Chapter Text
The ravenette boy used his thumb to push the last button of his gakuran through the hole and raised his head to look at what he assumed was his own face.
Assumed, because when he compared the image he was getting with the last time he saw himself wearing that uniform, he could not recognize the guy in front of him, looking at him with those defeated, tired and empty eyes. His hand moved to his hair and his fingers combed through black locks that touched his shoulders, then tucked the bothersome bangs behind his ear.
He hated whoever this person was...
There was no smell of his oldest brother's breakfast in the air or the sound of a hurried idiot running around gathering his stuffs.
No...it was just this person.
"Hey, you actually look like a normal kid like that." Saburo turned his head and offered no response to the brunette officer leaning on the frame of the door and instead went back to look at his own reflection.
Jyuto leaned off the frame and stood behind him so Saburo could still see him through the mirror as well. He carefully reached out and touched the longer strands of hair on the back of his head. "Are you sure you're not going to cut it? I can't assure you you won't get teased by it." He muttered.
Saburo put his hand over Jyuto's and slowly moved it away. "It's fine..." He said without any particular bitterness towards the comment.
Jyuto stood there, knowing that he wouldn't get more of an explanation about the topic or progress on the day in general if he let it up to the ravenette, so he moved on with the conversation.
"I know you don't like this, but this is necessary for you and us." Jyuto said.
Saburo's mismatched irises moved to the side ever so slightly. "Already tired of me taking your time, dad?" He asked.
Jyuto cringed at the last word. "Could you please not use that word?"
"It was a gross joke...can't you tell?" Saburo asked with a monotonous and unblinking face.
"...My god, please don't get in trouble." Jyuto sighed and facepalmed.
"Hey." Samatoki grumbled from the hallway. "I gotta go to my office so if you could get the fuck out of here already it would be great." He pointed backwards with his thumb.
Jyuto closed his eyes "What an asshole-like way to say we shouldn't get late." Jyuto gave him a teasing smile. "So proper of you, Samatoki."
"Fuck off." Samatoki responded.
Saburo removed himself from the that interaction and focused on the fact that the figure in the mirror was no longer the only one there and he still needed to figure out whether he thought that was good or not.
"You did very well on the test so you already are in a good light, try to keep it that way to avoid problems." Jyuto explained while he looking to the road. "The school is informed of your condition so if you get too overwhelmed what are you going to do?" He looked with the corner of his eye.
"Go to the counselor office and wait for you so I don't ruin our oh so precious progress..." Saburo answered almost as if reading it of a paper while staring out the window.
"You will have to go back home by yourself, so you got the way back memorized right?" Jyuto asked.
"I do." Saburo answered.
"And if you don't?"
"I will use the phone you gave me." He pulled out the basic cellphone.
The car stopped in front of the building and Jyuto turned his body to face him better. "We're here." He said and took a breath. "I don't care what kind of people you like to hang out with and what you do with your time here is up to you...but just do your best to at least make it work ok?" The brunette said and then lifted a single finger "And remember, you can do boys, you can do girls..." He started.
"But never drugs." Saburo completed the phrase.
Jyuto chuckled. "You are a smart boy." He unlocked the door. "You'll be fine."
Saburo just hummed and got off the car with his bag on his shoulder. Jyuto watched him walking to the entrance and he thought that he took off his glasses and erased the last months from his memory, he could say he was just another middle schooler.
Saburo proved that he was capable enough to solve problems by himself, so Jyuto would let him do just that and wouldn't get too involved unless his mental health was threatened. He had his own life and goals to deal with after all.
He really would be fine...as long as he didn't stand out of course.
Saburo thought about how life really was a joke.
It was naive of him to think that nobody would recognize him, after all, it wasn't like he didn't have very specific and uncommon features on his face that were shown on the media nationwide multiple times. He knew most of his new classmates were looking at him and he knew they were trying to remember where they had seen his mismatched eyes and moles before.
He sat next to the window but –despite the cliche– not at the back but right at the middle where he would easily mix with the rest.
He was about to make use of the reason why he sat down next to the window when he felt an unsolicited presence near his space, but he knew that if he ignored it it would leave eventually. Unluckily enough, it didn't leave and the female voice was like a buzzing sound in his ears that was shaking everything inside his head in such an irritating way that he felt the need to dig his nails in the desk.
The girl stood there with a little nervous smile. "Anyway Yamada, if you need anything feel free to ask me to show you around." She said.
Saburo moved his head and didn't take the time to even register her face before asking. "Could you stop talking to me?" And then turning his head away.
If the dead silence in the room was real or his own mind disconnecting from reality, he didn't care.
The day until lunch time was uneventful. He already knew whatever the lesson was about and after what happened earlier that day any other classmates bothered him, as they already knew about him but chose to ignore him anyway, but then it was when he was walking down the hallway that an older man stopped him. "Saburo Yamada, right?" He asked, carelessly pointing at him.
Saburo looked up and saw that the man probably was around Rio and Jyuto's age, had a gentle but bright smile that made his little eyes narrow and his hair was wavy, loose and reaching his chin, which along with the casual way he wore the pastel shirt and the dress pants made him think that he was one of those men that went for the 'Approachable Teacher' look. Saburo didn't like him or his strong cologne.
The lack of response made the man cover his mouth with one hand and place the other on his shoulder. "So there is that killing charisma I was warned about." He joked "I am your counselor." He pointed at himself with a bigger smile. "Your lifesaver if things go south here." He gave a gentle touch to Saburo's head.
Saburo swatted the hand away but it still didn't remove the gentle smile from the man's face.
"My office is down the hallway." He pointed backwards with his thumb while the hand over his shoulder gave him a soft squeeze. "If you ever feel like something is bothering you, know that you can come to me and I will help you..." He tilted his head and stretched the corners of his lips just a little more.
It was then when Saburo reached to the conclusion that he didn't like that guy, didn't trust him and would rather tell his problems to a rock before letting him know anything else about him. There was just something about him that creeped him out, but still, he nodded just so the man could let go of his shoulder and leave.
He looked for the rooftop to eat the lunch Rio had left for him the night before and ended up doing the same he used to do back in Ikebukuro, sitting down against the fence, legs crossed and lunchbox on his bended legs. The clouds in the sky being his company and the mixed voices of the people he tried to avoid downstairs his background noise.
He would often do it to escape from the classmates that, quite honestly, never did nothing but try to be nice to him, after all, he was the younger brother of Ichiro Yamada, the guy that everyone in Ikebukuro knew. He was MC Little Bro from the best team in Ikebukuro... But in Yokohama he was a nobody, a charity work at most.
He took off the lid of his lunchbox and saw a lunch that looked normal but that he knew that must have beetles or some other kind of creature somewhere, something that he would have cared about months prior, but that currently meant nothing to him. He then looked up at the sky and remembered how his loneliness never mattered to him as long as he got to see his brothers after school, as long as he got to eat Ichi-nii's bento and as long as he knew that the reason why he was alone was because none of them could understand him or be on his level.
He looked back at Rio's lunchbox and remembered that he really had nothing of that anymore, not even the sunny sky as the gray clouds were taking over. It was about time he got used to his new status as a pile of nothing.
The door leading to the rooftop opened and a group of boys walk out casually but at the sight of someone already there walked towards Saburo, casting a shadow over him.
"See? I told you it was him." The first one said while holding his phone next to him. "He is from the Buster Bros."
"Didn't they all get killed?" Other one asked and Saburo felt a knot forming in his throat.
"Are you an idiot? He's right there." A third voice pushed the second one.
"It's ok." The first one said. "I have a cousin that works at a store he went to with Mad Trigger Crew and she told me that he doesn't really listen to what you say." He said.
"You mean he's like deaf or something?" The boy rubbed his chin.
"No, like I heard that he fell off a high place and hit his head so hard he had forgotten how to speak." The third one commented.
"No way, I heard from the friend of a friend that knows someone in a ice cream shop near the train station that he asked the janitor to put chlorine in his cone while nobody was looking, so of course he knows how to speak." The first one said.
Saburo tried to disconnect himself from reality and the load of crap hurting his ears, closing his eyes and focusing in the strange texture of the rice ball he was eating and It wasn't until he felt something sharp against his scalp that he was forced to open his eyes and look up to the trio of silhouettes. "What do you want?" He finally asked with a raspy voice.
"Woah he talked!" The second one exclaimed and Saburo would have rolled his eyes had he cared enough.
The first one cleared his throat. "We're a rap team and since you were among the best we want to have a battle with you." He said.
Saburo unblinking eyes stayed on them.
"Yamada?" One of them asked.
"No." Saburo said and closed his lunch box, having lost the appetite.
"Aw come on man! A friendly match!" He clicked his tongue.
"No." Saburo repeated.
"Oh what are we not worth your time?" The second one asked.
Saburo stood up. "You're not." He answered honestly. "You are no more than rookies that will get themselves killed in a real battlefield." He added monotonously and walked towards the door that lead back into the building.
"Well you're not that powerful without your brothers anyway you know?!"
Saburo kept walking.
"We will prove to you that we are more than that!" Saburo heard one of them yell, but he didn't care, he really didn't.
The only thing he got from that interaction was being informed of the fact that he did have a reputation and that the plan of not standing out wouldn't be as easy as he would have liked. He would have to work harder to keep people away from him
The rest of the day transcurred normally and Saburo managed to get back to Samatoki's place by himself successfully. The owner of the place seemed to still be out doing jobs of dubious morality, so Saburo went straight to his bedroom to change his clothes and take a shower. Once changed into fresh clothes he laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. The coldness of an empty house being his welcoming.
"Welcome home Saburo! How was school today?"
"Same as always."
"Did you make any friends?"
"Yeah right! As if he could make any friends with that nasty attitude!"
"Ugh shut up! At least I do what I'm intended to do in school instead of failing at everything like you! Idiots like you have no use."
"Hah? That's exactly why you don't have any friends!"
"Hey enough you two!"
Saburo closed his eyes and felt his whole body sink as he revived those memories. He shouldn't be thinking about that. There was no point in thinking about it because that was no longer his life. He had to stop and suck it up.
He didn't get a 'welcome home'. So what? The people he wanted to hear it from were dead anyway.
There was a ringing sound coming from the backpack on the bed and he glanced over it. He thought about ignoring it and just going to sleep but it wouldn't be worth his guardians freaking out over his whereabouts, so he would at least answer one of them to let him know that he was still alive and in Samatoki's home, so with that decision he rummaged through the backpack, took the basic cellphone from it and answered without bothering to look at the ID, since there wasn't a wide range of people that knew that phone number anyway.
"Hello? Little one?" Rio's deep voice was heard on the other side of the line and Saburo was glad that out of the three it was the soldier that called. He hummed in response and laid back down.
"Did you have problems going back home?" Rio asked.
"No, I already know the way." Saburo murmured.
"That is very good to hear." He could hear the smile in Rio's voice. "I was waiting for you to come back to call and hear about how things went."
Saburo blinked. "Didn't you have other things to do?" He asked.
"I did, but that does not mean I wasn't thinking about your day." Saburo could hear the sounds of the forest and the wood crackling in the background, so he guessed the soldier was about to have dinner. "Did you enjoy your lunch? Have you eaten dinner yet?"
Saburo peered at the barely touched lunchbox, remembering the flavor of the single rice ball he got to eat and then looked back to the ceiling. "It was good..." He left it at that. He also ignored the other question because it wasn't in his plans to eat.
"I won't be available for the rest of the week, but I will try to make more for you whenever I can." Rio assured. "Food is a good way to bond with others so you could even share it with friends."
Saburo nibbled on his lower lip. "It's not necessary." He didn't specify what he was referring to.
There was a silence in the line but it wasn't that comfortable silence that occurred between them normally.
"Did you have a good day?" Rio inquired.
Saburo pondered over the idea of telling him what happened. If he was going to tell someone, that would be Rio and that could be his only chance in a whole week to mention it... but he really was tired of them having to take part in the most simple things in his life when they obviously wanted to get back to their own matters. If it was something he could solve by himself then they didn't need to know.
"It wasn't a bad day... It was boring." He said, which wasn't a lie.
"I see..." More silence. "Didn't you miss your old school?"
Saburo felt himself gulp and scratched the base of his nail, pulling at the cuticle. "Public School is the same in all the divisions and I didn't have friends back there, so I didn't see the difference."
"I suppose..." Rio agreed, but didn't sound too convinced
Saburo yawned and rolled to the side. "I'm going to sleep." He murmured. "...good luck with what you're going to do."
"Thank you." Rio answered in a happier tone. "I will get in touch with you as soon as I can, have a good night."
Saburo just hummed, then ended the call and tossed the cellphone away. He wasn't even that tired, but he guessed that sleeping would save him from having to answer more questions for the rest of the day. He curled up and closed his eyes, eager to put an end to the day.
The next days didn't turn out better.
Sadly, the first three students weren't the only rappers that approached him during the week for the same kind of reason and even though they weren't being exactly mean to him just the topic of rap battles irritated him enough to throw snappier answers each time. He might be earning himself some enemies, but then what could they do to him exactly? Nothing that he would care about...or at least that's what he thought.
It was in the half of that first week that he saw an Hypnosis Mic being taken out at the end of school and he realized that he had gotten himself in a delicate position. That position made him hide whenever he had the chance, which meant no time to buy lunch or eat properly. However, everything reached its peak after a student was about to activate a mic out of frustration, which triggered something in Saburo, so he lashed at them and out of instinct might or might not have threw an essay tube at them that crashed in a overly dramatic way and pictured him as the kind of crazy person the stupid misinformed rumors said he was.
He could have avoided that in lots of ways, he knew. He could have told his classmates that he was afraid of Hypnosis Mics, he could have told Rio that first night, he could have told Samatoki or Jyuto instead of going to sleep before any of them had the chance to talk to him, he could even have told the creepy counselor, but all of those choices requiered him doing the one thing he didn't want to do so, in a way, he deserved to be sitting in the counselor's office just for being so stupid and volatile.
The man played with his pen while studying him and making him want to run out of there "Well Sabu...Can I call you Sabu?" He asked.
"No." Saburo snarled. He was hugging his knees on the chair and could still feel his hands shaking slightly from all the commotion and the mic almost being activated.
"Alright alright easy there." The man lifted his hands. "Why don't we calm down and you tell me what happened back there?" He asked.
Saburo could remember his sessions with Jakurai and how the doctor would treat him when he was upset and putting the two together only made him dislike the man in front of him even more. He reminded him too much of the disgusting man from the orphanage, trying to make it look like he saw him as more than trash.
Why was he even asking him what happened if he already knew of his problem with the mics? Adults like him made him sick.
"You don't want to talk about it?" He questioned and turned towards the phone on the shelves behind the desk. "Maybe you will be more comfortable with your guardian..." He lifted the phone and Saburo snapped his head up.
"Don't." He hissed. The last thing he needed was those three losing the trust in him and monitoring him again. "It was the Mic, one of them had a Mic and I stopped thinking." He grunted reluctantly.
The man stared with his mouth slightly open and nodding. "See? You should talk more, Saburo." He spun the chair back and propped his elbows on the table. "So you don't want your guardians to know about the incident? You don't want to get in trouble I assume?"
Saburo didn't answer and just looked away.
"Well they don't have to know." The counselor gave him a reassuring smile. "The other kid was in the wrong for pulling out an Hypnosis Mic in middle of a classroom and is getting reprimanded for it, you just acted in self defense...I don't see a reason to call your guardians." He explained.
Saburo eyes flickered but didn't stay on him.
"I want to be a guide and a friend, Saburo." The man reached out to a bowl of candy and took one to then offer it to Saburo. "If you can trust someone in this school I am your best choice, specially now that things might get a little harder for you."
Saburo narrowed his eyes and grabbed the candy, then he stood up and without a word left the office, once outside he threw the candy in the nearest trash can. Not even the lack of food in his body could make him want to eat anything from someone after that kind of statement.
If only things had ended there...but they didn't.
When the sky was filled with the mixed tones of orange, the familiar feeling of getting slammed against a wall almost made Saburo feel nostalgic "How come he got suspended but you're still here if it was all your fault?!" He older student asked while twisting more of the fabric of his uniform in his fists. Classes were over and there were other students seeing, but they either agreed with him or were indifferent about it. He didn't make any effort to make people sympathize with him, so he understood perfectly.
"What the fuck is wrong with you huh?! Say something!" The student shook him.
Saburo wasn't in the best of moods after having to rely on someone he disliked earlier, so if they wanted him to talk, he would "What kind of irremediable idiot tries to activate an Hypnosis Mic in a chemistry lab?" He asked plainly.
"The guys have been asking you nicely and all you do is be pretentious jerk! Do you really think you're some big shit because you've won some battles!? You're not! " The guy shook him.
Saburo huffed. "It's not my problem that you don't know what NO means."
The boy grit his teeth and spat to the side "Whatever! Everybody knows that the younger brothers were worth nothing without Ichiro Yamada." He fumed.
Saburo tightened the grip on the handle of his bag and swung it towards the older student, hitting him across the face and finally freeing himself. The other students watched in awe to a reaction they weren't expecting from the youngest while the attacked one fell backwards and looked up at the ravenette.
Saburo took a deep breath but kept his face blank. "Who gave you permission to talk about my brothers?" He asked with cold venom pouring from his voice. "It's true that I am nothing without them...but I'm still above you, so think about what it is like to be less than nothing and leave me the fuck alone." He walked away as quickly as he could without looking like he was running.
"Don't you fucking mess with him alright?!"
"He's the one that insulted us first,Yamada!"
"I don't care! He's my brother so if you want to punch him you'll have to get past me first!"
"Jiro..."
"Shut up Saburo, I'll take care of this."
He rubbed his eyes, felt his heart going fast and the air not being enough as he made his way back to the house. He was angry, he was scared, he was pained, he hated that place and he knew he only kept making it worse. Once in the train he buried his face in his hands and practiced the techniques the doctor taught him. From what he had learned, luckily enough he wasn't having a panic attack but he was having an anxiety attack which wasn't ideal either but it was way better. He tried to use the 333 method, but looking up and seeing all the people and having the noise of the world didn't let him concentrate enough to count the three things, so he was stuck with just trying to breath until he reached a less packed place. 'Why? Why is this happening? Why?' He thought over and over.
He could do it...or more like he had to because he couldn't go into his 'off mode' in a train.
Samatoki had made an effort to get back home early that day because he knew that something was going on with the little shit and he would be damned if he let a 14 years old try to fool him in his own home. He could understand the first night when he arrived and found him already asleep but it kept happening the following days and he didn't even have the chance to ask him if he had eaten dinner, because he hadn't eaten in his kitchen and he wasn't going to open his bag and check if he was using the cash they gave him.
Even in the morning Saburo would be too busy to talk to him about anything –not like he asked much– and Jyuto told him that he only gave him the same vague answers whenever he asked something when he drove him to school, but then Jyuto was calm because Rio told them about the conversation they had the first day and the officer trusted his words enough to not worry. Still, Samatoki told Jyuto to come so he could see with his own eyes how he was doing a better job than him.
The door opened and Samatoki turned over and saw the ravenette stomping into the house and almost throwing the shoes away in the entrance.
Samatoki frowned with confusion. "Well welcome home you too." He said sarcastically. It was weird those days to see the boy showing any emotions so definitely something important must had happened and since Saburo didn't stop and was making his way to the room so Samatoki had to block the way. "Hey, we need to talk." He said, but Saburo literally shoved him out of the way in a desperate manner. Of course he didn't have the strength to actually move his guardian, but it was more the sudden action that made Samatoki move aside.
The cigarette fell from Samatoki's hand and he clenched his fist. "What the fuck is wrong with you now?!" He hollered, but Saburo was already slamming the door of his bedroom shut.
Samatoki felt the anger filling him but still gloated at the door. "Jokes on you smartass! I have the key for that door!"
He wasn't expecting the screech that came from the other side of the room. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The albino blinked and the first thing he did was take out his phone and dial Jyuto's number so he could tell him to not come and see how he was NOT doing a better job.
Jyuto answered sounding like he was about to fall asleep. "I'm on my way Samatoki." He sighed.
"Turn around. Don't come." Samatoki commanded.
"What?" Jyuto asked, without a trace of humor in his voice.
"Don't come." Samatoki repeated. "Saburo's not in a good mood."
"What do you mean he is not in a good mood?" Jyuto sounded annoyed. "What did you do Samatoki?"
"I did nothing, asshole." Samatoki grumbled. "He came back from school like that and he made very fucking clear that he wants to be left alone."
"My god...I really don't need this right now." Jyuto sighed. "Do you think you can put him on the phone?"
"The fuck did I just say?" Samatoki crossed his arms and glared down at the floor.
"Samatoki I'm dealing with an important drug case right now, if you don't put that kid in the phone and make me go all the way there you're gonna have to find someone else to get your ass out of jail next time." Jyuto said in one breath.
Samatoki clicked his tongue. "Fucking bunny jerk..." He grunted and went to Saburo's door. "Hey." He knocked
No response.
"Hey I'll leave you alone or whatever but at least give a life sign to Jyuto." Samatoki knocked again, but once again there was no response, so Samatoki cursed and went to get the key for the door. "Last chance brat, I'm opening this door if you don't." Samatoki warned and after the third silence from Saburo he unlocked the door and opened it.
"Seriously what the fu-" Samatoki stopped mid-sentence when he saw the ravenette laying unconscious on the floor. "Shit." He kneeled next to him and quickly put the phone away as he scanned him for cuts or pills or anything that could tell what happened to him. "Come on brat not this again..." He said with pure concern while lifting his upper body.
"What? Samatoki what happened?" Jyuto asked with exasperation.
Samatoki put the phone back against his ear "He's out."
The next morning was awkward to say the least.
Saburo's stress had made his blood pressure to drop and right after his scream, when he reached his peak his –not properly fed– body gave up. It wasn't anything too serious –in Saburo's context– but it confirmed the fact that something was definitely happening.
"Nothing is happening." Is what Saburo told them that morning. "I have been skipping meals because I come back wanting to sleep."
Bullshit. Both Jyuto and Samatoki knew that was bullshit. When they told the doctor he recommended to not pressure him to avoid stressing him out and focus on the alimentary problem, so that day Samatoki actually took the time to make a lunchbox for Saburo just like the ones he would make for Nemu back in the day and shoved it in the bag. Not only that but also went with them to see Saburo get in school.
"Saburo, you can rest today if you need to." Jyuto assured him once they stopped at the entrance. "You can skip school."
"I'm fine, yesterday was just a bad day." Saburo murmured, opening the door of the car, but then Samatoki grabbed his wrist.
"Make sure to eat your lunch, idiot." He said seriously but nowhere angry or annoyed. "I don't know what the fuck is going on or if you're lying because you're very stupid, but just use you damn phone if things get rough. Save us some trouble."
Saburo sighed through his nose and looked away. "I'm sorry...about yesterday." He whispered. "I will eat the whole lunchbox...and end..." He mumbled the last part to an incomprehensible point.
"What was that last part?" Samatoki raised an eyebrow but Saburo just pulled his arm out of the grip, closed the door and then walked away.
The officer and the yakuza watched him go and studied the faces of the other students to see if there were any malicious looks towards the ravenette, but everyone seemed invested in their own world.
"I'm gonna find out what's going on." Samatoki declared.
Jyuto sighed. "Rio would had found out by now..." He commented. "I will call the school when I get to work to see what they know."
"You do that and I'll do something that actually works." Samatoki chuckled. "Now drive me to my office." He ordered with a hand gesture.
"Excuse me?" Jyuto looked at him with indignation.
Something was happening, they didn't know exactly what it was and Jyuto's call to the school that led to the counselor came out empty handed, which meant that whatever problem Saburo had was on him and in a normal time Samatoki wouldn't have cared, but if whatever was happening was affecting Saburo enough to mess with his head to the point of passing out, and if there was something that scared him was the idea of going back to square one. He hated square one.
Why did Saburo make everything so difficult? Hadn't they done enough to earn his trust? Jakurai did tell them that he would eventually try to get his independence and that interfering with that would make everything worse and he was just fine with having a break from babysitting a jerk, at least until he found out he wasn't eating.
What happened the night before was what changed his view of what was happening. He needed a way to assure he wouldn't go back to do rounds to a kid in fetal position all day.
The man guarding his door opened it and informed him that someone had come to see him. However, before Samatoki could answer a red haired monk bursted into the office and slumped on the couch.
Samatoki looked up and glared at him "What the fuck are you doing here?" He asked, but still motioned at his men to not kick him out immediately.
"I need you to do something, Samatoki." Kuko said seriously.
"Mr. Samatoki for you." Samatoki clarified. "And I'm not in the mood today so fuck off." He motioned at his guard to leave the office.
Kuko held onto the couch and looked pointedly at Samatoki. "Don't be a bitch!" He whined. "This is a mission from buddha."
"That's Buddha's goddamn problem." Samatoki responded. "I already have to deal with the handful that is Saburo, so take your shit elsewhere."
In that moment Kuko's demeanor changed to a more calm one and moved his eyes to the side almost too casually "Did something happen with Saburo?" He asked.
"None of your business." Was all Samatoki said.
Kuko didn't seem to like the answer, but he covered it with a smirk "Three guardians and all suck ass..." He snorted.
Samatoki grit his teeth. "You think this is easy?" He put his hands on the desk and leaned forward with a smug smile. "Since you're so obsessed with the brat, why don't you go and find out what's going on with him at school?" He asked sarcastically.
"Sure." Kuko responded.
The smile disappeared from Samatoki's face. "What?"
"School crap? You really can't deal with that?" Kuko arched an eyebrow. "Lame as fuck."
Samatoki walked around his desk. "You say you can make it stop?" He asked cautiously.
Kuko smirked. "Maybe." He crossed his arms. "If you do me the favor I came here to ask for I'll see what I can do."
Samatoki narrowed his eyes and lit up a cigarette. An idea just had come to his mind that involved him not having to worry about Saburo covering things up anymore "...I hear you."
The clases were over once again and Saburo was walking out the school territory. It was a very peaceful day for him and not what he was expecting, but at least he got the chance to eat the whole lunchbox and he wouldn't complain for the solitude he had desired so much ever since day one.
But then it happened.
He didn't know how he ended up in a lonely street near the school, he just saw that at the exit were the first three students that asked for a rap battle among more people that didn't give him more of a choice but to follow. Once there he just waited to see what had been the price for a peaceful day at school.
"We finally got what you were trying to say!" The first one said. "And we came here to prove you that we are worthy!"
Saburo didn't think they understood what he had been trying to say at all.
"We figured the only way to fire you up is to show you our skills first." The second one said with a smile. "That way you will want to fight right?"
Saburo blinked slowly. They weren't bad people, he could tell, but they were very dumb so probably it was time to confess. However before he could say anything, the third one cheered. "Just check this out!"
Despite the noises of excitement of the other people around them, Saburo could only hear the terrifying sound of a mic activating and quickly lowered his head to not see the speakers that probably materialized there.
He felt himself shiver by the cold sweat escaping from his pores, deafening static filled his head and made his mind disconnect from his common sense, words wouldn't form or come out of his mouth and the only order his body was listening to was to keep his eyes shut as if his life depended on it, not only to save him from having to see the speakers but also to seal the tears that wanted to come out. He could only beg for it to be over but to no avail, because it wasn't the fault of others but his own broken mind that kept torturing him with the same things over and over again. He felt like calling for help but knew that nobody would help him because he wanted it that way, because he complained about being left alone by his brothers but at the same time went out of his way to make sure people hated him and left him alone. He wanted it to end, it didn't matter if it was the rap or his life but he wanted something to end.
He was brought back to reality by a sharp pain on the back of the head. He lifted his head and slowly opened his eyes, having problems focusing the shape in front of him depriving him from the only light source that was the sun, but once he came back to his sense and saw the person standing there his face twisted with confusion. "Why you...?" He asked in a whisper.
"About fucking time." Kuko groaned and made an upward movement with his chin. "Get up, you're sitting on trash."
Saburo looked around him and realized that not only everyone else was gone but also that he was indeed sitting in an alley between a bunch of trashcans and he didn't remember how he got there. He stood up and used the wall as a support when a brief dizziness got him.
"The fuck happened to you?" Kuko asked.
"The Mics...they activated the mics." Saburo rasped and furrowed his brow. "They saw..." He had let them see the one weakness that they could use to torture him every single day if they wanted to. Just great.
"Saw what?" Kuko furrowed his brow as well. "You sitting on the trash looking like a stoner? Cus that's all I saw you doing."
Saburo breathed out and walked past the monk to leave the alley and it was then when he realized that he wasn't that far from the place where he last remembered being. "...What happened?"
Kuko eyed him as he stood next to him "shit...you really were that gone huh?" He put his hands in his pockets. "So there was this lame ass battle going on and you looked liked total crap and just peaced out when things got interesting."
"The battle just stopped?" Saburo peered at the exact spot where he was surrounded by people.
"Does it fucking matter?" Kuko rolled his eyes. "It's over and nobody saw you shit yourself so it's all good right?" He mocked.
Saburo just stared forward and fixed his bag on his shoulder before turning to walk away. He wanted to take a shower and go to sleep.
Kuko, being faster than him, blocked his way. "How about a thank you for saving your ass?" He grumbled, but when Saburo didn't respond he clicked his tongue and extended his hand. "Gimme your phone."
Saburo blinked slowly, staring down at the shorter one.
Kuko then huffed and snatched the phone from Saburo's bag himself. "You have to be fucking kidding me with this goddamn shit..." He cursed under his breath while saving his number in the device.
The monk then took a deep breath and looked at the ravenette. "Listen, if there's something weird with MTShit or with your scummy dad you can call me alright?" He said while handing him the phone back.
Saburo stayed quiet for a moment and then sighed. "Let me guess..." He started. "You had a crush on Ichi-nii and now that he's gone you want to use me to compensate something." He put the phone back in its pocket. "People need to stop that already... just help me keep the graves clean and take them flowers sometimes. Seriously. That's all."
Kuko's eyes actually widened at that. "What? What the fuck?! It's not that you fucking moron!" He blabbered. "But you can't trust Samatoki okay?"
Saburo raised his eyebrows. "Bold of you to ask me to trust you instead, considering we barely know each other..." He muttered. "To me you are both the same, that is, people that betrayed Ichi-nii...but at least he has given me reasons to trust him, so I'll pass on your offer." He stepped aside and walked past him once again. He thought it would be a peaceful day but he ended up admitting out loud that he trusted Samatoki Aohistsuji. That was just lovely.
"Well fuck off." Kuko flipped the bird and he heard him stomp ln the opposite direction.
Saburo thought about how even that random person had seen him in that state he had come to hate so much...he was done. There was only one thing left to do for him in order to save the rest of his school years.
"Rap battles? He was being challenged to rap battles?" Jyuto asked before drinking coffee from his cup.
"That's what I found out." Samatoki leaned back on the chair in his livig room. He didn't reveal any details about be got the information but that wasn't important anyway.
Jyuto shook his head slowly. "No wonder why he was stressed...he must have been on edge all week." He muttered. "But why not just tell us?"
Samatoki shrugged. "What were we going to do anyway?" He looked up. "Take him out of school? The mics are everywhere so unless he stays locked up he'll have to deal with that crap."
"Yeah..." Jyuto crossed his arms. "Being that afraid of rap battles these days that they are everywhere must be difficult." He commented.
"We don't have to worry about it happening at school anymore though." Samatoki stretched his arms.
Jyuto gave him a side glance and lifted an eyebrow. "...Why? What did you do?" He asked suspiciously.
Samatoki frowned and looked away "I didn't do shit..."
Jyuto observed him but just as he thought about getting more information the front door opened and both of them turned their attention to the younger one.
Saburo, calm and quiet as –the new– usual stood there and stared down. "Do you think... I should be nice to my classmates?" He asked, out of nowhere.
The officer and the yakuza looked at each other with surprise and then back at the teen. "Well, It will be less troublesome if they don't hate you." Jyuto said. "You don't have to be their friend, just nice enough."
Saburo hummed and considered the answer.
"You ate all your lunch right?" Samatoki narrowed his eyes.
Saburo limited himself to show him the empty lunchbox and say. "Decent."
While Samatoki didn't seem amused, Jyuto did chuckle. "Alright, how about you get ready and we eat dinner outside tonight? Someone here has to make up for all of those skipped meals..."
It was at the last day of his tiring week that Saburo decided to change his strategy, to remind himself that in the end nothing mattered and stop giving importance to an image of strength he didn't longer have.
He went to the rooftop at lunch break and luckily enough found the three guys from the day before and from the looks on their faces he could tell something had happened in that battle that he didn't know about, but that wasn't the reason why he was there.
"Oh... Yamada." One of them said, giving uneasy looks to the others.
"I'm retired from rap battles." Saburo said quietly. "I should have said it from the beginning, but I no longer want to be part of them and I find the sole presence of microphones really upsetting, so if you and everyone could stop bringing them up it would save you from my impulse reactions." He explained with rehearsed accuracy.
The other three gaped and gave each other looks before looking back at Saburo's unmoving expression. "Oh crap you're serious." One said.
"We didn't know that but it kinda makes sense if you think about it." Another said. "Sorry man."
"You really should have said it from the beginning though...now this is pretty awkward." The third one scratched his head. "It would have saved us all the trouble, but it's ok, we'll drop that." He assured.
As Saburo expected, they were nice guys in the end. He didn't know if things were supposed to be that easy but then he had never tried the honesty method before.
"And I wouldn't worry about the others." The first one said with a huff. "What happened yesterday left pretty clear that messing with you is a bad idea."
Saburo blinked. He would have to find out eventually what happened that afternoon but at the moment it was good that whatever happened scared other groups away.
He went back to the classroom feeling good that the 'honest and nice enough' method had worked and that he wouldn't have to worry about more rap battles for the time being.
That they were assigned randomly to work together in an English assignment and the girl that reluctantly sat in front of him looked like she would rather be anywhere but there with her desk facing his. He remembered her as the one that talked to him the first day so he thought that her attitude was just natural.
"Hello umm Yamada." She murmured while skimming through her book. "I promise to not talk or bother you but...let's do our best together."
Saburo's eyes fixated on her, devoid of emotion. "It is a speech practice...we have to talk." Saburo pointed out and saw the girl yelp.
Saburo had a hard time not rolling his eyes at the fact that she seemed to be afraid of him for no reason. He sighed and opened his book. "You can talk to me...just read the mood when it looks like I need silence for a moment." He instructed.
The girl blinked. "O-oh...okay, I can do that." She gave him a shy smile.
Saburo looked back to his book and surprisingly enough his companion understood the simple instructions, which made their time working together a lot easier and he kept thinking about the words 'Nice enough'. Luckily that was the only direct interaction he had to deal with for the rest of the day. The moment they were done with the assignment the girl went back with her group of friends and he was left alone once again.
Once the moment to leave arrived he realized it was the first day he could breath and watch the sunset sky. He gave side glances to the groups that left the school together and even the trio he talked to at lunch seemed to be teasing each other as they walked.
He was by himself that that was ok...that was all he wanted, wasn't it?
"Hey Saburo wait up! Let's walk home together!"
"Why should I? How embarrassing would it be to be seen walking next to you."
"We're brothers! What's embarrassing about going back home together?"
"YOU are the embarrassing one."
"HA? Who are you calling–hey Saburo!"
Saburo sighed and closed his eyes feeling his shoulders slump and his chest hurt. "Jiro...I should have walked home with you more." He whispered to himself.
When he opened his eyes again and noticed that a tall figure was nearby and after a squint he recognized the light copper locks that belonged to a wall-like soldier he knew.
"Little one." Rio greeted him with a soft smile.
Saburo looked up and blinked. "Did you...come pick me up?" He asked.
Rio shook his head. "I finished my mission earlier than expected and was heading to a meeting with Jyuto and Samatoki." He explained. "I saw the students walking out and thought I could wait for you, since we are going to the same place."
"Oh..." Saburo looked down for a moment and thought about it. "...Alright."
"Shall we go then?" Rio asked, tilting his head, to which Saburo nodded to and then both began walking next to each other. "Did anything interesting happen in your first week?" He asked.
Saburo let out a huff. "...Kinda."