There was an irony to Kikuchiyo's timing when he left school. He wanted to get the hell out as soon as possible, but was never in any hurry to get home. He liked to waste time at the music shop on the way, and sometimes a few of the venues to keep up with album releases and local shows. He didn't have any friends outside the venues, so he never expected to meet anyone. There was a face however, he did try to avoid. One he happened to spot when looking for the new Sabbath that came out a while back. It was his old sempai, Makoto. Oh crap it was Makoto, his best (and only) friend. He was his best and only friend until "the accident." Don't make eye-contact, don't make eye-contact, fuck he made eye-contact. "Makoto," Kikuchiyo greeted, "buddy, what's...what's up?" He just couldn't forgive himself for what he did to Makoto.
"Fuck off, you stupid prick." And neither could Makoto.
"Are you still mad about the..."Kikuchiyo shifted his eyes back and forth his old friend's prosthetic arm.
"Yes, I am!"
"Okay to be fair, you're the one who gave me that pot."
"And to be fair, there's a time and place for everything Kurosawa! Shop class is not the time, and the buzz-saw table is not the place!"
"Uh...Oh wait, hold on a sec." He pulled out an old flip-phone and faked a glance at the call-screen. "Oh look at that, my mother's calling. Gotta go!" It wasn't his mother; the phone wasn't even ringing. But it was a way out of this awkward situation.
"Go to hell, cock-bite!" Makoto cried as Kikuchiyo walked out of the store.
And he thought meeting the Kuroki girl was painful. That was absolutely excruciating. At least guilt didn't stab him in the chest and twist when he was trying to make conversation with her. While his phone was still out, he went ahead and checked the time. Ah, he was gonna be late for the train anyway. Might as well pay Kanbei a visit.
Of his six older brothers, it was eldest Kanbei, that he hated the least. They were only half brothers of the same father, but theirs was a bond was stronger than those between their own full blood. Although in Kikuchiyo's case, that isn't saying much. On his way home from school, he would often visit Kanbei and they would listen to music and shoot the shit. He always felt that of the six, the oldest was always there for him whenever he needed him. And after the nervous breakdown, he felt like he needed to be there for him too.
Kikuchiyo knocked at the door of a suburban...shack. "Yo, Kanbei. Open the fuck up!"
"Yeah, I'm coming cock-knocker!" called a voice from inside. The door opened revealing a middle-aged bearded man. "'Sup little brother. C'mon in."
Inside was a disorganized and disgusting shit hole. Gnats flew over the piled up dishes in the sink, dirty laundry and trash littered the floor, and the smell alone was enough to bust him for possession of marijuana. Those who met Kanbei as a businessman would have seen his living space and assumed that he hadn't been the same since his nervous breakdown. His family, however, knew that he had always been the same, but with a little less "give a fuck."
"Lemme grab a cold one and play some tunes, then I'll meet you outback." Kanbei said walking to the fridge. He was not the devout headbanger his little brother was, but he did enjoy early 70's-80's hard rock such as Van Halen, Led Zepplein, and Black Sabbath and would play a vinyl when his brother came over. He put on an Iron Maiden record, his brother's favorite band, and cracked open a can of beer. "So what do I owe the pleasure, little bro?" he asked sitting down next to Kikuchiyo on the back porch. "What's on your mind?"
"Do I need a reason to visit my favorite brother?"
"No, but every time you show up you got somethin' to say."
"Eh, well I guess if I have to talk about anything...There's this girl..."
"Oh-ho, so little dude found himself a little lady!" Kanbei laughed as he punched his brother's arm, "'Bout time, kid. I was starting to think you were a little..."
"The fuck, Kanbei?"
"Well I mean you got that Rob Halford sense of style. So, what's she like?"
"Uh, well..." He looked up to think about Tomoko; something positive. It took him awhile before he went, fuck it. It's not like he cared for her anyway. "She's actually kind of a creepy little shit. I swear, at first I thought she was that girl from The Ring."
"You sure do have weird taste in women."
"It's not like that. She's a fucking otaku."
"And you're a damn headbanger."
"It's not the same, those kids are just so nerdy!"
"If I remember correctly, you geeked out hard when Megadeth got back together. And then you cried for weeks when Dio died."
"And I'm still mourning Jeff Hanneman." the youngest replied sadly.
"Well, if you don't like her, why are we talking about her?"
"I don't know, 'cause she freaks me the fuck out? I swear she was stalking me today, and she ain't even good at that. She just popped up out of nowhere and kept bugging me about 'the accident.'"
"Direct. I like that. Sounds like an honest and confident kind of girl." They were talking about Tomoko, right? "So whatchya' tell her?"
"I told her I don't talk about 'the accident.'"
"That's it?"
"Well what the fuck else am I supposed to say!? She just doesn't need to know about the accident. Plain and simple."
"Interesting."
"Why's that so interesting?"
"I don't know, little brother, you have this tendency to push people away and keep your distance. If you told her about it, then that definitely would have gotten her off your dick. Instead, you decide to get all mysterious. She must be something special."
"It's not like that either!" he snapped back defensively, "It's just none of her business what I did or didn't do!"
"Whatever. But just so you know, she will be back. Chicks dig the mysterious type."
"Well, we are in the same class, apparently. So I'm gonna have to see her again. Also ran into Makoto today."
"Bummer. Just constant reminders hitting you all day, huh?"
"Yeah. Kanbei, you believe me, right? That I didn't sell those drugs?"
"Tough to say. There's nothing pointing at you doing it, but there's nothing pointing away. Then again Kyuzo is kind of a little shit, so I wouldn't put it past him either." he answered before taking a sip of his beer, "Hey, shouldn't you be heading home soon? It's getting kinda late."
"Pft. Right." Kikuchiyo replied, "What do I have to go home to? The guy who framed me for selling drugs bumming off that grumpy old geezer so they can remind me of what a failure I am? Fuck that! I mean, first he called me a disappointment because I wasn't 'man enough.' And now I'm disgrace because I'm 'unrefined and uncivilized.' What kind of shit is that!?"
"Take it easy, Jim Morrison. You gotta understand that dad is very traditional and very proud of his samurai lineage. We're his sons, so that lineage is ours too and he expects a lot from us. And you're his seventh, so he kind of expects more from you."
"And look where all that expectation fuckin' got me," he said taking a look back into the house. He stared at the collection of various martial arts trophies and medals piled up in a cardboard box. "But you were showered with praise growing up, Kanbei. Dad was always so proud of you. Even Kyuzo, the motherfuckin' prodigy, lived under your shadow."
"'Cause I was his first son, duffus." he replied with a playful slap to the head. "And I followed dad's way since the day I was born. Look where that fuckin' got me. Damn near forty, divorced, single, no kids, a nervous breakdown, a business degree and a job as a damn delivery boy. I know dad gives you a lot of shit, but don't let him get to you. Living to please that old fuck just leads to nothing but stress, stress, more stress, and then this." He pointed to himself and took another sip. "Just be your own dude, dude."
"Thanks, Kanbei." They never thought about it, but what made their bond with each other so strong was failure. It was Kanbei, the first-born flop, who wanted nothing more than to keep his youngest brother, the unlucky-seventh, from following in his footsteps. However, with the cards the kid was dealt and the way he played them, it seemed like he was just born to lose. But that wouldn't keep Kanbei from trying. To grow up happy, in whatever path he took in life, is all he could ever ask of Kikuchiyo.
"Hey, can I have one of those?" Kikuchiyo asked pointing at the can his big brother was holding.
"How old are you again?" Kanbei replied raising an eyebrow.
"Seventeen...Is that a no?"
"That's a no, little brother."
AN: Apologies to any Slayer fans who for whatever reason might be reading this. It does feel too soon. Next update might be a little slow, I feel like I wrote myself into a corner here. That and Holidays. Merry whatever, if you're into that kind of thing.
