Chapter 6 – of starstuff
"The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff."
Carl Sagan
Dear Yu,
Let me get to know my brother.
Please,
Akira
Yu traced the characters scrawled unto the page. He had no idea what to do. What was he supposed to say? Akira wanted to get to know him, but what could Yu possibly say about himself?
Guess what, Akira? Your older brother is a psychopath with superpowers that spends his nights parading around the city in a mask and ridiculous costume with his equally crazy friends. They battle these things called Shadows, which are basically those monsters under your bed that you thought didn't exist, but they actually come out of people!
Yeah, no.
Yu sighed, giving up for the moment and sliding the letter back off his textbook. He'd been trying to study for hours—trying to show Yosuke a good example of what a student was supposed to be doing, but it was hard when he himself kept drifting off into dreamland.
The tiny print swam before his eyes, and Yu's attention immediately latched onto something else to think of.
"Remember that cat I mentioned to you the other day?" Yosuke didn't seem to hear him, for once looking deep in thought as he stared down at what looked to be some kind of language homework.
He made a noise of acknowledgement. "The one that got you all upset because it didn't like you right?"
"Yeah," Yu paused, scribbling some answer to a question he didn't really register. He'd have to look through this again to make sure it was actually correct. "I keep coming back to it. The cat seemed kind of familiar."
Yosuke snorted. "Of course it did, man. You coddle every stray cat you find." Yosuke seemed proud that he'd used 'coddle' correctly, seeing as the word had given him trouble during his last exam. (Granted, he'd had a hangover that day.) "You've probably fed it several times already."
Yu frowned—that still didn't explain why it had run, but he decided it wasn't something to worry about at this moment. "Didn't the Phantom Thieves have a cat with them?"
There was a long pause before he got an answer. "Well, yeah, now that you mention it. But it was probably just a Shadow like Teddie. You know, sentient, self-aware, humanoid?"
It was Yu's turn to snort in poorly hidden amusement. "I thought Teddie was unique."
Yosuke grimaced at the reminder. Last time Teddie had visited them, he'd gotten upset that everyone had forgotten about him back in Inaba, and even if he had Nana-chan, he was still lonely. Despite all their reassurances that they hadn't forgotten about him, Teddie had seemed convinced that they had replaced him. Yosuke's off-hand comment about Teddie being unique was about the only thing that prevented a whole other issue.
"Don't tell him I said that."
Yu gave his partner a teasing grin. "No promises."
He turned back to studying after that, pushing the cat matter aside for the moment. He had a test in a few hours, after all.
By the time Yu had returned from classes, Yosuke had left, most likely either to his part time job or to a class. Yu sighed; he'd go on patrol, but the rest of the team had forced him to sit the night out. Said he'd been working too hard—they were probably right, but that didn't change the fact that Yu had nothing to do.
He leaned back in his desk chair, pondering his options. It was almost dinner time, and he could go out to eat, but it was kind of pathetic eating by himself, and he'd already completed the Big Bang Burger Challenge. After defeating Aiya's Beef Bowl Challenge, no other restaurant's challenge was really quite as difficult. All his friends were out either at work or on patrol, he was caught up on all his assignments, and it was his day off from the clinic. He had nothing to do.
Yu had just about resigned himself to a Netflix binge (using Yosuke's account of course, because he'd never bothered to get his own) when there was a curt knock on the door.
Eager for something to do, he pushed himself up. It could be Teddie coming for a visit; he did say he wanted to come up soon.
He wasn't quite expecting the resident of apartment 205 to be standing in his entryway. Yu rose a brow. "It was Izukai-san, right? Did you need something?"
The brunette wrinkled his nose at the name. "No honorifics, please. They remind me of my dad. But, uh…" Yu got a better look, only now realizing the other's hands were covered in what looked like bits of rice and burnt egg. "…You got an extra pan?" Yu's other brow to meet the first, both climbing higher.
"Are you cooking something?"
Izukai grimaced, though it was quickly replaced by a rather sheepish look. "Er… Something like that? You wouldn't happen to know how to make omelette rice, would you?"
...
Yu wasn't entirely sure how they ended up in Izukai's apartment after that, but it was probably a good thing they had. The immaculate space was marred by the mess in the kitchen, and Yu wrinkled his nose at the smell permeating in the room. He found the source rather quickly in the sink.
"What were you trying to make again?" He glanced back at the indignant expression on the other's face. The entire prospect was rather amusing, and it no doubt showed on his face. Definitely better than that Netflix binge. "Omelette rice?"
Izukai deflated rather quickly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter. "I've been trying to learn how to cook. My sister's the only cook in the family, but she's been busy with her nursing degree."
Yu's teasing grin faded into something sincerer at his neighbor's embarrassment. "Come over here; I can at least teach you how to make omelette rice."
They spent a good half hour just cleaning off the pan. Yu liked his neighbor, but there was no way they were using his pan—if the building caught fire, he didn't want his stuff being used as evidence. (He'd seen the Inspector jump on such cases before while searching for a match for the partial print he had in his possession. Yu still wasn't sure exactly when and how he'd even gotten that print.)
Izukai was utterly hopeless with cooking, as it turned out. Yu thought the guy just needed someone physically there to guide him along the process and show him how it was done; but no, he just lacked an utter understanding of how cooking worked. He knew it, too. It was evident in the way he let Yu take over any task assigned to him without protest or complaint, almost resignedly. Yu couldn't deny his handiness with a blade, however; when Yu finally just left him to dicing the onions, Izukai did so with an ease rivalling Yu himself. (Yu secretly believed it came from an immense amount of practice, thanks to this sister.)
Yu served up the simple dish at the bar, seeing as Izukai didn't have a kitchen table. He was a little heavy-handed with the salt, but evidently Izukai didn't seem to mind, mimicking Yosuke's reaction every time he made a new recipe.
"Narukami, you are a god. What the hell is this? I haven't eaten food this good since I moved out." Yu laughed.
(He wondered if this Runes thing was at all like Social Links. They both filled up his soul in the same way, a weight that filled him with warmth and made his fingers tingle pleasantly. He felt a little more like himself with every addition, every bond he strengthened.)
"I've had a lot of practice." He shrugged, still smiling. Izukai gave him an understanding look, and Yu knew better than to ask about it if the other was willing to pass it up as well.
"You should talk with my sister. The two of you could trade recipes or something." Izukai had a fond look every time he mentioned her; Yu wondered if he looked like that when talking about Akira. No one had ever said anything about it, but he supposed the expressions on their faces should've said enough.
Remembering his own brother reminded him of the letter, still sitting on his desk an apartment away. Izukai had a sister; he would know how to handle something like that, right?
His neighbor seemed to sense the mood change, raising a brow and setting down his spoon.
Yu only fidgeted for another minute before his pride gave in to his brotherly instincts. "Would you mind terribly if I asked for some advice?"
Izukai's right brow joined its companion high on his forehead. "As long as it's not about cooking, sure. I don't know if I'd be able to help, though."
(How was he even supposed to start this conversation? It was awkward and uncomfortable and he shouldn't have said anything in the first place—dammit, Yu, just ask him. You don't want to ruin this relationship with your only brother before it even begins.)
"Well… I thought that I could ask for some advice. Brother to brother." He cringed inwardly at the wording even as he put on his best disarming smile. That was terrible. And he'd been trying to get into law school?
Izukai looked highly amused at the question, but he didn't laugh (yet). Maybe it wasn't completely hopeless. "Sure. I take it you have a sibling as well? What's the issue?"
Yu's hands fidgeted for a moment longer as he pondered over how much to reveal. They weren't exactly best friends. "My younger brother and I were separated when our parents were divorced, and we only recently came back into contact."
"And your brother wants to know more about you, but you're not sure what to say." Yu looked up in surprise, and Izukai gave him a grim smile. "I'm in a similar situation with my younger sister. She has amnesia."
It seemed the both of them were just full of tragic family stories. Yu grimaced in sympathy. "I'm sorry."
Izukai shook his head. "It's probably better this way. She's happier with her adoptive parents, as far as I'm concerned." Yu raised a brow, but he didn't press. That wasn't the subject of their conversation after all. "But you wanted advice. Er, I guess… Don't bombard him with facts or little skills you can do. Start a conversation. He wants to get to know you, but you need to get to know him too." Yu's neighbor scratched the back of his neck, face twisted in uncertainty. "Annoying as he can be sometimes, I want to know what my brother is doing. If he has a bad day, a girlfriend, or a new job. Stuff like that, I guess. The other things just come with time."
"You have a brother, too?" Izukai grinned, seeming relieved for a more comfortable topic.
"One of four kids. Maybe you'll meet them sometime."
...
Yu didn't leave for another couple of hours, not really willing to go back to his empty apartment. Izukai didn't seem to mind anyways.
When he did finally leave later that night, he found himself strangely exhausted. It was almost the inverse of how he felt after spending time with one of his Social Links. Whereas with Yosuke or Rise or Nanako, he always left them feeling reenergized and filled with a fullness, Yu felt drained. That full warmth that encompassed him was still present, the tingly feeling in his fingers still around, but rather than walking on air, he felt more as if he was trudging through solid rock.
Yu hardly even noticed Yosuke plucking at his guitar in the living room, falling face first onto his bed. He was out before he'd landed.
Takemi raised a brow, unimpressed, as Izanagi climbed painstakingly through her window. The hero limped inside, climbing onto the bed with a barely suppressed groan.
"Alone again?"
Izanagi didn't bother responding, unceremoniously tugging off the metal mask and dropping it on the floor with a clang. Yu sighed, letting his head flop back, hand still pressing against his side. Blood seeped through his fingers, already starting to pool onto the paper beneath him. Takemi sighed, already moving to get the sutures necessary for stitches.
When she didn't hear any movement from the bed, she frowned, roughly pulling out a large bottle of antiseptic. "Take off your shirt." Her intern mumbled something incoherent in protest, but the rustling of cloth proved he was doing as she'd asked.
Takemi shook her head, unimpressed, as the sight before her. Yu's torso was littered in little scars; whatever healing he typically got from one of his teammates didn't always completely heal the wound. Traces of a terrible burn on his side, most likely from lightning, and remnants of a sharp object digging into his shoulder, looking suspiciously like claw marks. Some of the uglier scars she remembered patching up herself. Others she distinctly remembered bandaging last week weren't even visible anymore.
The current cause for concern, however, was a nasty-looking abrasion on his right side, as if the wind had become sharp enough to cut through skin. She didn't question it—didn't really want to, if she were being completely honest—slapping Yu's hand away from the wound so she could clean it and get a better look.
Some of the blood was starting to congeal, which was a cause for worry in and of itself. If he'd been running around with this long enough for it to start closing up…
"You're lucky I just closed. A few minutes earlier and my guinea pig would be calling the police about a masked intruder." Yu grimaced.
"He's still letting you experiment on him?"
Takemi had absolutely no qualms about sticking a needle through the young man's skin, despite his sudden yelp at the unexpected pain. Really, with all the times she's patched him up, he should be paying her like the rest of her patients. "I don't see how that's any of your business, but yes."
Yu remained quiet after that, clenching his jaw as the doctor finished up the stitches. It was only as she sat back that he spoke again. "…I checked before I came in, you know. That you were closed."
She could sense something wrong, and her voice was soft when she replied. "I know."
Takemi didn't say anything when he got comfortable on the bed, turning back to her work. This happened, occasionally. Sometimes Yu would come in, injured, after patrolling alone. He was always quiet when he came in, both in and out of costume, but those days there was something darker hovering over him, tamping down on the brightness of his eyes and the lightness of his personality. She never asked, never really needed to. The world was corrupt, tainted, and it was never more prevalent than in the city. Heroes saw it more than most, it seemed.
Sometimes, the darkness in people's hearts were all one could see.
Takemi remembered the first time.
He'd just come to the city, practically begging to intern under her. Why a college student would want to intern under the Plague of all medical professionals… Regardless, she had given in. Something about that earnest look of his…
It had only been a month into the internship when she'd been closing up for the night, getting ready to head home, when he'd come falling through her window. She'd nearly called the police when he'd unmasked himself. (Well, it had certainly explained why he was so insistent on interning under her.)
She'd scolded him for going out alone and getting injured, for running around as a masked hero, for generally just being an idiot. It had been a concern when he hadn't reacted, but she hadn't thought anything of it.
Later that night, he'd cried his eyes out in her arms.
Takemi sighed, unable to really focus on the results of the latest test as she turned back to Yu's prone form on the bed. It wasn't exactly made for sleeping, but it seemed he was out anyway. Seeing him lying there reminded her of another young man that passed out often on the same bed.
Takei smiled. Perhaps this was what having younger siblings felt like. If so, she had quite troublesome younger brothers.
Yu awoke to the soft murmur of voices.
He groaned, the velvety cushions beneath him absurdly comfortable as he pushed his sore body into a seated position. He didn't recall feeling his physical ailments in the Velvet Room before; it was a strange situation, an indication that something wasn't quite right.
"Welcome to the Velour Room."
The girl's voice brought his memory back up to speed, and Yu took in the living room once more. Isobel was once more seated on one of the armchairs before him, and with a sigh of resignation, Yu sunk back into the loveseat. It was absurd how quickly he got used to this again.
Her smile widened. "You have questions." She gestured to him, "Please, ask. We have some time."
He wasn't quite sure what prompted this, but it was more than he got from Igor, who was all mysterious all the time.
"I understand this place is linked to the Velvet Room, but why…?" He gestured to the room as a whole. The Velvet Room had been a limo, moving on an unseen path. But this was a home.
Her elegant fingers tapped against the book in her lap. "You ask some interesting questions, Narukami Yu." She nodded to herself. "Let me ask you a question. What is velour?"
She must have known he knew the answer—it was something he learned from Kanji a while back—if just from the way she gazed at him. The strip of cloth covering her eyes didn't impede her sight whatsoever, he was sure.
"It's a type of fabric, resembling velvet." It was fairly obvious, as he was sure that had the name of the place not been the Velour Room, he would've thought the loveseat was velvet, like the limousine had been.
Isobel beamed at him. "It is but one of many fabrics often referred to as fake velvet. I thought it was only fitting, since this place is modelled after the Velvet Room. My Master though it would be more comfortable for our Guests if they awoke in a familiar setting."
Yu raised a brow. "But then why is the room not exactly the same?"
She leaned towards him, as if imparting a snippet of gossip she had overhead in class. "Because the form the Velvet Room takes, while different for every occupant, always represents a journey. A limousine, an elevator, it is a transition from one point in life to the other. But your journey is over, Narukami Yu. You have found your home." Isobel sat back, suddenly straight and poised and otherworldly once more, gesturing to the room around them.
"Sister," Richard was suddenly in the room, even though Yu had no recollection of perceiving his entrance, and he was glad neither of the Velour residents mentioned the way he startled at the sound of Richard's voice. The young man turned his inhuman golden eyes on Yu, and smiled briefly before returning his gaze to his sister.
Isobel nodded, seeming to understand even though no more words were spoken. "Very well." Richard retreated, moving to stand by the closed door behind Yu.
The girl opened the book she held to a page. From Yu's seat, it appeared to be blank.
"The horse before earls, a noble's pleasure.
Proud on its hooves, around it wealthy heroes
exchange speech. Ever a comfort to the restless."
She closed the book, and upon her palm was a wooden Rune, what looked to be the letter M carved into it. "Ehwaz, the symbol of the Horse. Representing partnerships, progress, and mobility, its appearance may indicate an upcoming journey. Progress will be made, and the means for moving forward in your life will bring about the courage and energy to see it through. A strong and harmonious partnership has formed; help can be expected and given to benefit both parties. It cautions us to keep the wily spirit of the Horse under our control, but this symbol indicates our lives are moving forward." She set the rune beside Mannaz on the table—it hadn't been there before, but Yu wasn't about to question it—and both wooden pieces pulsed with light.
"Takemi Tae eased the journeys of others in her own Transformation. Learn from her will so that your Transformation may aid in other journeys, as they have aided in yours." Isobel smiled at him, and stood, moving to join her brother by the door. "Please grace us with your presence again."
I'll be hinting at the real reason for the Runes in the explanations the Velour residents give, and maybe a few other things, haha. :) I promise you, no matter how useless they seem, the Runes actually have a purpose. If you want, in the future I can add a list of the Runes and their corresponding person, which I'll update as chapters come out. Just a thought though.
Also thinking about eventually doing a oneshot about that night that Takemi mentions earlier in the chapter. It's still but a thought though, haha, so someone else is welcome to do it instead. Yes, I'm that lazy.
Fun Fact: In line with the Velvet Room's Frankenstein theory, the Velour Room occupants are named after characters from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, another horror classic that takes after Jungian and Freudian psychology. (Gabriel John Utterson and Richard Enfield are both characters within the book. Isobel is named after Stevenson's stepdaughter, who would often transcribe his stories when he was too ill to write.)
The Shadow self is also embodied in the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic, with Hyde being much like the Shadow of Dr. Jekyll, unseen and unrelated until the end of the book.
