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Junpei's knees feel weak. Trudging the slope of a rather muddy hill to keep pace with a man twice his size is definitely not how he wanted to spend his weekend. He was supposed to invite you over to tutor you in algebra, and maybe make you tea if you'd let him. He was really looking forward to that experience.
His momentary pause causes you to rear end him, smacking your head on his backpack since you're walking with your head down.
You try not to sound too irritated at how slow he's making you go, but your nerves are a bit raw this morning.
"Please don't just stop in the pathway. It's too narrow for me to go around you."
"Sorry," he mutters, and resumes his turtle pace.
You raise your eyes to peer over your friend's shoulder. Toji had made it to the top of the hill and was staring down his nose at you with an amused look on his face.
Asshole.
If your own legs weren't still so sore from the suicide sprints he made you do two days ago, this wouldn't be so difficult. In all honesty, you're holding back to avoid leaving Junpei behind. He is no outdoorsman by any means. He swats at every little insect that buzzes near his face, and trips through the sloggy earth, unaware of how to keep his footing. You can tell he's already miserable.
"Hey, Junpei? Have you ever made s'mores?"
He thinks about it for a few seconds. He remembers seeing them a couple of times in American movies, marshmallows roasted over a campfire sandwiched with chocolate on thin looking wafer cookies.
"No. I've toasted marshmallows before though."
You smile secretively, knowing that's not the full experience.
"After we eat tonight, we'll make them together."
That gives Junpei plenty to look forward to, and he begins to feel a tad better. He smiles and swats another mosquito.
You are in hell. Your muscles are screaming at you to stop punishing them with this strenuous hike. Also, you didn't want to gripe outloud, but you seriously wanted a cigarette. Anything to make this boring hike more bearable. It's been two days since your last smoke. Toji had looked at you las if you had grown a second head after you turned down a cancer-stick on your walk home after dinner with the Yoshinos.
"What's the matter? You still mad at me?" He'd asked frowning.
"Hell yes. But that's not why. I decided I'm quitting."
He had a good long laugh over that.
"You?! Come on. Smokes are the foundation of our relationship. You're just taking a dig at my feelings, admit it."
"Don't be dramatic! Not everything is about you, ass," you snapped.
Toji was indignantly silent for the remainder of that night. Friday morning, when you normally would have shared a smoke together on the balcony, you opted to make your own breakfast instead. Something you never did. Toji sulked in silence on his futon in the living room, refusing to participate in his own half of the morning smoke.
You were positive his annoyance with you is what lead up to him asking Nagi on that date too. Why else would he be putting on the responsible father figure act if not to irritate you?
He calls to you from the top of the hill.
"Keep up, boys! Don't think for a second that I'll be setting up camp alone if I beat you to the site."
"We wouldn't dream of that kind of consideration from you, old man!" you shout back.
"He's really on your nerves today, huh?" Junpei comments, noticing you're not in a particularly good mood.
"He's a rat bastard," you grumble.
"He brought us out here to torture us. He'll try to make us dig our own graves, but fuck that. He can dig a hole. I'm not digging a hole."
Junpei turns in alarm, terrified of the possibility that you're not joking.
"Is he really the violent type?"
The man's presence looms behind him, casting an enormous shadow over the boy. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears Toji's gravely voice .
"Only when I have to repeat myself. Now don't fall behind again."
Junpei sheepishly resumes trudging up the hill, digging his toes into day old mud.
"Yes, sir," he mumbles respectfully, wanting to stay on his captor's good side.
You glare through your brows at your guardian as you stalk past, letting him take the rear position.
Toji waits for the two of you to reach the precipice before following, giving you ample space. He knows you're only going slow for your friend's sake. It wasn't very long ago that he had to chase you down through the city streets. He knows your true speed.
Your eyes are trained on the clouds moving in, trying to judge if they may bring rain later. You spit three times on the ground to ward any possible storm away.
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You're leaned against a back alley wall, seeking shelter from the rain beneath an awning. It's pouring down in sheets. There are two other boys with you, buffered against the wall out of the wind. Lee passes you a cigarette the three of you are sharing.
"Thanks."
"We only need 200 yen more and we can eat something tonight. Maybe get some street potatoes?" he offers, recounting the small stack of paper bills in his freezing hands.
You nod, inhaling deeply, savoring your share of the tobacco. It's rare that you each get more than three drags off a single cig. When you taste the burning plastic of the filter, you flick the butt into a puddle.
"Don't litter!" Rae scolds you. He stalks out into the rain and picks up your trash, glowering at you as he discards it into a nearby dumpster.
"What's the difference? All the streets are dirty," you argue.
"Yeah, but you don't have to make it worse!"
You smirk at the idea of a single cigarette butt making any difference, but say nothing. Rae cared alot about things like that. He was always sharing his food with stray cats, feeling much more empathy for their plight than his own.
The three of you found shelter wherever you could. These days it's an old restaurant, foreclosed years before. Previous owners had cleaned out the shelves of their kitchen, shut off most utilities, but they forgot to have their water disconnected. The indoor plumbing is a nice change, even if it's cold and you still have to wash yourself at a sink. At night you'd curl up on the plastic covered seat of a table booth and felt more or less comfortable if not safe. You've had your fill of being outside in the elements. Too many people liked to mess with sleeping teenagers on the street.
"Where should we try next? Where can we find money?" Lee asks, only focused on feeding everyone.
Rae pipes up first, "Train station? Everyone should be getting off work soon."
You shake your head. "We were just there last night."
"But we hardly made any money!" Rae argues.
"Yeah, because we almost got caught. They're gonna be looking for us for a while."
He huffs, stamping his feet in place to keep warm. "Then you think of something. You're the one who's taking the risk."
There's a few places that come to mind where you can possibly score. Outside the nearby grocery store, but that would mean walking four blocks in this storm. Not ideal. There was also a bus stop nearby, but if people were taking public transportation, they wouldn't be carrying much on them. Still, it's alot closer than any of the other options. You spit between your first two fingers on the ground for luck. One, two, three.
"Let's go catch a bus," you suggest.
...
Toji hated kids, just like lots of people do for valid reasons. They're loud, demanding, greedy and egocentric. Most are too curious for their own good. None of these were the main reason why he hated kids.
There are kids on his bus tonight.
He's sitting in the very middle, both seats on either side of him left vacant. Probably because he's purposefully still wearing his work clothes.
Hypocrites, all of them. He knew that most of these people ate meat, and it included the cows and pigs he slaughtered. The other passengers took one look at the residual rusty stains spattered across the leather apron of his trade, and their eyes lowered to the floor. He is an uncomfortable reminder of the savagery they relied on. He's grown accustomed to the way society ignores him. Even before he started leaving the apron on after his shifts, people avoided his gaze. They would cross the street if they saw him on the same sidewalk. After a while the apron became his excuse, not wanting to acknowledge that perhaps these people may have been able to smell blood on his hands long before it ever belonged to an animal.
Tonight something breaks the tradition of the man being completely ignored on his route home. One of the teens who got on at the last stop is staring at him, eyes tracing over the story of Toji's past three years displayed proudly across his lap. They don't look away when their eyes meet his either. Freakish kid. Is that a boy or a girl?
It's Toji who is alarmed when he sees what the kid's friend is pulling out from the inside of his coat pocket. Oh, fuck! It's an ambush!
The smallest of the three teenagers, a spritely boy in a multicolored scarf, hops to the center of the bus, grinning from ear to ear.
"My lovely friends! You are in luck tonight! My brother Lee here is a prospective student for the local esteemed academy of music! Let him wash away the woes of your work day!"
Lee gets up from his seat, with a humble dip of his head to his very much captive audience. He opens his violin case he'd kept safely tucked away from the rain and runs the bow across the strings.
Everyone standing around him on the bus, steps back politely. You nonchalantly work your way through the crowd, casually appearing to be giving Lee the elbow room he needs to play.
The sound of Tchaikovsky keeps the passengers smiling and preoccupied as you work. Since the rain forced most would-be pedestrians into taking the bus, there's a good haul. You quickly acquire a few wallets left hanging out of back pockets, and pull a cell phone from someone's coat as well. That's about as big of an object as you dared to pick anymore. Computers were impossible to grab casually, and you'd nearly been caught taking a camera the night before. You had to drop it at the last minute so the photographer would let you go. You're staying small this time with what you get. Larger coats mean looser pockets and usually more valuables buried inside.
Lee's song is almost over. You turn around and walk back through the crowd toward the music. The three of you will get out at the next stop, breaking away from anyone else who may exit with you, then head back to where you came from to check your haul. Counting it on the street is how you get caught. There's always a nosy adult who thinks they're somehow doing some good by hassling street kids who have it hard enough living day to day. If you could rely on the adults in your life, you wouldn't be on the street in the first place, now would you?
There's a dip in the road that shakes the bus suddenly, sending you stumbling. You grab for one of the rails but miss, pitching forward onto the giant man in the leather apron.
"Woah! Jeepers! I'm so sorry, Mister!" you cry out in alarm, and scramble back to your feet.
The bus screeches to a halt, and the driver announces the stop. Lee bows to his audience, who politely applauds his ability to play so flawlessly despite the unstable ride. He once again tucks his violin case in his coat so he and Rae can hop off the bus. When you go to follow them, a hand as heavy as a cinderblock comes down your shoulder.
"Hey..." Leather Apron says in a low, whispering tone.
Your blood turns cold. Had he seen you? You're desperately trying to think up an excuse to explain your theft. Maybe your mom is sick? No wait! A kid sister. People felt worse for helpless sick children than runaways.
Rather than scold you for your pickpocketing, Toji holds up a fat wad of bills in his other hand. It had to be at least five thousand yen!
"Take this, but give back that cigarette case you stole from me. It was from my wife," he insists.
Your eyes dart down to his massive hand on your shoulder. He isn't wearing a wedding ring, but he also isn't squeezing you nearly as hard as he could.
Without a second thought, you kick him hard in the shin and snatch the cash as his grip falters. You jump off the bus through the closing doors, but can hear the man calling after you for you to stop. Then to your horror you hear the sound of the doors swinging back open for him to follow you. His feet sound heavy behind you. Heavy and fast.
Heart pounding and rain hitting your face, you run down the sidewalk. You look left and right, searching for your comrades. There! Rae is waving you down from inside a quick stop shop. The old in-and-out trick. These places always had exits leading to alleys for employees to throw trash. The chime of the customer bell dings as your wet shoes slide across the floor. From behind the register an employee with dead-looking eyes greets you stoically.
"Hi. Welcome to 7-11."
You turn a corner past the chip aisle, pushing a giant jar of pickled pig feet crashing to the floor from the counter. Toji bursts through the door seconds after you. The employee now looks from the mess on the floor to the rain soaked giant who is obviously stained in old blood.
"Hi. Welcome to 7-11."
Seeing a flash of your hair as the back door is closing behind you, Toji attempts to follow. Unfortunately he didn't notice the growing pink puddle of brine from the pigs' feet and slips. When he throws his hands out to catch himself, shards of broken glass slice into his palms. The vinegar doesn't help.
"Augh! Fuck!"
You hear his screams as you race to meet Lee at the back fence separating the business lot from the alley behind. He'd already helped Rae over, who was the lightest and the fastest. When he sees you explode from the back of the 7-11 he hauls himself over the fence, knowing you can make it over on your own.
"Come on! You're almost there!" he shouts.
You watch him vanish over the top of the fence. Part of you hopes he is still waiting for you on the other side, but you can't be sure. The risk of being caught means police involvement, which could mean being sent back to your family.
Just as your hands are finding their hold, a cramp stabs your side, causing you to double over. Two days without eating is catching up to you rapidly after all this physical exertion.
"What are you waiting for?!" Lee screams.
Your vision swims and your head feels suddenly light. You're going to faint, you can feel it. Absently you strip out of your jacket in a last ditch effort. You may get caught, but your friends need to eat. Everything you picked off the bus is still in your pockets, including the money you snatched from Leather Apron's hand. Your friends need it!
With the last of your strength, you toss the coat as high as you can, hoping it makes it over. You don't even realize you're already collapsing to the ground.
The back door of the quick stop is kicked open forcefully. Dripping with rain, perspiration and his own blood, Toji steps toward your limp body. Using the toe of his boot, he flips you over to see your face. He clenches his jaw and stares long and hard, watching the rain soak through your clothes.
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All of the pieces needed to assemble your tent look identical. You're hunched over swearing to yourself quietly, chewing on a thin reed to distract your oral fixation. It's doing nothing to sate your tobacco craving. From behind you, there's a soft cry of alarm, then the oof! that announces Junpei had been swept off his feet again. You don't budge to turn around, having grown use to the sounds of Toji teaching his student to keep his footing.
"You keep looking down, boy. Watch my eyes, that's how you'll see where I'm moving next," he lectures.
"But your eyes can't kick me!" the boy protests, sorely rubbing his backside.
"Can't I help with the tents instead, Fushiguro-San? I'm no good at fighting."
"Refer to me as 'Sensei.' And that's precisely why you're here, kiddo. You need training so you can protect yourself. I'll be up to my ass in phone calls and school notes if my boy keeps bailing you out of trouble. And don't worry about setting up camp. That's being taken care of."
You twist around halfway on your butt, "I could actually use a hand here!"
"You can do it, champ. Use your brain instead of your fists for a change. I believe in you."
You growl in frustration, once again re-reading the instructions laid out in front of you. There's an image of a sarcastically smiling man in the diagram easily assembling the parts together and erecting a proper tent.
"Asshole," you mutter.
The ends look like they should fit, why don't they fit?! Disgusted, you throw the pieces down with a clang, opting instead to watch Junpei struggle against his impossible opponent. Your friend isn't listening to his 'sensei' either. His eyes drift inevitably to Toji's feet, anticipating the kick. He's immediately swept to the ground once again.
You try to be helpful, "Stop looking down, Junpei. Stare that piece of shit in his eyes like you're hypnotizing a snake."
That confuses him too much and he diverts his attention to you. This time Toji leans over and shoves him easily back to the dirt.
"Seito, don't look away from an opponent. Ever. Got it? It could mean the difference between injury or death. Do you want to be paralyzed in a fight? Or make your mother cry at your funeral?"
"No, sensei," Junpei sighs, and dusts himself off as he staggers up.
"Let me see how much nerve you have. Come here, stand directly in front of me," Toji points to the ground before him.
Obediently his student complies. The top of his head scarcely meets the height of the brute's chest. He's so much more of a man than Junpei is, and the boy is immediately insecure about what may be in store for him. Toji slowly extends his arm, touching his fist feather-soft onto Junpei's chin.
"Okay. Now try to prevent me from turning your head. Push back."
"Wha- With my face?! How am I supposed to-"
"That's where your will is. Let's see how strong you are." Toji interrupts him, taking a step forward.
Junpei stumbles back.
"Dig your feet in," you shout helpfully, "And keep your head centered! Like a rooster!"
Maybe that image was too silly, because he loses his composure with a childish sniggle. His sensei huffs in annoyance and knocks him down again with barely any force from their connection.
"Ow!"
"You get distracted too easily, AND your will to live is weak. Is that what I'm going to have to tell Nagi when we get back? I'm sure that would bring her shame to know she's raising a helpless man."
"I don't get what you want me to do! My face isn't any stronger than the rest of me," Junpei whines, "Plus, you're friggin' huge!"
"It's not your size that matters in a fight, seito. It's the size of the fight inside you that matters," Toji quotes philosophically.
"Said the mountain to the molehill," Junpei groans.
You giggle at his remark. Toji frowns, but motions for you to join them.
"Come here, My Little Shithead. Show your friend how it's done."
You smirk and eagerly hop into the unofficial "ring." Standing next to Junpei, you give him a nudge with your arm, pressing just enough for him to know it's intentional. He has alot of training to do, but Toji is a good teacher.
Again Toji stretches his fist out, this time tapping it to your chin, and you push back instantly. Your shoulders square to mimic his movements, and you avoid putting the entire strain on your spine. He tries to move forward, but you dig your toes in and take a single solid step forward against Toji, making him move back.
"Whoa..." Junpei breathes. He wasn't expecting to see you do that.
Toji gives your shoulder a pat and twirls you back around in the direction of the "camp site."
"Good job. Carry on as you were," he dismisses you.
Irritated at receiving bare minimum praise, you stomp back to the clutter of your flat tents.
"Try reading the instructions outloud to yourself. That should help," Toji suggests.
Baka, you think bitterly, picking up the discarded manual once again.
"All rods ending with even numbers are elevated. All rods ending with odd numbers are ground-based."
Goddammit. That does make more sense now that you say it. You begin separating them into two piles.
Satisfied that you may actually make some progress now, Toji returns his attention to his newest student. Scrawny little Junpei Yoshino, who looks like a strong breeze might do him in on the right day, is not naturally built for fighting. But self defense only requires a few basic rules and focusses. It isn't impossible for him to learn a thing or two while they're out here.
"Junpei, have you ever hit anyone before?"
The boy bites his lip, and casts a glance back at you, now successfully screwing multiple pieces together one by one. He's thinking of when you encouraged him to punch you in the alley behind school after scaring him half to death.
"Y-yeah..."
"Really?" Toji is interested now.
"More than once?"
Again Junpei replays a memory with you, this time of grabbing his classmate by the neck to pull him off of you.
"Kind of?"
His sensei nods in approval.
"Well, alright. You're tougher than I thought. I'm willing to start this journey with you here, but then you'll have to maintain it yourself with self discipline."
Junpei gulps.
Toji leans in closer, "Hey, look at your buddy over there. See him?"
He follows the man's pointing finger, and nods.
"He was nothing but scraps when I found him, not much bigger than you are now. And you have more resources than he did too, so you have more privilege than him when he started."
That gives Junpei alot to reconsider. He's never asked you about your life before you met your unofficial guardian. Had you really come from such a rough start?
"He put in work and dedication to become who he is today, and he's not stopping any time soon either," Toji finishes, still keeping his voice low so you don't overhear him. You might get soft if you know he's so proud of you.
"Are you ready to put in the work, son?" he asks.
Junpei nods, "Yes, sensei."
"Good. Now drop and give me fifty pushups. Then when you're done, fifty situps."
The boy looks ready to cry, but assumes the position and begins counting, not wanting to face the consequences if he refused. His sensei strides over to assist you at last.
It only takes Toji ten minutes to assemble the tents with you having matched the poles to their partners appropriately. He still makes you do the majority of the work, hammering pegs into the ground, rolling out the waterproof tarps and sleeping bags. He retrieves the cookware from his own pack, and arranges a few decently sized rocks to begin forming a fire pit.
Junpei eventually staggers over to the nearly complete campsite, having finished his physical assignment at last. There's a burning in his stomach and arms from the exercises. He pauses when he counts only two tents.
"Oh, are we...sleeping together?" his voice breaks as it pitches.
"Unless you wanna try squeezing in with the old grizzly bear in his tent, but I don't advise it. He snores," you smirk, pointing at Toji, who hadn't heard you.
Junpei's face turns from pink to crimson in an instant, and he coughs nervously, rubbing his forearm. He imagines lying beside you in the dark with only sleeping bags between the two of you. It makes his heart race.
"Oh! Okay. I...I hope I don't snore either. I don't know if I do? My mom's never said I do anyway...Ah, umm...How about I go look for some firewood?" Suddenly he's anxious for a moment to himself to collect his thoughts.
"Good idea," Toji calls from behind the two of you, still searching for necessities at the bottom of his pack.
"We're gonna need alot. Both of you go and find some together. Don't take too long though. You're sparring when you get back."
"Alright, you heard him. Let's find wood for s'mores!" You grab Junpei's sleeve and pull him along.
You march happily into the adjoining woods where you'd set up your site. Junpei dutifully follows, shoes rustling through the leaves of the forrest floor. It's nice and peaceful, only a sparse chattering of birds bother to announce there are humans here. Suddenly you stop.
"Junpei! Look," you whisper, pointing excitedly. "Deer! There's a bunch up ahead."
There's three- no, four small deer huddled together. One looks like a baby, the only one who notices your presence. Its ears wag back and forth.
"It's so cute," Junpei smiles. He makes a small adjustment to his stance, but snaps a twig beneath his shoe.
The rest of the herd perks up. In a flurry, they spring away with hardly a sound. The fawn is the last to flee, still hypnotized by the strange new two-legged creatures until its mother gives a nudge.
You both giggle,
"Small little guy," he comments. "Are they supposed to be that small?"
You nod. "Yeah. Though he's a little late in the season to be born, so it'll be harder for him."
"Well at least he's got his family looking out for him," Junpei smiles.
You say nothing. There's plenty of fallen limbs on the ground to busy yourself with. You get to work breaking them into smaller pieces, snapping them easily over your knee. Sensing he may have said the wrong thing, Junpei chews his bottom lip. He shouldn't ask anything personal, he knows...but he can't stop himself since he already brought it up.
"You...never talk about your real family, huh?" He braces himself for your reaction.
You don't turn around, cracking the current limb you're holding especially loud.
"Not much to say about them. I've been pretty much on my own for a couple years now. I met Toji about six months ago."
"Really? That's all?" he's surprised.
With the way you two bickered, he'd assumed Toji was your caregiver for much longer than that. Caregiver might be the wrong word for Toji.
"Don't get me wrong, Toji's helped me out alot, but I wasn't exactly helpless without him. If anything I'm the one taking care of him."
It's no exaggeration. The guy would be content to rot in his apartment alone when he wasn't working if not for you.
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It's still raining when you finally wake up, though the sound is coming from farther away. Turning on your side, you sleepily pull the covers up tighter around your neck. . . . Then you remember you don't own a blanket.
Cautiously your eyes open, and you hold your breath. Inside. Someone brought you inside, and you're lying comfortably in an enormous bed. You check yourself over quickly. Someone undressed you... But you aren't naked. Instead of your old clothes, which were full of holes and worn thin from exposure to the elements, someone has dressed you in the largest black t-shirt you've ever worn, and an equally oversized pair of sweatpants, tied to fit you.
You seem fine. Where are you?
The walls are bare, and the window is covered by a pinned sheet rather than curtains. There's a calendar on the wall portraying a dark haired girl with enormous breasts and her tongue licking the barrel of a black pistol she's holding. It's from two years ago.
This is enough to tell you that you're in a man's home.
You sit up in alarm and hop out of the deliciously warm bed with instant regret. The floor feels like ice beneath your feet. Wait...where are your shoes? The room looks mostly empty, but you spy them by the closed door. A new source of anxiety for you now. Who would be on the other side?
You briefly consider going out the window. Venturing to peek out, you see you're nowhere near the ground floor.
Then the wonderful smell of meat cooking reaches your nose.
"Goddamnit," you swear to yourself. There's not much of a choice.
You put your shoes on then twist the knob open.
There's an enormous man standing with his back to you at a stove. The same man with the leather apron who chased you from the bus. Though he's now wearing a black t-shirt that matches what you're wearing and loose fitting khaki trousers. It doesn't look like he's heard you. Can you make it past him to the door? It's only a few steps away. Would he pursue you again?
"If you run, you won't get to eat."
You gasp lightly and freeze when he speaks.
"Go ahead and have a seat at the table. I poured juice," he cocks his head ever so slightly in your direction, indicating the placement laid out for you.
A tall glass awaits you on the table. Next to it, an apple had been carefully peeled and sliced into pieces. You're apprehensive. Is this really the same guy you stole from? He was so terrifying last night when you were running away from him. You approach the table and take the juice, peeking over his shoulder to see what he's cooking. There are three skillets on the stovetop going at once, cooking eggs, potatoes, and sausages. You also notice the palms of both his hands are wrapped in bandages.
"How do you like your eggs?" he asks, again glancing your way with zero malice in his voice.
You tell him your preference in a clipped guarded response, slowly sitting down at the chair closest to the door. If there's trouble, you can bolt.
When everything is finished, he brings over two plates and sits across from you, then he slides your food to you from a distance. You take it, reaching slowly. Despite the utensils he's obviously laid out, you eat with your hands, not caring what he may think of it. You refuse to take your eyes off of him, studying his face.
His jet black hair hangs over his brow, and he has a scar at the corner of his mouth that twitches as he chews. He doesn't seem particularly interested in you, focusing only on his breakfast.
"How is it?" he asks you without any warmth in his tone.
"It's fine," you reply evenly. If he's fishing for compliments, he isn't getting any from you.
You both finish eating in silence. You watching him ignoring you. Finally the silence gets to you.
"Did you bring me here?"
He nods.
"Why? Are you a pervert?"
He scoffs. "You woke up fully dressed, didn't you?"
"Not in my own clothes," you argue.
"I don't fuck kids. Want your old clothes back? They're in the laundry."
You're not sure what to say to that. Why is a stranger washing your clothes and feeding you? He clearly gave you his bed too. There's an open futon in the living room showing he slept there.
His eyes appraise you from where you sit. "What's your name?"
You pause, not wanting to tell him at first. The magical feeling of a full stomach is softening your mood though. You tell him.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Toji Fushiguro. So.. is that a boy's name or a girl's name you've got?"
You squint your eyes at him threateningly, not caring that he's easily triple your size. He undressed you. He saw you.
"I'm a boy. Fuck you."
Toji only smiles in amusement.
He takes your empty plate and washes it with the rest of the dishes, leaving you to sit at the table to watch him.
"So now is the part where I must ask you for something," Toji announces at long last.
Of fucking course, you should have guessed he was only playing nice. No kindness comes without cost.
"That gold cigarette case you lifted off me last night, I need that back. Please." Despite his polite words, his tone remains icy.
"Uhhhh...about that."
You retell the memory of launching your coat with all of last night's picks over the back wall of the quick stop to Lee. Toji's fists clench tightly at his sides.
"Hopefully he caught it," you offer uselessly. If he caught it and found the cigarette case, he'd know to try selling it right away. That's what you always did with the nicer wallets, phones, and occasional watches you took. Gold might be slightly harder though.
Toji says nothing. He walks out of the kitchen and sits on the futon still laid open from where he slept last night. There's a small box television set on the bare floor across from his "bed." Besides this, the living room is empty.
"So...is it gone by now?" he asks.
"Probably. Why can't you ask your wife to buy you a new one?"
He says nothing.
You look around his meager living space again. Other than that single lewd calendar hanging in the bedroom, there's nothing on the walls for decoration. No photographs propped up on any of the kitchen countertops either. Then you recall seeing your shoes in the bedroom on the floor. Something your own mother would have screamed bloody murder over if she saw it.
You realize he lives alone. He didn't have anyone to buy him presents anymore.
Shit. He even offered you alot of money to get the case back ... and you took that too. This guy is living pathetically, but would have rather paid to keep that last momento.
Immediately you feel like an asshole.
"Hey, man...I'm real sorry. I didn't know-"
"No. You didn't. Kids dont think of anything except what they want!" he spits, his anger seeping through. "So fucking selfish."
If he thinks you're about to let a stranger berate you for ensuring your own survival, he's got another thing coming. You stamp your foot for emphasis to make him look at you instead of staring dead ahead at the blank wall. He ignores your tantrum.
"You know what? Yeah, I am selfish. I care alot about myself. So much that I steal to eat. You don't have to, so you think you can judge me. That's called privilege."
He scoffs. "Pfft! Privileged enough to get robbed on a bus because I can't afford a car? You kids were sloppy as hell. I knew from the second that boy pulled his violin out that you were going to work over the passengers for money. You're too obvious."
Now he looks up at you incredulously.
"Who just gets on a bus for one block? And plays classical music unprovoked? It's a rude thing to do to refined music, forcing it onto an audience."
You have no words. He's criticizing your method, not your crime. The fact you were stealing doesn't matter to him. He shakes his head.
"I mean, the kid playing didn't even name a real school. Or leave the case open for donations for his talent, either. No one knew what to do when the piece was over, it was awkward as hell! And you pretending to fall on me was the worst acting I've ever seen. Did you actually say 'jeepers?' Who the fuck says that?"
Your chin dimples slightly in shame and you blink back tears. "I...I thought I did really good."
He rises to his feet, approaching you with an outraged expression.
"Are you...You're still trying to act aren't you!? Fake tears!" He jabs his finger in your face.
Toji throws his hands up with an exasperated groan, marching to the sliding balcony door. It slams behind him. You watch as he picks up something from the windowsill...
A cigarette.
You swallow, watching him light it. It would be really impolite of you to ask him for a drag. Really selfish.
The balcony door slides open in your hand before you realize what you're doing. Toji frowns at you, casting a sideways glare, but says nothing.
"Uh...can...I...?" You have no courage to form the rest of the words, but point to his emergency cigarette.
There's a brief moment where he considers what noise you'd make if he threw you over the edge...
He stares directly into your eyes for a very a long time, inhaling extra to give the appearance that he had no intention of sharing his last smoke with a thieving kid.
Then he hands the last half of it to you wordlessly. "You're a pain in the ass. I see why your family threw you away."
You grin triumphantly as you take it from him, ignoring his insult easily. "I left on my own. No one threw me away."
"Of fucking course you did. I bet you were a real treat at home."
You don't respond, savoring the best morning smoke you've had in a long time with content silence. The city sounds of cars honking and splashing through the accumulated puddles from last night's storm carry on below. The rain must have stopped while you were eating breakfast, the biggest meal you'd had in months. Maybe longer. It should keep you full for another whole day at least.
Slowly you look back at the man who had taken you in. Toji could have left you in the alley, or called the police, or throttled your unconscious body for stealing from him. You felt that any one of those possibilities would have been a deserving fate for you. He probably fucked his hands up last night dealing with you too, but still managed to carry you up to his apartment safely. Then he surrendered his bed, and even cooked for you. Toji didn't look like the type of guy who'd do those things for anyone. His looming height and facial scar gave him a threatening presence, but he seemed more depressed than anything. His apartment sucks, his job didn't make him happy either, and he's alone.
"Look, Toji...I'm really sorry about last night."
He scoffs again, but you persist.
"I want to make it right. You helped me and you didn't have any reason to. So let me take you to where we've been staying. I'll try to get your case back from Lee."
He arches a brow at you, but keeps his lips drawn tightly in a frown.
"Where do you live?"
...
To be continued