Notes: Would you believe that I've been grappling with this chapter since APRIL? Because I swear to god it's 100% true. This thing was a giant mess and I'm so glad to finally get it out of my hair, ahaha.
So I have a tentative update schedule for this story now (keeping in mind that I'm horrid at keeping my own deadlines, but there are milestones I want to hit in this fic by certain times, so I'm gonna try my hardest!). Starting in September, I'm shooting to update once a month, within the first two weeks of each month. August is uncertain at this point—I'm currently vacationing in Iceland, and while I made damn well sure I found the time to finish this chapter up, I can't say whether I'll have the time for writing during the rest of my trip. I'll try to have something for next month, but no promises!
And that should be about it. Many thanks to my beta CSakuraS for putting up with my moaning and complaining about this chapter for the past few months. To everyone else, I sincerely hope you enjoy!
Waiting for Rainbows
Chapter 4: This isn't a life anyone's expecting anything of
Frankly speaking, Hinata was pleasantly surprised to find that he woke up alive in his bed the next morning.
He stared up at the familiar ceiling of his dorm room blankly, the blaring of his cell phone alarm cutti clarity into his sleep-addled thoughts. That disastrous meeting with Kuzuryu hadn't been a dream, had it? He groped for his phone next to his bed and turned off the alarm, then brought it close to his face when he noticed that he had some new text messages.
Yawning, he checked the texts. The first was from his ex-girlfriend, one of her stream-of-consciousness messages that he didn't always quite understand, but that was quickly pushed from his mind when he noticed the next text, sent by Hanamura.
-Why did you run out like that? Did something happen?!
Hinata groaned, dropping his phone onto the mattress. So it hadn't been a dream. Not that he had really thought it was, but he didn't understand, then, why he'd still be alive and unharmed. Kuzuryu must have realized that he had given Hinata enough evidence to piece things together, and on top of that, he had found out that Hinata was a police officer. His days had to be numbered at this point. No, that was an overstatement; there was no way a yakuza syndicate would allow him to live for even a single day longer. Wouldn't it be entirely too risky to give a police officer enough time to report back to work with this information?
Unless Kuzuryu wasn't actually yakuza? There was still the minute chance that Hinata was completely off-base, but logically, he knew he was only fooling himself at this point—he wasn't even sure why he kept entertaining the possibility. He shook his head and picked up his phone again, scrolling through the rest of the panicked texts Hanamura had sent during the night. Hinata wondered if he had really looked that spooked as he left the night before or if Hanamura was just overreacting.
...It was probably the former. Hinata couldn't remember much about how he managed to get home the night before, the commute a rushed, panicked blur, and to top it all off…
He was still in bed, hidden under the covers with his phone. And the chill creeping through his veins had absolutely nothing to do with the early morning temperature.
Fucking yakuza.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Hinata tapped out a reply to Hanamura.
-I'm fine.
He read the short string of characters over and over, not allowing himself to hit "send" on the message until he could actually feel the veracity of the words.
He was fine. Just fine.
Those yakuza movies where mobsters could appear out of literally nowhere to eliminate their enemies were just that: movies.
Even if they did show some modicum of truth, Hinata had his police training to count on. He had a black belt in judo.
He was fine.
With a heavy sigh, Hinata finally sat up in bed and sent out the text message before standing up and stretching. God, he felt horrible.
As he groggily made his way through his morning routine, he tried to fight the impulse to check every corner he passed. It was ridiculous, he knew—even if the yakuza were to sneak up on him somewhere, he was in a police dormitory. They couldn't so easily get into such a facility.
Really, it was the outside that was the issue. The train would be a problem, too—contrary to the safety in numbers adage, a packed rush hour train car would only offer that much more camouflage for a would-be attacker.
Hinata cursed himself for hesitating at the exit once he was ready to head to work. Maybe he should have tried to track down Ishimaru; the younger officer would always offer to make the commute together if they happened to cross paths in the morning, and Hinata would always turn him down because it was a ridiculous idea when they'd only be on the same train for two minutes. This was perhaps the only time it would actually make sense to have someone as support, but Ishimaru, as punctual as he was, would be long gone already.
He shook his head and pushed the door open, stepping outside at last. There was no need to get someone else involved; it was light out. Barely so, granted, but enough that he could be reasonably certain he wouldn't be attacked out in the open.
Hinata wondered if perhaps all the worrying was paradoxically indicative of a calmer mind. He certainly hadn't been fretting about his surroundings as much the night before, too preoccupied as he was with being a panicked mess. At least now his thoughts were relatively focused and under control.
Yeah, he liked that interpretation.
Just as he had convinced himself, he arrived at the train station without incident, swiping his fare card and walking through the turnstile as if on autopilot. He boarded the train, keeping aware of those around him, and grabbed hold of the handrail as the train pulled away from the station.
Three stops. Hinata only had to make it through three stops before he'd arrive at Kibougaoka, and then he'd be... well, there wasn't really any reason to assume Kibougaoka would be more "safe" than anywhere else, but at least he'd be on his home turf, so to speak.
He tensed up a bit as the train slowed, coming up on the first stop—Shimo Kitazawa was an interchange station, and the bustle of passengers changing trains would make it even harder to keep stock of his surroundings.
Sudden movement at his hip made Hinata jump and glance around, earning himself some confused stares from other passengers, but the panic quickly dissipated when he realized it was just his cell phone vibrating in his pocket.
Hinata took out the phone and glanced at the screen; a text had come in from Hanamura.
-Are you sure you're fine?
Hinata leaned his full weight against the handrail, frowning at the screen thoughtfully. Was he fine? He liked to think he was, but he found himself watching the other passengers cautiously as they shuffled past him onto the station platform. He was... a little paranoid, he had to admit, but he thought it was a reasonable level of paranoia for his situation. Would that be considered "fine"?
The train pulled away from Shimo Kitazawa, and just as he was beginning to consider how to answer, the phone vibrated again in his hand.
Hinata frowned further at Hanamura's new text before shoving the phone back into his pocket. The cook had come to the wrong assumption about the source of his distress, and while he would need to respond to it eventually, it would only be one more issue weighing on his mind if he followed up. Best to put it to the side for the moment.
The next two stations passed uneventfully, and Hinata found himself exiting Kibougaoka station, blinking dumbly in the daylight. As he turned and made the short walk to the koban, he couldn't quite bring himself to believe that he was actually arriving at work unscathed.
"What's wrong with you?" were the first words from Kirigiri's mouth when Hinata walked in the door. "I thought you managed to get a proper rest the other night, but now you look even worse."
"Do I?" Hinata laughed shallowly. It was a rhetorical question; he fully believed that he looked as awful as Kirigiri was implying. "It's... a long story," he said dismissively as he headed into the changing room. "Don't worry about it."
Later that morning, Hinata sat at the computer again and brought up a search query, just as he had two days earlier.
Sure enough, his search yielded plenty of results. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu was undeniably yakuza.
All things considered, it was a rather anticlimactic revelation.
Apparently the Kuzuryu Clan was a yakuza group that was active in the Tama region of western Tokyo.
Hino, Machida, Fuchu... there were numerous reports of activity connected to the Kuzuryu Clan from the cities in that area. As he clicked through the various files that came up, Hinata even found the address for the group's main office in Hachioji.
He frowned and sat back in his chair, staring at the computer screen. Hachioji wasn't exactly close; it was probably a forty-five minute drive by car. What reason would there be for members of the Kuzuryu Clan to be showing up in Kibougaoka?
Unless the group was trying to expand its reach into the special wards. Hinata wasn't exactly an expert in the criminal underground, but it would make sense for the more populous areas of Tokyo to present more business opportunities. Kibougaoka was located in Setagaya, which seemed to be the logical first step into the special wards, at least geographically.
And if Kibougaoka hadn't yet been "claimed" by another yakuza group...
He sighed and closed out of the files, leaning back in the chair as he processed the information. Yakuza dealings were more of an inevitability than anything, so it honestly shouldn't have been so surprising that it would rear its ugly head eventually. Hinata had just never really expected to be so directly involved in whatever was happening.
Kirigiri peeked her head out of the break room, considering him carefully. "Are you done with the computer? It's your turn to make the rounds."
"That time already?" He glanced at the clock on the computer screen and hefted himself to his feet. "Guess I'll get going, then. See you later, Sempai."
"You know that I'll figure it out eventually, right?"
His hand on the doorknob to leave, Hinata froze. He turned back to look at Kirigiri, who leaned against the door frame leading to the break room, a stern look on her face. "What?"
"Whatever it is you're not telling me. I'm going to figure it out." Kirigiri's gaze was steady, arms folded across her chest. Her words weren't a boast, or even a challenge; they were a simple statement of fact, and they both knew it.
Hinata gripped the doorknob harder, but he didn't look away from Kirigiri. "I—" His mouth was dry, and after a false start, he tried again. "Sempai, I can't really talk about this right now. I have to go out on patrol..."
She sighed and pushed away from the doorframe, breaking the spell between them. "Indeed you do. Go on, then." She waved a hand at him, shooing him out the door. "I'm just reminding you that there's an easier way for both of us."
All of this trouble would be avoided if you would just tell me. He knew the meaning of her words, and he honestly agreed with them, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. He wasn't even sure why anymore; it was bordering on ridiculous. "Right. I'll be going now, then."
"Take care, Hinata-kun."
Once he was out the door, Hinata sighed and made a beeline for his bicycle resting against the koban exterior. He was grateful for the opportunity to get some fresh air. Perhaps it would help him to sort out his thoughts, and he'd finally be able to confer with Kirigiri about what he knew.
When he turned around, ready to head out on his normal route, he paused.
There, standing across the intersection, was Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu. He was dressed more casually than he had been during their previous meetings, wearing a loose vest over a button-up shirt, but there was no denying that it was Kuzuryu.
Hinata squeezed the brakes on his bicycle thoughtfully, considering his options. Kuzuryu didn't seem to have noticed him yet, instead staring up at the koban building. If Hinata were to take his normal route around the neighborhood, he'd have to pass right by where Kuzuryu was standing, but it would be easy enough to take the next road over and evade the blond entirely instead. Just as he decided to take that route, however, Hinata noticed Kuzuryu's quizzical expression.
That's the face of a newcomer to Kibougaoka, all right.
The thought came unbidden, but as soon as it crossed his mind, Hinata couldn't help but laugh. Kuzuryu wasn't actually that much different from anyone else, was he?
Before he even realized it, he was crossing the street to approach the other man.
"Hey!" Hinata called out, shaking Kuzuryu from his reverie. "Something wrong?"
Kuzuryu scowled, regarding Hinata carefully before answering. "Nothing's wrong with me, but what the fuck is up with that building of yours?!"
"Hey, it's not my building," Hinata retorted, glancing over at the black-and-white structure. Kuzuryu's reaction was definitely typical of anyone seeing the koban for the first time; it wasn't often that people see a police station built in the shape of a teddy bear's head. "It's been like that since before I was assigned here. Something about some corporation sponsoring the reconstruction of the old koban, and that's the design they insisted on." He grimaced. "Pretty unsettling, right? It's worse at night. That one red eye lights up when it gets dark."
Kuzuryu gave a small huff. "More like fucking creepy."
Hinata laughed lightly for a moment, before stopping abruptly and glancing at Kuzuryu. What was he doing? He had just engaged in casual conversation with a yakuza without giving it a second thought. Not only that, a yakuza that he had fled from in a panic the night before. A yakuza who had had Hinata fearing for his very life ever since. Yet he had approached him and initiated conversation as if they were on friendly terms.
From the look on Kuzuryu's face he had come to the same realization, and was equally perplexed by it.
"Uh... right." Hinata shifted awkwardly. "So... are you here for a reason? I mean, I wouldn't think someone like you would just want to hang around near a police station."
Kuzuryu's eyes narrowed and he took a step back, crossing his arms. "So you did figure it out."
"I kind of had a feeling from the start, honestly."
"Well, you're not an idiot, I'll give you that."
Hinata studied the shorter man for a moment, contemplating the guarded stance. "I mean, I'm not going to arrest you or anything. I don't think just knowing your family background is enough to establish probable cause."
Kuzuryu gave a short laugh in response. "No wonder you cops are a fucking joke, pussyfooting around doing your jobs like that. I take it back, you are an idiot."
Hinata grinned, leaning forward on the handlebars of his bicycle. "I just prefer to have a broader view of a situation before taking action. There's a difference between 'wrong' and 'unjust.'"
A strange look fell upon Kuzuryu's face, which Hinata couldn't quite identify; it seemed to be somewhere between contemplative and uneasy. "You're a pretty shitty cop, aren't you?"
"I'd give you an answer to that, but there's so little policing to do around here that I don't really know myself." Hinata raised an eyebrow at the yakuza. "Are you here to change that?"
"That's my business, not yours." Kuzuryu reached into his vest then and Hinata felt his body instinctively tense up.
The next instant was a blur as everything seemed to happen at once, all in the space of time that it took for Hinata's bicycle to fall to the ground. As handlebars and pedals clattered against the sidewalk, Hinata stood stock still, head spinning from the brief rush of adrenaline, his hands gripping Kuzuryu's sleeve and shirt collar in the very beginnings of a shoulder throw. Kuzuryu stared up at him wide-eyed, his immobilized hand holding onto what he had taken out from his vest pocket.
Hinata felt an embarrassed flush dusting his cheeks when he saw that it wasn't a knife or gun or any other sort of weapon. Kuzuryu was holding out several thousand-yen notes.
Hinata hadn't been in danger of anything more than a papercut.
"S- sorry..." Hinata muttered as he released Kuzuryu from his hold. The blond-haired man took a step back, readjusting his shirt, and looked at Hinata. He didn't seem to be mad, but that strange expression from earlier had returned. Hinata shifted uncomfortably under the gaze.
Kuzuryu's mouth opened briefly before snapping shut again, as if second-guessing what he had been about to say. He gave a long sigh, running a hand through his short hair, then stepped closer again. "Here," he said, and shoved the money into Hinata's chest. "I still haven't repaid you for the other night."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Hinata murmured, taking the money and putting it in his pocket. "That's a much more reasonable amount."
Kuzuryu scoffed and averted his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I still owe you for helping me out, though. Doesn't sit right with me if I don't repay my debts, so if you don't want what I offered last night, you better think of something else."
"I don't think helping you out of the bar is really anything worth repaying..."
"Just shut the fuck up and think of something."
Kuzuryu glared up at Hinata, challenging him to refuse, but for some reason Hinata didn't find those golden eyes to be as intimidating as he had before. He wasn't sure if it was the fault of Kuzuryu's more casual attire or simply the fact that he knew just a little bit more of the man now, but he just wasn't as frightened as he probably should have been.
As he mulled that thought over, Hinata spoke without fully realizing what he was suggesting. "How about we just chat a bit, then?"
Kuzuryu blinked at him again, the glare dissipated completely. "What?"
"Uh, yeah." Hinata struggled to get his thoughts in order, not completely believing what he was saying, but at the same time feeling like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Just walking around the neighborhood and talking, you know? Because..." Because chatting with you is fun. Hinata was surprised at himself even as he thought it, but he immediately recognized it as the truth. Admitting it aloud seemed wrong on several levels, though. "...Because you're new to the area, right? I can show you around while we talk."
Kuzuryu studied him cautiously—and Hinata couldn't blame him for his apprehension, really. "You know there's no way in hell I'm spilling family secrets."
"I wouldn't expect you to. We'll just talk about normal stuff."
"And that's really all you want to call it even?"
Hinata cocked his head thoughtfully; no matter how relatable Kuzuryu might seem at the moment, he couldn't forget that he was yakuza, so he shouldn't be too careless in closing negotiations. "Maybe. Let's just put that aside for now and start walking, all right? I'm supposed to be on patrol."
Kuzuryu hesitated a moment longer, but then he slowly nodded in agreement. "If you say so. Can't promise I'll be much of a conversational partner, though."
"You'll do fine," Hinata assured him, and as he started walking his bike along the route, Kuzuryu fell in step beside him.
There was a slight awkwardness between them as they walked along the sidewalk, but for some reason, it just felt right to Hinata, and it suddenly occurred to him that perhaps that was why he had been trying so vehemently to deny the other man's involvement with the yakuza. He wasn't exactly sure what his aim was yet—friendship? He had never really tried to make friends with someone before, it was more something that happened naturally, but was a friendship between a police officer and a yakuza something that could develop naturally?
Did that have to make a difference?
"You're awfully quiet for someone who wanted to talk."
Hinata blinked, shaken from his thoughts, and grinned bashfully at Kuzuryu. "Sorry about that. Uh..." He looked around a bit, trying to figure out how to break the ice, when he noticed something else that was different from their previous meetings. "Hey, that woman from before... Pekoyama? Was that her name?"
"Yeah... Why?" Kuzuryu looked over his shoulder and peered around for himself. "Do you see her? I told her to go off and do whatever she wanted, but knowing Peko she's probably tailing us anyway."
"Ah, no, I was just wondering if she was your bodyguard or something. But you pretty much just answered my..." Hinata trailed off as a thought occurred to him, and a chill ran down his spine. "Wait, if she's watching us, then when I grabbed you just now..."
Kuzuryu grinned smugly up at him. "Yeah, you're damn lucky you stopped when you did."
Hinata felt the blood drain from his face, and he squeezed the bike's handlebars anxiously. All of a sudden he was more aware of his own mortality than ever.
"Hey, relax." Kuzuryu punched Hinata's shoulder lightly, bringing him back to his senses. "She wouldn't kill you. Well, not immediately. Probably."
"I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason that's not very reassuring."
Kuzuryu gave a short laugh, and Hinata found himself smiling as well.
"So no plans to kill me in the near future?"
"Fuck no. You're..." Kuzuryu paused and looked up at Hinata thoughtfully. "Well, all that matters is you're staying alive. For now."
"Gee, thanks," he replied dryly. "But if I'm not at risk of losing my head right now, can I ask a question?"
Kuzuryu's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Depends on what you're asking."
"Nothing about your family business, I promise," Hinata said quickly. "Or if it is, it's something you brought up first. See, last night you said that the money was only the first item on the agenda."
Kuzuryu was silent a moment before he sighed and scratched his head. "Damn, you actually remembered that."
"It's sort of my job to be attentive." Hinata tilted his head, looking down at Kuzuryu curiously. "So what was that?"
Kuzuryu didn't immediately respond, only walking by Hinata's side in silence. After a full thirty seconds, he finally spoke up. "Look, I mean, when I was drunk as all hell the other night. I didn't say anything weird, did I?"
Hinata felt his cheeks flush slightly. "Weird like what? I mean, you definitely said some... interesting stuff."
Kuzuryu groaned. "Fuck me, I knew it." He then turned to Hinata and shot him a piercing glare. "You better spill if you know what's good for you."
Hinata floundered awkwardly. Did he really have to repeat it himself? "Well you... told Hanamura he's a good guy. Because he doesn't serve alcohol to minors."
"Shit, that's not weird," Kuzuryu grunted. "Kids are out of control these days. What else?"
"What else?" Hinata averted his eyes. "What else? Err..."
"Oh just spit it the fuck out."
Hinata sighed, scratching his head bashfully. "Well, actually..." He looked away, not entirely sure what kind of response his admission would get, but knowing it wouldn't be good. "You said I have nice eyes."
To his surprise, Kuzuryu didn't explode in a flurry of obscenities at those words; instead, he groaned, holding his head. "Man, I knew it would be something weird... Okay, look." He turned to Hinata purposefully and held out a hand to bring Hinata to a stop alongside him. He glared up at Hinata seriously. "I didn't mean that in a gay way or anything, all right?"
"Of course not," Hinata agreed readily. Honestly, he wasn't sure how he'd feel about having a yakuza gangster lusting after him, but he wasn't eager to find out. "I mean, it was just drunken rambling. Nothing serious, right?"
If he had to be honest, though, he was a little bit disappointed that the only compliment he had ever gotten about his eyes hadn't been genuine. Why would I want to be complimented by a yakuza, though? he thought to himself.
"Hmm..." Kuzuryu didn't immediately agree to Hinata's assessment, stepping around to peer up at Hinata directly. "Well, I'm not really sure. Can I take a look?"
Hinata blinked. "At what?"
"At your eyes, dumbass!"
"Wh—" Hinata flushed slightly and let his gaze flicker to look around, at anything besides the shorter man standing right in front of him. "I— I mean, why would you... That's kind of..."
"Stop fucking fidgeting and let me take a look," Kuzuryu growled, and without another warning his hand flew upward and grasped Hinata's necktie before pulling him downwards, their faces mere inches apart.
Hinata was at a loss of what to do. He could feel Kuzuryu's breath ghosting across his face lightly, and holy shit, this was a lot more awkward and hard to reason away when the other party was completely sober. What the hell was going on?
After a few agonizingly long moments, Kuzuryu gave an affirmative grunt and released Hinata's tie. "Yeah, I thought so."
Hinata stood upwards, grateful for the opportunity to put some distance between them again, and straightened out his tie. "You thought so what? What was that even about?"
Kuzuryu glanced sideways up at him, grinning cheekily. "What the hell are you even doing in a dead-end place like this?"
Hinata felt entirely like the conversation had skipped about four subjects, because he honestly couldn't understand how the discussion had jumped to that question all of a sudden. "Sorry, what?"
"That look in your eyes," Kuzuryu clarified, pointing to his own golden eyes. "They're not resigned and lifeless like so many other dumbasses in this nowhere town. You've still got fight in you that obviously tells that you're not ready to just settle with what you have. So what are you doing as a cop here, and what is it that you really want to do?"
Hinata stared at the other man, absently placing his fingers by his eye. "You... can tell that much just by looking at my eyes?"
"It's not some supernatural shit or anything," Kuzuryu said, shrugging. "In my business, you've gotta be able to tell at a glance when those working under you aren't up for the tasks you need to get done, and the eyes say a lot. The more specific assessment comes from other observations... such as your willingness to trash-talk the decisions of your employers." He smirked up at Hinata smugly.
"I wasn't trash-talking them!" Hinata retorted. "I mean, if you're talking about that creepy bear thing, that's just common sense."
"Uh-huh." Kuzuryu didn't sound entirely convinced, which Hinata found somewhat infuriating. Sure, he had various issues with the very police force he worked for, but had he really made that so obvious in his short conversation with Kuzuryu? "You haven't outright denied my assessment otherwise, though."
"What, that I don't want to be a cop?" Hinata tilted his head thoughtfully. "I mean... I can't deny that, really. It's not that I don't enjoy the job I do in keeping the people safe, but you're right, it's not what I want to do in the long-term."
Kuzuryu hummed thoughtfully. "You're not one of those justice-loving fucks who's looking to go even bigger to see that the right thing is done, though."
It had been more of a statement than a question, and Hinata grimaced at the realization that Kuzuryu really had read him that well. "It's not like I'm against the idea of justice, but I'm not all that into it, either," he said thoughtfully, then realized that perhaps that wasn't something a police officer should be admitting. No use taking it back now, though. "I'm more into truth, I guess you could say."
"Truth, huh?" Kuzuryu gave a short laugh. "And you thought joining the corrupt police force would be the best way to go about that?"
"I..." Hinata paused. "Actually, I had wanted to be a detective, not an officer."
"Yeah, that's so much better," Kuzuryu sneered. "A detective for the police? That's not about pursuing the truth, it's about finding evidence to support the conclusion those fucks have already decided on."
"Well, maybe that's true, but..." Hinata trailed off and averted his gaze. Truthfully, a police detective wasn't even what he really wanted to be either, but...
Kuzuryu shrugged. "Whatever, it's not like I give a shit. So why are you in this dump instead of shooting for whatever exam or crap to become a detective?"
"Kibougaoka's not a dump," Hinata retorted, pointedly avoiding the actual question at hand. "It's not super nice in terms of accommodations, sure, but it's an okay place. Quaint, I guess."
"Quaint. Sure." Kuzuryu rolled his eyes. "Use whatever pretty words you want, but I don't like it."
Why are you here, then? The question was right on the tip of Hinata's tongue, but he bit it back, knowing that, at best, he wouldn't get an answer. "Why don't you like it?" he asked instead.
Kuzuryu looked up at Hinata, eyebrow cocked curiously. "I—"
"Young master."
Hinata tried not to yelp and jump at the sudden appearance of Pekoyama. He wasn't entirely sure where she had come from, but all of a sudden she was standing right in front of them both, staring coolly at her master.
Kuzuryu, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit fazed by the woman's surprise appearance. "Something up?"
Pekoyama glanced briefly in Hinata's direction before looking back at Kuzuryu to answer. "You haven't been paying attention to your phone. You're being called back to the main house."
"Are you serious?!" Kuzuryu grumbled indignantly, fishing a sleek black smartphone from his vest pocket. "Had the damn thing on silent.. Shit, I hafta go all the way back there just to come back again in a few hours? What a fucking waste of time!"
Pekoyama didn't seem to share Kuzuryu's frustration—she didn't seem to show much of any emotion, really. "It's by your father's request, so we should hurry back now. The car is waiting two blocks over."
Kuzuryu grumbled as he scrolled through his phone, presumably checking missed text messages, but nodded his agreement. "Yeah, let's get going, then. Hinata," he turned to address the taller man, "I'll talk to you later, all right? I'll be around, whether I like it or not." Raising a casual hand in farewell, Kuzuryu turned to follow Pekoyama to their ride.
"Ah... Wait!"
The words were out of his mouth before Hinata realized what he was doing, and when Kuzuryu turned back, raising a quizzical eyebrow, he gaped helplessly for a moment before managing to formulate something resembling words.
"Your... phone number." Suddenly the pieces fell together, and Hinata couldn't help but grin, knowing exactly what he wanted to say. "Or your texting email. Let's swap contact information, and then we can call the debt even."
Kuzuryu was looking at Hinata like he was insane—Hinata couldn't really blame him, either. "What the hell for?"
"Nothing weird. Maybe we could get drinks together sometime. Or just, you know, chat. Like we were just now."
"I'd call that pretty weird, dumbass."
Hinata laughed; his cheeks felt awfully warm. "Maybe, but I think we had a pretty good time talking just now, didn't we? Social politics aside."
Kuzuryu frowned and exchanged glances with Pekoyama. The silver-haired woman looked thoughtful for a moment before leaning over to whisper something in Kuzuryu's ear. Whatever she said made Kuzuryu scowl further, and he backed away before turning to Hinata gruffly. "Fine, whatever," he said, holding up his phone. "If that's what you want to call it even."
Hinata pulled out his own cell phone, studying Kuzuryu carefully. "We don't have to exchange information if you really don't want to. It was just—"
"Didn't I just say it's fine? Just hurry it up and do the infrared thing, my old man's gonna throw a fit."
Hinata quickly obliged, transmitting his contact information over infrared and receiving Kuzuryu's in turn. He stared at the new entry in his contacts for a moment, his lips twitching upward in what could only be a smile. It was weird.
"All right, so, I've really gotta go now." Kuzuryu stuffed his phone back into his pocket and turned on his heel to follow after Pekoyama. "You get back to sucking at your job, okay?"
Hinata laughed and waved them off. "Something like that. Talk to you later, Kuzuryu!"
He watched as they disappeared around the corner, and finally Hinata continued walking along the sidewalk in silence, mulling over what had just happened. Because that had certainly been... a thing that had just happened.
That's really about all that he was certain of.
Sudden movement at Hinata's hip made him jump slightly, just as it had earlier that morning, but with the fear of attack largely eliminated he immediately identified his phone's vibration signaling an incoming text message.
He pulled out the cell phone once again and opened up his messages.
-Hey. Just making sure this works.
Seeing Kuzuryu's name at the top of his recent contacts sent a strange feeling rising in his chest, like a pot of water just beginning to bubble. Like the very earliest stages of an eventual rolling boil.
Hinata wasn't sure exactly what that feeling was. It was strange and unfamiliar, but not unpleasant—if the smile growing across his face was any indication.
Notes: The last time I was in Japan, I stayed in the Chiba Chuo area. The koban by the station there has a rather... unique design, which left quite an impression on me. (I won't spoil the surprise; search Google images for "Chiba Chuo koban" and check it out!) So I... ended up putting a Monokuma koban in this story. There's no real meaning to it beyond that. Probably.