When his alarm finally sounded Yukiteru rolled out of bed with one part relief, one part exhaustion, one part fear, and absolutely no part well rested. He dragged himself towards the closet and put together a random outfit before making his way out of the room and towards the bathroom.
When he was done with his morning ritual and fully dressed he made his way towards Reisuke's room and woke the boy. Helping the child pick out his outfit for the day he ussured the child towards the bathroom. He then descended the stairs to prepare their daily breakfast of cereal.
Breakfast ended without any drama and they were out the door. Luckily today was sunny and the ground was only a little wet from the rain. This meant Yukiteru could both hold Reisuke's hand and keep up with his diary on time while they walked to school.
Thankfully the mornings were the easiest part of Yukiteru's day. After dropping off Reisuke he strolled down the path to his own school. It wouldn't be until then that it would all go downhill.
Yukiteru was not what one would call a 'sociable' person. He prefered to keep to himself, not necessarily because he disliked or was annoyed by his classmates, but rather because he didn't want to impose himself on them. He was a rather pathetic person, you see, and didn't want to bother the other student's with his presence. Thus, he existed more as an observer than an active part of his school's social circles.
That said; Yukiteru didn't actually try to avoid talking to his classmates. He simply felt that if they wanted to talk to him then they would. It would be a lie to say he didn't actually want to be friends with his classmate, but he also didn't want to risk annoying his fellow students with his presence and making them hate him.
In all honesty; he considered himself quite lucky that Reisuke seemed to love him so much. He couldn't think of anyone else besides his mother that reacted favorably to his presence. So he must, in conclusion, have something wrong with him if only two people, one of which was only a child who didn't know better and the other of which was his mother, in the world were capable of loving him.
So it was with the smallest feeling of dread that he entered the school building and made his way towards his classroom.
He couldn't say there was anything interesting about his day. Kosaka threw a paper ball at him once or twice before promptly giving up his adventure for fear of being caught by the teacher. He thought he caught a glimpse of Gasai Yuno glancing back at him once or twice before brushing it off as a coincidence. Mr. Hiyama announced a test to take place this time next week. He received constant reminders that the book report was due tomorrow. And those were honestly the highlights of his day.
It wasn't until later that he somehow managed to accidently catch Mr. Hiyama's eye.
You see, Mr. Hiyama was a nice enough teacher. As long as you payed attention in his class and didn't slack off he wasn't really bond to take much note of you. When one did slack off he was usually fair enough with the punishments and none too harsh. Yukiteru had never done anything to catch the man's notice himself, but he saw no reason for the somewhat fearsome reputation as a "hardass". So Yukiteru was surprised when Mr. Hiyama asked him to stay after class today.
When class did let out Yukiteru could hear Kosaka's snickering despite the bell. But he didn't let that distract him from keeping his attention strictly on the teacher. "Have I done something wrong Sensei?"
Mr. Hiyama gave what he must have thought was a reassuring smile. "No Mr. Amano."
Unfortunately, the teacher didn't elaborate on the reason for keeping him here after school. He and Yukiteru both stood there for several, rather awkward in his opinion, moments and just stared at one another. The brunette shifted awkwardly under his teacher's heavy gaze.
"Then...um…" The boy stuttered; already feeling an embarrassed blush forming. "...What did you need with me, Sir?"
The teacher stared at him a moment, as if carefully choosing his words, before speaking. "Your attention has been wandering lately Mr. Amano. Why is that?"
Yukiteru felt a jolt. He was stuck somewhere between being honestly surprised the older man even noticed his existence beyond grading papers and being outrageously embarrassed for distracting the teacher so much.
"I-I'm so sorry, Sir!" He bowed his head half in apology and half in shame. "I haven't been getting much sleep lately and I'm so sorry. It won't happen again, Sir. I promise."
The man seemed disinterested in the apology. "Are things alright at home Mr. Amano?"
Yukiteru was taken aback by the question. "Um...yes...things are fine at home."
"Really?" The man quirked an eyebrow; as if not believing the boy's claim. "Your mother and father aren't fighting? No late night arguments to keep you up?"
Yukiteru frowned at the question. "No...my father doesn't even live with us."
Mr. Hiyama nodded; with a look on his face that implied he was storing that information away for later use. "And your mother?"
The burnette's frown deepened and he suddenly felt uneasy with the question. "She's away at the moment…"
"Really?" The teacher sounded suddenly very eager to hear more. "So you're living alone than?"
Yukiteru felt the unease raise, but brushed it off as paranoia. "No...I'm living with...with my little brother."
He felt a little guilty at the lie, but it was as close to the truth as he could get without explaining the entire situation to his teacher.
Mr. Hiyama looked no more displeased by the information than he had by the idea that Mom was away at the moment. Yukiteru decided he did not like that look.
"So…" The man started, pausing to give a needlessly dramatic effect to his words. "...You're a social outcast living alone with no one but you're little brother at the moment?"
A lump formed in Yukiteru's throat. He's sure that Mr. Hiyama hadn't meant those words to be as harsh and hurtful as they sounded. He forcefully swallowed down the lump and nodded his head.
Mr. Hiyama suddenly turned on his heel and made his way towards the door. "That's all I wanted to know Mr. Amano; you may leave now."
And then he was alone is the now abandoned classroom of the slowly emptying school. Yukiteru, still very uneasy with the conversation that had just taken place, took a very tentative step forward. Once he was sure that, yes, that entire ordeal had just happened and he was now standing alone he maneuvered his way out of the door and down the hallway. Making extra sure to duck past any students still crowded around the hallways.
He very lucky today; since it looked like Kosaka and his friends had a track meet today. This meant that the bully would have no time to harass the timid natured boy on his way to Reisuke's Preschool. Though Kosaka had always abandoned his pursuit once the school was in sight it was a nice change to simply walk where he needed and record in his diary undisturbed.
Yukiteru settled in the same spot he'd been standing yesterday and waited the ten or so minutes it would take for Reisuke to be released from Aftercare. The hedges looked better today than they had yesterday; granted they were still somewhat wet from the horrid weather. Those hedges shifted a bit and he pretended not to notice.
The wait wasn't as agonizing as it had been the day before, and Reisuke had been twice as quick to throw himself into a hug. Yukiteru summoned up a smile and pat the young boy's head before guiding him along the path to the markets.
Reisuke frowned and sent him a look of confusion. "Where we goin?"
"The toy store." Yukiteru flipped his phone open absentmindedly. He felt much more at ease than yesterday when he'd been forced to go without it.
"YAY!" The child gave a loud cheer; throwing his arms in the air to emphasize just how happy he was with the idea. "Yuki is the beeessstt~"
Yukiteru was ninety-eight percent sure that Reisuke had said that last part in order to emotionally manipulate the teenager into buying him a toy rather than just staring at them. If that was what the kid was going for than Yukiteru would unashamedly admit that the tactic had succeeded.
It was a precisely twenty minute walk to the nearest toy store from the Preschool, and Reisuke had spent the entire time tugging Yukiteru's pants leg trying to desperately make his babysitter move faster. But Yukiteru was simply too tired to move any faster than his normal leisurely pace. By the time they reached the toy store Reisuke had practically thrown himself through the doors.
"Don't run off Reisuke! Stay where I can see you!" He called after the boy. Though the store wasn't big at all it was filled to the brim with all the latest, and quite a bit of the not-so-latest, toys and it became really easy to lose track of someone as small as Reisuke here.
Once he had Reisuke back in sight he settled on a nearby chair and flipped opened his schoolbag to get some work done. With one eye on Reisuke and the other on history text; Yukiteru began what would probably be his ritual for the next hour.
Once homework for history had been finished Yukiteru set out on his mission to grab the sentai toys and somehow convince Reisuke that, yes, it was time to get out of the store.
Somehow managing to pay for the toys without Reisuke wrestling them from him and leave the store with only mild protest Yukiteru was honestly able to say that this had been a very successful, if somewhat draining, trip. Overall it had been a good day and he was eager to get home and relax for a bit.
He wouldn't have been as eager if he hadn't noticed someone following them on the way.
Now, Yukiteru had grown very familiar with the sensation of being followed. It wasn't a pleasant thing, but he had grown used to it and adapted to way of ignoring it while out in public. What he hadn't grown used to, however, was Reisuke taking notice as well and gripping his hand much tighter than was normal for the child.
This was when Yukiteru had realized that he couldn't really hide the situation from Reisuke for much longer. So, with a great deal of reluctance, Yukiteru lead Reisuke around the nearest corner and stopped.
He had assumed it would be the same girl that stood outside his house at night and frantically called him. It was a logical assumption to make, after all. Who else would have been following them?
It wasn't until a rather large man in a trenchcoat rounded the corner that Yukiteru remember that there'd been a serial killer going around and he'd just stopped Reisuke in the middle of an abandoned street with no one but Yukiteru there to watch him.
So when the timid boy saw that, yes, the man was carrying a large weapon that would be just perfect for cutting down high schoolers and their small sorta kid-brothers he decided that it was time to gather up the small boy in his arms and make a break for it.
Of course, it was too much to hope the killer just decided it was too much trouble to chase the student down. So Yukiteru wasn't surprised at all when he heard the heavy footsteps behind him. He tightened his hold on Reisuke and forcibly buried the small boy's face into his chest; trying desperately to keep him from looking over the teen's shoulder and seeing a raving lunatic waving a weapon behind them.
Yukiteru let out a scream; desperately hopping to alert someone to the fact that they were being hunted down. But it seemed that they were well and truly alone. The only thing he succeeded in doing was startling Reisuke and causing the young boy to squirm in his arms.
Yukiteru made his way into what looked like an abandoned building; somewhat cursing himself for making such a cliched horror movie mistake but also seeing no choice in the matter.
Trying to balance Reisuke and carrying the weight of his schoolbag was absolutely horrible for the normally inactive boy, and it was at this horrible moment that he realized he was becoming too tired to run. Yukiteru ducked past another corner and spotted an elevator; deciding to take a leap of faith he made his way towards it and slammed his hand on the button.
Fortunately, fate seemed to be on his side at the moment because the doors opened instantly. Yukiteru slid past the barely opened doors and hit the 'Close doors' button just in time to see the killer round the corner. He hit a random number and the elevator ascended.
Yukiteru took this opportunity to catch his breath. A horrible mistake on his part because the adrenaline that had been coursing through him and keeping him going had decided to slowly leave his system. Now all the running he'd done was catching up to him and he could feel a sharp, freezing, pain in his lungs.
The doors let out a small ding and Yukiteru wasted no time running again. Ducking past the corners of the hallways and making his way as far from the elevator as he could. In a feat of athleticism that Kosaka would probably have been proud of; Yukiteru made it all the way to the other side of the building and to the stairs before he even knew what he was really doing.
That was when two arms decided to grab him and drag him under the stairwell.
Yukiteru tried to scream, but a hand very quickly covered his mouth. Reisuke had managed to look over his shoulder at this point and somehow remained impressively silent despite the obvious distress his babysitter was in. Yukiteru would later question why the child had been so stone cold, but for now his only thought had been to get away.
The arms surrounding him and Reisuke tightened and the hand over his mouth remain absolutely unmoving. He was pulled closer to however was holding him until he was practically glued to the the front of their chest.
"Shhh." A voice whispered into his ear. "We'll get caught if you don't calm down."
That made him stop.
Now Yukiteru was a lot of things. A coward, a loser, a self-pitying teen with the self confidence of a lump of loose concrete. But if there was one thing he wasn't it was someone completely bereft of some common sense. Objectively speaking, Yukiteru knew that this guy wasn't the killer. He wasn't tall or wide enough, for one, and he can't imagine the killer would try to hide with them under a stairwell instead of immediately killing them for second (although he could've been toying with the teen, but point one still stands). This did not, however, calm Yukiteru down at all. Because while it sounded like this guy was a good samaritan here to help the young boy and the toddler; Yukiteru couldn't help but be suspicious about just what this guy was doing here in the first place and how he knew about the killer being here.
Yukiteru became somewhat distracted from his thoughts when an inhuman shriek of rage sounded from the floor above them. Followed by a grunt of pain and the sound of heavy footsteps running away. A second pair of footsteps following from behind. Strangely, it sounded like it was the killer who was running away.
There were a few tense, painfully silent, moments that passed by before he was seemingly released. He fell forward a bit, Reisuke still clutched protectively in his arms, and turned his teary eyes towards his savior-of-sorts.
He...didn't look normal.
That wasn't to say he looked bad or weird or anything! It was just...he didn't look like a normal person would.
There were all sorts of people in the world. Blue haired boys and red eyed girls. Anything from black to white for hair and just as many colored eyes. Even the school idol, Gasai Yuno, supported a head of naturally bubblegum pink hair with eyes to match. That was just the kind of world Yukiteru lived in.
This guy, somehow, looked strange despite this.
It wasn't the silvery-white hair, or the red eyes. It wasn't the strangely creamy-pale skin either. There was just something about him that didn't seem like it fit in; like he was sculpted from marble and lightly painted over in order to add some color.
It looked like the guy was using the time Yukiteru was observing him to also study the highschooler himself. A smirk spread across his thin lips and Yukiteru felt a strange sense of reassurance wash over him. There was just something about that expression that felt safe; like this guy knew exactly what he was doing and just how everything was going to turn out and it was all going just the way he wanted it to.
The guy abruptly stood up and held out a hand toward the, still slightly quivering, schoolboy. Yukiteru stared into wine colored eyes in confusion; then realized that the guy was trying to help him up. He hesitantly reached out and grabbed the offered hand, flinching only a little when those pale fingers closed around his hand, and let himself be pulled to his feet.
"That was rather close." The white-haired boy started. He stuffed his hands into his pocket and strolled over to peer around the corner of the staircase. "I don't hear anything. He must have been caught."
Reisuke made a questioning noise. Yukiteru tightened his hold on the boy and shooed him. He was still on edge and not at all sure how to react to anything. And the guy's absolutely gleeful expression didn't help Yukiteru's nevers at all.
The boy twirled on his heel and faced the two; his smirk still present and eyes basically shining. He looked a bit like he was the cat who caught the canary; only the canary had also came with a gift wrapped box of catnip and a lifetime supply of treats. "Now who could scare off a hardened killer? I wonder…"
A slim hand reached up and stroked his chin. The boy looked lost in thought for a moment, but his red eyes soon wandered back towards Yukiteru's own blue ones. The boy seemed to have a sudden empathy, and the smirk somehow deepened.
"My name is Akise. Akise Aru; boy detective!" He held out his hand towards Yukiteru.
Yukiteru was about to reach out and politely shake the apparent detective's hand, but Reisuke let out a sudden squeal of delight. Yukiteru jerked back in shock and stared down at the boy wiggling in his arms.
Reisuke, who practically had stars in his eyes, manouvered his way out of the teen's arms and landed on the floor with a small thud. He immediately threw open his backpack and began digging through various papers. Once he was done searching he pulled out what seemed to be an older news printout; the headline displaying that a killer had been captured.
"Reisuke!" He gasped; trying his best to snatch the papers from the child and failing when they were quickly pulled away. "I thought I'd confiscated things like this from you!"
Akise, who'd been watching the two with no small amount of amusement, reached down a easily grabbed the paper from the child's hands. Taking a small moment to read over it he moved his gaze to the toddler. "Ah, yes. The Okuranba Street Case. I have fond memories."
Reisuke pulled a marker from his bag and held it out to the detective.
The detective seemed to think it best not to question why a four-year-old was reading up on murders and simply reached to take the marker. With a few small flicks of the wrist and finishing flourish; Akise signed the paper in the most needlessly dramatic fashion possible. Probably to further entertain Reisuke and keep the boy's mind off the fact that they'd almost been murdered themselves.
The detective handed the child his autograph. Now it was Reisuke's turn to look like he'd caught the canary.
With the child firmly distracted; Akise turned back to Yukiteru. "And what would your name be?"
Yukiteru blinked for a moment; almost unsure if he'd heard right. "Um...A-Amano. Amano Yukiteru. And he's Houjou Reisuke."
"Amano Yukiteru." The detective tested. He looked distracted, and sent an uncomfortable amount of time staring into the timid boy's eyes. He seemed lost in thought again, but what he could be thinking was beyond Yukiteru.
The detective suddenly shot his hand back towards the brunette. "It's nice to meet you Yuki~"
Yukiteru blinked in confusion at the overly familiar way the boy addressed him. Nevertheless, he took the others hand.
There was that pleased look again.
"Now…" The detective began; placing his other hand over the one he was already holding. "While I do have a killer to track...it wouldn't be professional to let you walk home unescorted."
Yukiteru blinked again; having almost forgotten about the killer in the face of this strangeness. But now he could feel the fear creeping back up his spine. Suddenly, the other boy's company seemed very welcoming. Yukiteru, almost unconsciously, nodded his agreement with the boy.
The detective's smirk somehow became deeper. He removed one of his hands and pulled the brunette closer to himself. The albino then seemed to remember that Reisuke was there and turned to hold his other hand out towards the ginger child.
Reisuke, who had been glancing between the two older boys, gave one of his 'I figured this all out and know everything' looks to the detective. The young boy gave one of his own, rather intimidating for a four-year-old, smirks.
There seemed to be some silent communication going on that was completely lost on Yukiteru. Akise and Reisuke just stared at one another with those smirks; then he reached down and grabbed the bag of toys Reisuke had somehow held onto throughout the chace and place the bag in the nook of his arm. He then let go of Yukiteru's hand, grabbed the toddler, and gently swung the child onto his shoulder.
"Ready to go, Yukiteru?" Akise asked. It probably would have sounded more like an actual question if he hadn't made extra sure to grab the brunette's hand again and tug it a bit. With about as much confusion and only slightly less terror than he'd entered the building with he took a step forward.
And then they were walking.
The detective hummed a bit as he lead Yukiteru down the stairs. He really was way too happy for a guy that'd been, apparently, tracking down a killer. Everything about his just seemed way too excited for all this mess. And that wasn't even going into how informal he was with a guy he'd just met.
It was then and there that Yukiteru, fourteen-year-old highschool student, diary keeper, babysitter and pathetic loner, decided that Akise Aru was a complete weirdo.
A/N: So I wanted to highlight a few things.
1) Yukiteru is an (canon) expy of Shinji Ikari. So it stands to reason that he suffers from so of the same problems as Shinji. EX: The hedgehogs dilemma, self-hate, social anxiety. Since Yuki was based off Shinji I ended up giving him the same characterization.
2) Reisuke is still a child. An amazingly smart, somewhat sociopath ridden, child. But he's still a child. He's going to understand a lot, but not right away. He's not going to know about the stalker because it was hidden from him and didn't know any better.
3) Akise (ironically an expy of Kaworu Nagisa) canonically fell in love with Yukiteru at first sight. So he does the same thing here; I'm not sorry.
