, so…"
The guy looked at Eijun, before chuckled a bit. Eijun might felt his heart thump a little. Damn ikemen power.
"Thank you," the man said.
Eijun nodded, satisfied. "Alright then, be careful when going home, stranger-san." He then turned to follow the officer and tried to take his arm back, only to be met with resistance.
Eijun stopped and turned to see the man. Unlike his previous subtle expressions, this one clearly spoke of confusion.
"Huh?" He said.
Huh? What was he saying huh for!? Eijun thought.
"Yes?" Eijun asked.
"Ah, no..." The man let go of his hand. "It's just… your name…"
"Ah. Sorry. My name is Sawamura Eijun," Eijun grinned. "Nice to meet you. And you?"
The man looked at him again like he was confused. Seriously what's wrong?
"Ah, no." He said. "Mine's Miyuki Kazuya."
"Ah, Miyuki-san." Eijun nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah," the man smiled. And Eijun was instantly mesmerized. His previous expression changes were always so subtle, so guarded, that the way he smiled now took him off guard. It gave Eijun the same feeling like when it was time to say goodbye back in the orphanage. But as quick as it came, the guarded expression was back, and his smile now was full of confidence.
"Nice to meet you as well," he said.
"Ou…" Eijun said. "Well then, I'm gonna go and start–"
"Sawamura-san," the guy called Miyuki interrupted. "Thank you. I'm glad I meet you today."
He smiled that confident smile again. Which made Eijun think whether this guy was really that shocked about being ganged up on with a gun before.
"Sure, no problem," He still answered. "I'm gonna meet the officer, then."
"Okay," Miyuki answered him.
"Okay, then," Eijun answered hesitantly as he tried to walk away slowly.
As he walked, however, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. So he turned his back, and sure, there stood Miyuki, hands still in pocket and that cool smile in his face. "I really am glad I'm able to meet you today." He said, before he turned and walked away from the commotion.
This was the first time Eijun had ever been thanked thoroughly. He smiled. Poor Miyuki-san. He truly was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Well, he was glad that because of him someone was safe tonight.
Eijun turned and started to walk, his steps light.
Tonight sleep would be very sound.
End of Ch. 1
Thank you for proceeding the story
Reviews are very much appreciated
