He was so close. Gyutaro was so close to making it the entire day without an argument but sure enough as soon as he pulled into his driveway…
"What the hell was that!?"
"Dont you start, You act like you don't know who I am!" he walks the bike to a stop, before kicking the stand "I've pummeled idiots for far less." He turns the engine off shoving the bear in her arms and swings a leg off heading inside, but she wouldn't let go.
"That was dangerous! God! it's just like the first time! What am I supposed to tell Daki if you get arrested or hurt, huh?" She follows behind him as He unlocks his front door.
what? He turned to face her. "What're you talking about?" Her mouth dropped, "you dont remember!? The first night you gave me a ride home!"
"Yeah, i remember that, but i don't recall being in danger," He threw his boots off at the doorway as they continued the argument into his bedroom."You… when you picked a fight with those drunk guys at the supermarket!"She kicked her own sandals off following him, "You stabbed out their tire!" he put a hand to his chin, even squinting a bit... Supermarket… supermarket…oh!
"Ah! Oh yeah… forgot about that" he laughed out loud, "I wasn't in any danger! They were underage. I stole their wallets beforehand for being loud in the store." Her mouth dropped as if what he said was somehow more batshit insane than anything else she's witnessed.
"I told you, Marin I deal with shitheads all the time, wasn't anything special," he waved dismissively, "In fact, the only thing special about that night was you."At first he grinned like usual before taking pause, realizing how it came out; something finally clicking in his head, she didn't seem to pick up on the slip so he plays it off turning away, speaking softer.
"ngh... I wouldn't have gotten arrested, you big dummy, I ain't stupid."
"Why Pick their wallets at all?"
He shrugged, "for the inconvenience of pissing me off. The fuck were they gonna do? Their choices were slashed tires or get slapped with underage drinking and a DUI. Really, you ought to thank me, I probably saved someone's life– eh?"
"you're absolutely right, you saved someone from going through what I did." she said hugging him out of the blue.. He blubbered something dumb, truly forgetting her ex died in similar fashion. he meant for her to interpret what he said as cruel disregard not as an altruistic service to the fucking community. He felt his face flush deeper when she apologized too.
Why is her charm so damn–charming!? For lack of a better word. He put his hand on her forehead and shoved her face away, mumbling more insults under his breath and plops onto his bed forearm over his face, when she leans over him asking if they could play truth or dare after eating. She had been pestering him all morning about it saying she wanted to get to know him better. He really didn't want to but after their date (she finally got him to admit it was in fact a date) and his talk with Iguro he had a slow change of heart that maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"And anything is on the table?" he pulls his arm off his eyes to look up at her.
"Yup yup!" He takes a moment to make sure he really wants to go through with it… if he did though he wanted it to be on his terms.
"Fine but I have conditions." He sits up on his bed cross legged leaning forward and holds up 5 fingers. "5 truth questions only, anything you want, then we don't ever talk about it again." She nods slowly, "what happens in here stays between us. Cross my heart."He hesitates again having fully committed himself now, "just so it's fair, Ill only be asking you 5 too. better make them count, princess." He clearly wasn't excited he had resolved himself to playing but… maybe, she could handle..
"good, you get the food prepped then, my dear underling!"
"Yeah yeah," he says getting up to leave the room, but when she didnt follow,he resorted to his usual namecalling to get her attention, "Don't worry about it, girl stuff" she replied texting furiously on her phone. He didn't even wanna know…
Few hours later, she shuffles the deck, explaining the rules (not that they were particularly complicated) "higher card gets to ask truth or dare ok?" She cuts the deck and they begin first by getting warmed up with a few simple dares. She asked him to play a few tunes on his guitar, he asked her to show off some dance moves until finally it got serious.
"Truth" she said.
"what was your childhood like?" Before tonight he actually never wanted to know or even ask about her childhood out of jealousy that the unfairness would eat him alive and cause more fighting. But the part of his brain that just had to know HOW a girl like her can even exist, eventually persuaded him. Never in his life had he met someone so… unorthodox. And that means a lot coming from a guy like him. As expected she went on to explain her cozy, mostly stable upbringing, how everyone in her life enables her stupidity because they're too chickenshit to tell a girl as pretty as her 'no', even her ex sounded like a massive simp to his ears. But things did get interesting when she mentioned her parents,"I remember watching star princess for the first time with mom before she died Must've been about 5? I remember her funeral too. Dad and I have always had a good relationship but he was never really around after mom died. So.. I was by myself mostly. Thats how I got really into anime! It taught me so much about life. I met nowa in middle school where i truly started embracing my anime fetish full stop."
"Fetish huh?" He smirked playfully.
"Shut up" she said pushing him, she went to explain why she quit modelling because she only wanted to do cosplays. Something about 'wanting a story behind the clothing choices' which he didnt quite get but nodded anyways. "Overall my life has been up and down, there were some really awesome moments, and some really…not awesome ones."For once he agreed, seems her life wasnt as rose-colored as he initially thought, seemed even Ms popularity was very lonely too at one point. "Ok then let's go…" they draw.
"Truth" he says
"What was your childhood like?" Ugh… of course…
A question that had been burning her insides, and probably her friends, since she first moved in. His eyes glance down at the floor in discomfort thinking back to what the midget told him in his food truck earlier that afternoon:
"Iguro! We're gonna head to the beach real quick to talk!" his wife waved, he waved back silently before cutting to the chase, "so what's your deal? Is that your girlfriend or a friend?" He said still waving at the girls, not even looking at him, gyutaro glowerred, "why do you–"
"why do I care? I don't, not really. But see that goofy look on her face?" He pointed lazily to his wife, "I've seen it enough times to know this won't be the last time we see eachother, they're hitting it off too well. Sanemi sent you to me for a reason So spill is she your girlfriend?"
Gyutaro did not like this line of questioning, while iguro wasn't physically intimidating like the other guy, he was smart, too smart, and extremely articulate. He thought Daia was educated but Iguro was absolutely cracked! He put Gyutaro's ghetto, school-dropout-ass to absolute shame. At one point he called him 'sagacious' and when he still stood gaping like a schizoid he substituted that word for 'perspicacious', as if that somehow was better…?!
What the actual fucking-fuck did he just say?
It sounded like an insult but after he demanded iguro speak plainly, he clarified saying Gyutaro was 'clever', and from that moment on he continued to speak 'colloquially' as he called it.
Needless to say, lying to Iguro was a big mistake so he changed his strategy, putting that 'perspicacity' to the test. "shes best friends with your friend's ex-girlfriend," even to Gyutaro's own ears it sounded like a massive 'obfuscation' as Iguro phrased it. Wow, I might actually learn something from this guy…
At last he glanced at him through the corner of his eyes, his face mask muffling his voice a little bit, "so you're one of those.. that's why he called me. Youre at a crossroads, she must be your first." It wasn't phrased as a question but gyutaro still couldn't help but feel he should answer, "don't flatter yourself,you don't know me"
Now he got iguros full attention, his entire body facing him when he spoke, "hm… shitty upbringing… shitty parents… despised by everyone,.." he spoke as if he were reading a crystal ball, like those snakeoil sales-women who claimed they could see a person's destiny by reading cards or the palms of hands. Iguro cupped his chin, continuing, "...the only thing you trust is how distrustful people are, you're insecure about how you look and how people perceive you, especially her…" he nods in the girls direction, "and I'm willing to bet you're so love and attention starved that when someone actually gives you those things, you glitch out like a bumbling idiot… or react aggressively thinking it's all an act" he drops his hand from his chin, "But what the fuck do I know…" he adds sarcastically.
This was the first time in his 26 years of living where he felt equally as offended as he felt completely understood. It was a new emotion altogether for him– he only wished he could put a word to the feeling. Maybe the midget had one in the dictionary he kept in his head?
Instead he grumbled louder about to shout the shorter man down but stopped when his wife and marin ran over, asking if they had any Sakura mochis leftover. "I want marin to try them!" Iguro waves at her reassuringly, and turned to head back to their parked food truck "you coming?"
he didn't put any emotion into the question, nor did he look at him whenhe asked, he thought about ignoring him until marin opened her big mouth, "gyu go help out! Its good for you to learn" Not wanting to deal with her he dragged his feet into the food truck. Inside, iguro grumbled frustrated at the dirty dishes, "goddammit I told her a million times…" He complained, cleaning the metal utensils feverishly as if they'd make him sick if they weren't pristine.
"Word of advice, women ain't that complicated, especially the one you're working with. A little listening goes a long way."
"I didn't ask for your damn advice."
"What have you told her about yourself–"
"What did I just fucking say shortstack!?" He erupted again, feeling a bit too seen, atleast he was inside and didn't have to worry about his face scaring people around him. But iguro didn't flinch, merely sighed as if it were a pain. He dries the tongs and fishes into his refrigerator for the pink rice cakes laying them out on some leaves and folding them gently before putting them into their plastic individual cases. He opens the gate to the ordering window of his food truck and calls for his wife to take them
"are those fresh, iguro?" His eye brows visibly twitch, "they're fresh enough Matsuri I made them maybe 40 minutes ago," he shakes the bag beckoning her to take them, she puts on a sad face, "aw, but they're best when you make them fresh." He deadpans clearly aggravated, but pulls back. Using the same tongs he puts the rice cakes back in the refrigerator and starts a whole new fresh batch.
Gyutaro watches silently at the iguros quiet suffering, as he mixes the pink rice together in a bowl. "Lesson 1: Learn to pick your battles," he says underneath his mask, "it's OK to let her have her way as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. Otherwise it starts a big fight." He covers the bowl putting it in the microwave, and leans against his tabletop rubbing his neck with his eyes closed, "you guys done anything with each other yet?" He asks out of the blue,
"Will you Stop talking to me like were friends?" At this point he wasnt even angry anymore, just fed up. "I get it, we're… the same," even he had to admit it, "but you don't know me."
"ugh is she with you out of pity then? Don't tell me she's lonely? Gross! Both choices make me sick to my stomach on your behalf." Even though his face was half stolen by the mask, gyutaro saw the wincing of his eyes, "look man, I am not your enemy, sure we're not friends but like I said," he glanced out the ordering stand at the girls giggling and playing with eachothers hair, "just ask your questions, already. I can tell youre out of your depth with her, lucky for you youve come to the right place"
Gyutaro laughs, "is that right and What makes you think that, shorty?"
The microwaves beeps and iguro takes the bowl out mixing the rice concoction evenly before putting it back in the microwave, "mind handing me those leaves behind you?" gyutaro eyes him but slides the bowl over, "you analyze everything to shit and think by pressuring people theyll reveal their true nature. And I'll admit, that works for a time, but if you keep doing that to people who care about you, they'll leave. Don't be so arrogant as to think you can control a person's feelings and actions all the time. The minute you take it for granted they'll stay no matter how toxic you are, is the moment they leave you. Look at sanemi."
He tucks his long black hair behind his ear when the microwave beeps again and pulls the bowl out to stir it. All I'm saying is your girls a 10 outta 10," he pauses in thought, "er… well actually no maybe a 9..or a 9.5 only mitsuri is a 10 in my eyes, but I digress, if a short, ugly, asshole like me can land a bombshell, surely you have a shot, with Ms kitagawa over there. I can tell you aren't polar opposites like we are."
Gyutaros face remained pensive, but as he watched iguro mixing the rice without a care in the world, he relaxed slightly, putting the palms of his hands on the counter and leaning back for support. "Funny, you think I should take advice from you when your little friend sunny, couldn't make it last with her best friend, why is that?"
"Why do I feel like you're not being completely veritable with that question?" He continues to stir the bowl, "sanemi and I are friends, but I'm not a woman, he's not gonna confide in me those sort of details, you'd be better off asking those two outside or better yet the ex herself."
Gyutaro Wasn't getting anywhere with him on that crazy dude who reminded him of akaza, he bobs on his feet crossing his arms lowering his guard a little bit more, "fine let's say i… believe you, what are you recommending?"
He pauses mixing for brief second facing gyutaros now laid back position, "Have you told her anything about yourself? Your past?"
"She knows enough."
Iguro hmphs in disapproval, returning to his rice, grabbing a handful, patting it into a ball with rapid movements, "look man, you dont have to give her an emotional sob story, but if she asks just say matter-of-factly where you're coming from, what your life has been like, the good and the bad. I can see she's had a bit of heartache too … but not true suffering like us. her eyes don't have the same glaze, my guess is she's lived a fairly decent life with some hardships in between.,She won't understand you the way sanemi and I can just by looking. I know this because Mitsuri was the same way and your girl is exactly like mitsuri."
"And what about you? What's your story, Mr-figured-it-out?" He mocked. Iguro didnt answer for a long time. Instead he finished rolling all the rice into balls, wrapping them in Sakura leaves and placing them in a new container. He rings the bell to let his wife know they were done, "yayyy! Thanks iguro you're the best!" She reached for them, but he pulls back, and scolds her, "your cleaning was lamentable! How many times have i told you! If we get sued because someone got sick thanks to your sloppiness, i'm gonna be pissed." She cringed, her lips quivering, but stands up straight; chest puffed; heels clicked, and salutes him "I hear you! Iguro, I'm sorry I got distracted, wont happen again!"
He relaxes and hands her the container, she grabs it and skips merrily back to marin who was seated at the mini table. He pulls the door shut to the ordering side of the truck. Then removes his mask and faces gyutaro showing the deep scars on his face
"yeah, pretty bad, isn't it? And im blind in my right eye, courtesy of my upbringing. Not that it's a competition but compared to you, I'd say i got the short end of the stick," he then blinks before chuckling, "and speaking of short" he lifts a leg up, "I use to wanna kill to be as tall as you… thought it wasn't fair" he confessed putting his mask back on, "yet she doesn't mind" he chuckles again, Gyutaro knew he was smiling underneath his mask, because it even reached his eyes "she doesn't mind at all actually, it's strange how women care more about how you act than how you look. For men it's the opposite, that's why we spoil them rotten, while they make us better." He points out the door, "it's why I had to scold her just now, if I don't she'll walk all over me."
"You…still argue with her?"
"every damn day." He replies exasperated, "if you're worried about that don't, as long as there's a point to the argument she'll get over it. Women aint that bad, Like i said, dont get soft, but be honest. Now to answer your question…" he opens the door again letting the light back into the truck, "I was born into a cult, the only male out of all sisters, for reasons I won't get into my mother ripped my face open like this, and I became a walking scapegoat for everyone to hate on, the physical embodiment of self-loathing… sound familiar?" It was a rhetorical question but one that made gyutaro reflect to himself silently, "up until i met her i didn't even think i had a future, and now i have this," he gestures to the food truck, "a beautiful wife and 3 kids with a 4th we plan on having next year. Even changed my last name to Kanroji if only to put more distance between me and my shit family." He stretches his arms wide over his head, "you can do it buddy, you can have it all, i believe in you" again he didnt put in any more emotion than necessary to convey the point, but gyutaro knew what he said was truth, "you have more in common with her than i do with mine. i've always been a boring, stoic, but you dont. In fact, you seem like you were once a deeply empathetic and compassionate person before life fucked you, you should tap into that inner child. Meet her halfway and things should be peachy."
"There's no point, she doesn't know how…" he stopped himself, feeling scrutinized under iguros eyes, he could tell he was listening,
"...bad I am."
He laughs, it was the most emotion he's displayed up until now, "oh man! trust me, she knows! sure she might pity you for it, she might even be afraid to ask about it, but she knows … she wouldn't be with you otherwise."
Sanemis story is the same, abusive upbringing, estranged family, hesequally feared and hated by most, mpbut even he found happiness once… a beautiful young woman. Elegant. Intelligent. And very very kind… the exact opposite to him in every way. She too came from a pretty nice family. But what happened to her was.. let's call it a stroke of badluck." He ran a hand through his long bangs, "actually… that's insensitive of me to say. What happened to her was a downright tragedy, but I don't think it could have been avoided, given the choices made." Iguro looks at him again, "like I said youre at a crossroads, you can either abandon your former life and embrace hers, or you can choose to continue being selfish juggling both your shitty past self and her at the same time like sanemi."
He pointed at gyutaro, "DO NOT make the mistake of thinking she's too 'good' for you or you're 'inferior' to her. The moment you believe that it's all but inevitable what will happen next, and it will .be. YOUR. Fault!" he emphasized with extreme aggression before relaxing again into stoicism. "funny, when i got the call I expected a fight, but youre far more mature than sanemi made you out to be. Glad i dont have to fight you." He wasn't joking, despite his delicate stature gyutaro knew this man was serious about kicking his ass if need be.
If Sanemi reminded him of akaza, iguro– as much as he hated to admit – was the closest person he's ever met to himself. Gyutaro's strength at the end of the day wasn't physical, it was streetwise smarts and adaptive personality. Iguro too, It wasn't physical strength but something else and gyutaro was not in the mood to find out. The little man carried a big stick and he knew it.
Well he wasn't wrong about the arguing. Fine Iguro… let's put your 'advice' to the test then…
"Chaos." Gyutaro finally answers.