Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Minato Arisato wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking at when he looked up at Velvet Apartments, but he wasn’t sure he liked it. How he’d ended up here, he wasn’t sure, it had all happened in a blur, really. He and his sister had been living with their cousin Ryoji and it’d gotten to be too much, so they started looking for their own place. A man had approached him and told him about this place.

He’d found it kind of odd to start, but Minako was this close to killing Ryoji that he didn’t have much choice. Minato didn’t want to be in charge of hiding a body for his sister, that would be...troublesome, to say the least. An apartment was a much better idea.

“Minato, earth to Minato!” Minako waved a hand in front of her brother’s face, pulling him out of his thoughts. “You were doing that spacing out thing again.”

“You say that like it’s all I do.”

“Have you seen yourself when you have headphones in? You’re dead to the world.”

Minato rolled his eyes a bit, but there was a small smile on his face. “You’re just as bad, though.”

“I am not!”

He shook his head and looked away. “Whatever you say.”

“I know you’re smiling.” Minako frowned, watching Minato carefully.

“I am not.”

The twins seemed to carry on with this, bickering the way most siblings do, for quite awhile. At least until someone came out of the apartment and made their way over to the moving van.

“New tenants? Need any help with all your things?” The man who’d come out smiled at them, casual as could be despite the bandage on his face. Either this guy got himself injured through a lot of fighting or he was clumsy, that was the only thought that passed through Minato’s mind.

“Well, I’ll be able to handle most of my stuff, but feel free to help my brother,” Minako sent him a grin, “he’s very frail.”

“I am not, but help wouldn’t be turned down.” Minato decided now was not the time to quip back. He would do that later, when he wasn’t in the middle of a first impression. Unlike Minako, when he said something that was meant to tease, it sounded kind of rude.

“Great! Well, I’m Akihiko Sanada, nice to meet you!” When he smiled Minato had to note that it was a nice one. It could give almost anyone a warm, fuzzy feeling (though it was odd, it was kinda...different than the feeling his sister’s smile gave him).

“I’m Minako Arisato, and this is my twin brother, Minato. Pleasure to meet you!” Minako sent Minato a grin and he grimaced. He knew that look, that was the look of Minako doing all in her power to set him up with someone.

“Minato and Minako, should be easy to remember,” he flashed that smile at both of them and Minato looked away. He couldn’t give his sister any satisfaction in all of this. If he did, he’d never hear the end of it.

“Let’s get going, then.” He made his way to the back of the moving truck and pulled out a few boxes, only for Akihiko to take them from his hands. Why did he have a feeling he believed Minako saying he was frail over his denial of that? That was totally the case.

Minato just shook his head and took some other boxes and started for the door. There was a lot to get up to the apartment, so there wasn’t time to pout about it. There was more important things to pout about, anyway.

He watched Minako make her way to the front desk and chat with the woman behind it for a moment. There she was, in her natural habitat, becoming friendly with just about anyone she met. It was always helpful when she did that, but Minato had to think now was not the time. They had so much to get up to the apartment…

“So,” Akihiko made his way over to Minato as Minako finished up her chat, “you’re twins, right? Which one of you is older?”

“That doesn’t really matter, does it?” Minako gave a laugh, “I mean, we were basically born at the same--”

“I’m older.” Minato was always too happy to tell people that, wasn’t he?

“Really, Minato?”

“Yeah, he asked, so I told him.” He shrugged his shoulders and pressed the button for the fourth floor on the elevator.

“I’m sorry,” the woman behind the desk smiled at Minato, looking him over with oddly yellow eyes, “the elevator is out of order, I’m afraid you’ll have to use the stairs.”

Minato sighed. Alright, that wasn’t the best news, but it could be worse. They could be on the sixth of seventh floor instead. It might just take a while to get everything up there, was all.

“Thank you for the information, well, let’s get to the--”

“One moment, I’ll call down some more help.” The smile was still on her face, but Minato couldn’t help but be a bit put off. She was so professional, so… inhuman. The eyes didn’t help kill that vibe, either.

“Alright, thank you!” Minako smiled at her and punched Minato in the side, as if telling him to stop staring. “We’ll wait right here, then.”

The woman smiled and turned away for a moment, picking up the phone and seemingly calling someone. All that could really be caught was “quickly now” and “I’ll be waiting,” it seemed she was talking as quietly as she could then? It was hard to blame her, Minato wasn’t too keen on others listening in on him, either.

Soon enough, a man who looked a lot like the woman behind the desk came running down the stairs. His hair was slicked back in order to look neat and he looked like a bellboy or door greeter or something like that. Overall he looked like any average employee, if it wasn’t for the fact he had the same yellow, inhuman eyes.

“There you are, Theodore. Do be a dear and help them carry their items to their apartment, seeing as you weren’t at the door.”

“I’m sorry Margaret! Elizabeth was asking me to--”

Margaret held up a hand and shook her head. “Just go, Theo. They seem to have plenty of things they could need help carrying, we don’t want to make them wait any longer.”

“Yes sister, of course.” He turned to face them and smiled. “Hello, I’m Theodore, but you may call me Theo. Could I take some of those boxes for you?”

“Oh, sure!” Minako dumped her boxes in his hands as if this was the most normal thing to happen to her. After living with Ryoji, though, Minato could see why this wasn’t affecting her much. “I’ll go grab some more boxes and we’ll be done a lot faster!”

“Should we wait for her?” Akihiko raised an eyebrow and looked to Minato for an answer.

“Yeah, if we don’t I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Do you two not get along?” Theodore frowned and tilted his head to the side, as if Margaret didn’t have a look on her face like she wouldn’t be letting Theodore hear the end of something after he was done with this.

“Oh, we get along great. We’re best friends, really.”

“So it’s that kind of sibling bond!” That seemed to excite Theodore, for some reason, as he nodded with a huge smile on his face. Odd, but hey, whatever made him happy.

“Alright!” And there was Minako, carrying way too many boxes for her tiny body. “Let’s get going!”

“Need some help?” Akihiko rose and eyebrow and Theodore reached for one of the boxes.

“Nope, I have this under control.” She smiled at them from around the boxes and stepped out of Theodore’s reach.

“Are you sure, you seem to be having some trouble--”

“I’m sure!”

Akihiko turned to look at Minato. “Can you...say something about all of this?”

“She gets her stubbornness from me.”

“Not what I was looking for, but alright.” Akihiko seemed to already know there was no point in arguing with such a statement. One twin being stubborn was enough to deal with at once.

--

About two flights of stairs up and things went wrong, fast. Minako was stumbling, the boxes stacked way too high for her to even really see ahead of her. It was a miracle that she only tripped when they made it to the last step up onto the second floor. That didn’t make Minato feel any better about her falling though.

Minato was just about ready to throw the boxes and move to help her up when a blond man came bolting down the hall. Guess he’d seen her fall and wanted to be helpful, that or he was looking for a chance to flirt. Maybe both, but Minato found people who wanted to do both of those things far and few between.

“Are you alright? That seemed like a beary bad fall!” He held out a hand to Minako, a smile on his face.

Minako blinked a few times before laughing at the (really bad) bear pun and taking his hand. “I’m fine, it wasn’t unbearable or anything!”

The blond’s eyes lit up, catching onto the stress she’d put on bear. “I-I’m Teddie, it’s nice to meet you miss!”

“I’m Minako Arisato!” She smiled at him and shook his hand, seeing as she was already holding it.

“A pretty name for a pretty lady!” Teddie kissed her hand and Minako blushed a bit. “Are you moving into the building?”

“That we are! My brother and I!” She pointed over at Minato and smiled at him, her eyes bright.

“What’s going on, exactly?” Theodore leaned over to Minato, confusion clear on his face. Oh, that was right, Minako hadn’t been that excited around this guy before now, huh?

“She just found her soulmate, probably.”

Theodore blinked. “Really?”

“That’s my best guess, at the very least.” His sister was an enigma sometimes, you know? He didn’t know everything about her.

“I see…”

By the time Minato looked back over at his sister, she’d gotten Teddie to help her carry some boxes. Well, she liked the guy well enough if she was letting him help her out, right? She usually would’ve brushed anyone trying to help off… Maybe the fall scared her, actually. It was hard to tell why she was accepting help.

Oh well, she seemed to be having a good time and that was all that mattered. Minato would just check for injuries when they made it up there. He couldn’t help but be worried, even if he was sure deep down she was alright.

“Minato…” Minako moved over to him and bumped against him. “Minato, are you okay?”

He blinked a few times and shook his head. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” They just needed to start up the next set of stairs already.

Too bad for him, Akihiko had ended up noticing when Minako walked over to Minato. He was totally going to take the boxes from him, wasn’t he? All because he let his guard down for a split second…

“Let me take a few of those.” At least Akihiko only took about half his boxes. Anymore than that and Minato would have mirrored his sister’s insistence about how many boxes they could carry from earlier.

“Thanks…” Minato sighed, shaking his head. If there was one thing he hated, it was being treated like this. Akihiko didn’t know that, though, so he’d let it pass for now. If Minako had anything to say about it, they’d be chatting a lot more anyway.

Speaking of Minako, though… This Teddie guy was going to help him distract himself right now. Minako wanted to set him up with Akihiko? Fine, but he wasn’t going to let Minako do that without having some fun of his own.

He made his way over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, watching for her reactions carefully.

“Minato? What are you--” A gentle push towards Teddie cut her right off and Minato knew he wouldn’t be hearing the end of this later. Did that mean he would regret the choice? No, no it didn’t.

“Whoa,” Teddie caught Minako easily with one arm, “I’m the luckiest guy around today!”

Minako blushed and cleared her throat, standing up. “Don’t be silly, Teddie!” She turned to Minato. “You are so dead.”

“I know I am.”

Minako sighed and shook her head, steadying herself fully. “Let’s just get going, there’s still more down in the van!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“So this is what it’s like when both siblings participate in the teasing…?” Theodore titled his head to the side for a moment before nodding. “Interesting…”

“...Is that guy okay?” Minato just had to ask now, leaning over to Akihiko.

“As far as I know, mostly? His sisters are just the type to bully, I guess.” Akihiko shrugged and started up the stairs. “Most of the residents don’t think about it much.”

“I see…” Then he’d just try and follow that example. Getting caught up with too many people wouldn’t be good for him. It never was.

“Minato!” How did his sister always know when he was thinking something negative? Was it a sixth, twin-related, sense or something? If it was, why did his never seem to be as good as hers was?

“What is it, Minako?”

“You keep over thinking like that and you’ll fall down the stairs!” She paused before giving him a smile and fluttering her eyelashes. “Unless you want Sanada-kun to have to catch you!”

“You know that’s not what it is, you brat.” He frowned, or maybe it was more pouted, at her.

“It was a joke, you brat!” She stuck her tongue out at him and kept moving up the stairs. “I mean, come on, you know it was!”

“Yeah, doesn’t mean I have to like it. Besides, weren’t you the one who just had to be caught by Teddie…?”

“That was your fault!”

Teddie blinked a few times, peeking around Minako at Minato. “Whoa, your relationship bearly seems healthy.”

“You just haven’t seen us when we’re not tired and in the middle of a move, I promise it’s usually much better than this.” Minako gave an awkward laugh and looked back at Teddie. “It’s been a long day, is all.”

“Besides, some bickering between siblings is healthy, isn’t it?” Akihiko looked behind himself, only to lose his footing and fall.

Minato, without even thinking about it, dropped the boxes in his hands and caught Akihiko at the last moment, barely keeping himself on the step. That could’ve been really bad, if he hadn’t kept his footing, ugh. Minako and Teddie would’ve gone down too--

As if the world was against him, though, he slipped back just far enough that he went falling down. Soon enough he was hitting into Minako and they were falling further, Teddie trying and failing to catch them. Next was going to be Theodore and then there would be injuries and pain all around. Just what Minato had wanted to avoid with this move.

He closed his eyes and decided if he couldn’t stop the fall he’d at least brace himself as best he could and try to lessen the injuries to Akihiko (Minako and Teddie being under him made it basically impossible to help them without more quick thinking than he had at the moment). He took a deep breath, throwing his hands in front of himself to try and push Akihiko up the stairs, away from the fall and--

And they never hit the ground. In fact, they stopped moving, as if they’d all been caught by something or someone. Cracking an eye open, he glanced over his shoulder and there was Theodore, having not budged an inch, holding Teddie up with one hand. How in the hell could he support them all with one hand? No one could be that strong, could they?

“Are you all alright? That seemed like it was going to end badly!” And he was acting so casual about this too, was this normal here? Judging by the look on Teddie’s face, it wasn’t.

“W-Well!” As if realizing a huge mistake Theodore stumbled back a bit and fell over in such a way that no one really got hurt. “We should hurry up and make it to your apartment, before someone falls again!”

--

Finally they made it to the apartment and Minato sighed. That had been an adventure, to say the least, and something about Theodore was really off to him after the incident on the stairs. Was this apartment really a good idea?

“Minato, you’re doing it again…” Minako sighed and shook her head. “How to deal with this…?”

Before he could ask what she meant, she gave him a push of her own, right into Akihiko. Unlike Teddie, though, he wasn’t able to prepare himself to catch Minato and went stumbling back himself. Soon enough it was like a bad snowball effect, hitting into Teddie and then into Theodore, who happened to have his back turned this time.

“Oh, you guys…!” Minako paused and jumped back a step, seemingly in fear of something.

“What is it, a monster?” Minato hoped his joke helped Minako calm down about...whatever it was.

Akihiko looked behind him and laughed. “No, it’s not a monster, just Shinji. His face is kinda scary, though.”

Minato peeked over Akihiko’s shoulder and blinked. Looked like someone had stopped Theodore from face planting, and that someone must’ve been that Shinji guy.

“Oh, Shinjiro, thank you very much!” Theodore straightened himself quickly and took a step back.

Shinjiro shrugged a bit and looked over at Akihiko, a frown on his face. “Aki, new friend of yours?”

Akihiko blinked a few times before both he and Minato realized they were pressed up against each other still. Well, that wouldn’t have mattered if someone hadn’t pointed it out, right? Minato told himself that that was the case.

“Wow, Sanada-kun, your face is really red right now!” Minako just had to note that as she moved in front of them to help Teddie up, didn’t she?

“Don’t know who this lady is, but she’d right Aki, your face is about the shade of a tomato right now,” Shinjiro seemed to say that with a laugh held back.

“Like you can talk, Shinji!” Akihiko seemed raring to go now, yet didn’t move to push Minato away. “Did you not notice the new addition to your arm?”

Shinjiro glanced over and shrugged when he noticed Theodore standing very close to his side. “Doesn’t he always do this to people?”

“I mean, fair enough, but still. Seems to usually be you.” Akihiko rose an eyebrow, as if he was challenging Shinjiro to deny it.

Shinjiro, however, just shook his head (though Minato was pretty sure he could see a glint of Shinjiro thinking about saying something before that) and turned to look at the twins. “So you two are moving in, huh?”

Minako, still looking at least a little putoff by this all, smiled and nodded. “Yep, yes we are!”

“...I see.” Shinjiro nodded a bit and looked around at the people nearby. “Quite the group you have helping with the move, huh?”

“We just kept getting more and more help, I guess.” Minato shrugged, moving to stand next to his sister. She had the key right now and needed to open the door…

“I see, well--”

“Minato! Minako! I knew I’d find you two here!”

Minato wasted no time taking the boxes from Minako. If he hadn’t done that, he was sure they’d be smashed into almost nothing from Minako’s anger. Of course, of course this was going to happen.

“Ryoji…”

Chapter Text

Yu Narukami was finally moving out on his own. It’d been a long while since he’d even thought about moving out on his own. After high school he’d gone to live with his uncle and Nanako for a while, but eventually he just felt the need to move somewhere of his own.

So here he was, back in a city and wondering if that ad for Velvet Apartments was a good idea or not. The building looked nice, it was fairly tall and kind of wide for your average apartment building, but nice. If it looked like this, then maybe it would be alright.

“W-whoa!” Before Yu could take a step forward, a man on a bicycle went zooming by, right into the wall of the building. Judging by the groans that followed, it hurt quite a bit.

He thought for a moment, should he say something? It looked like it hurt quite a bit. Maybe he should help--

“Excuse me, sir?” He glanced to the side and saw a young woman in a school uniform standing next to him. “Is this car yours?”

He blinked a few times and glanced back at it. “Yeah, it is. Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s sitting in an awkward area and I believe the apartment complex has rules against it unless you’re leaving it there for a reason.” She fixed the bag on her shoulder. “It seems you’re moving in, but the fact you’re standing there might cause some problems.”

“Oh, sorry.” He started for the door and the girl followed. Looked like he would have to wait to check on that guy. That is if he was even still there by the time he was done with his things. “Could I ask your name?”

“Oh, Makoto Niijima. It’s nice to meet you, mister, er…”

“Yu Narukami. It’s nice to meet you as well Niijima-san.”

She smiled at him and held the door open. “Odd, Theodore is usually here this time of day.”

“Who?”

“The doorman.” Makoto smiled at him as they made their way to the elevator. “I’m sure you’ll meet him eventually.”

“Good to know.” He turned to the elevator and pressed the up button. Floor five, huh? He would have to make sure to walk at least some of the time. It would make decent exercise.

“Hello, Elizabeth.” Yu looked up and saw a woman standing in the elevator. So there was an attendant here, huh? They just seemed to have a lot of things here, how nice.

“Hello, oh and who are you?” Elizabeth looked over at Yu and he paused. Her eyes were bothering him for some reason, it felt like they were staring into his soul…

“This is Yu Narukami, I believe he’s moving in today.” Thank god for Makoto, he wasn’t sure he’d have said anything himself.

“I see, it’s nice to meet you, Narukami. I’m sure we’ll get along swimmingly.” Elizabeth held out a hand and smiled.

Yu took her hand and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Elizabeth took a step back and allowed Yu and Makoto to enter the elevator. Before she could even ask what floor, though, a couple women came running into the elevator.

“Made it…” A woman with black hair stood up and, after glancing at Yu, turned to Elizabeth. “Your sister wants to talk to you.”

Elizabeth stared at her for a moment before turning to the blonde who was with her. “Aigis! Fourth floor?”

Aigis nodded and turned to face the front of the elevator, sighing just a bit. Something told Yu this happened way too often.

“Don’t ignore me, Elizabeth. I don’t want her nagging me.”

“Niijima, Narukami, what floors do you need?” Elizabeth smiled at the two, still ignoring the girl.

“Third floor, please.” Makoto turned her head away and stared at the wall. Yep, this kind of stuff must happen often.

“Fifth floor, for me. But, uh,” he pointed at the girl, “are you going to answer her?”

“I’ll answer Marie when she isn’t just relaying Margaret’s message.” Elizabeth smiled at him. “She needs to learn that in this family, always listening to Margaret is Theo’s job!”

“I don’t always listen to her, and besides, I’m not part of your family!”

Yu looked over at Makoto and Aigis, both of them seemingly ignoring what was going on. There was no way this wasn’t a usual happening. God it was so tense in the elevator and Elizabeth hadn’t even pressed the buttons yet.

“Maybe I’ll just...go and take the stairs.” He had a feeling things would just get more tense if he stayed in here--

“No, no!” Elizabeth pressed the third floor and fifth floor button. “No need for that!”

“Elizabeth-san, what about the fourth floor?” Aigis moved to press the button, only for her hand to be swatted away.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get off there!”

Yu frowned and was about to ask about that when Makoto placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.

“No one’s sure why she does this, but she always does. The best guess anyone has is that she’s flirting,” Makoto whispered this into his ear before turning to look back at the wall. “It’s best not to think too hard on it.”

Yu frowned, but decided to listen to Makoto. Elizabeth seemed to be a little too much to handle on someone’s first day in a place. Instead, maybe he would try and start small talk with Marie or Aigis.

“So--” He cut himself off when Marie and Aigis both just sent him cold stares. Maybe small talk wouldn’t be the best idea either, then. He was really starting to regret not staying with his uncle and Nanako for even just a bit longer.

No, no. He needed to think positive. He chose this place and he would make the most out of it. Makoto seemed like a nice enough girl and he was sure there were other pleasant people around. Maybe that guy who hit into the building was, too.

Soon enough the elevator came to a stop at the third floor and Makoto made for the exit. “Well, goodbye now.”

Yu waved a bit and Aigis nodded in acknowledgment. Elizabeth seemed about ready to say something when Marie grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Okay, you’re going to listen to me now. I don’t want to have to ride this thing all--”

“Doors closing!” Elizabeth chirped, completely ignoring Marie once again. She really didn’t want to hear about her sister needing her, huh?

“Ugh, you’re the worst, Elizabeth!” Marie huffed a bit and took a step back, crossing her arms. Poor girl, Yu couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

Soon enough, though, the elevator came to a stop at the fifth floor and it was time for Yu to head out. He still had a lot left in the car to get, after all. It was just an added bonus that he was going to get away from this awkward tension.

“Thank you, goodbye.” He quickly moved off the elevator, only for Marie to follow him off.

She frowned when he rose an eyebrow at her. “I am not dealing with those two alone.”

Yu looked back over his shoulder and the last thing he saw before the elevator door closed was Elizabeth wrapping her arms around Aigis’s shoulder.

--

Yu had decided to go down the stairs after dropping off the boxes in his apartment. The trips up would take longer, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to go into that elevator right now. Elizabeth was too odd to ride up and down with repeatedly.

He peeked over to where the guy had hit into the building and he was still there, only he wasn’t alone anymore. A woman had made her way over to him and was kneeling next to him, checking his injuries. That was hard to focus on when another woman was standing next to them, though.

The woman next to them was impossible to ignore, her hair was a red and her lips had the same color. She stood straight, arms crossed against her chest, and the heels on her feet just made her seem taller. She was...intimidating, to say the least.

He made his way over, too curious now to wait until he was done moving his things in. “Is everything alright here?”

“Oh,” The woman kneeling looked over at him and jumped a bit, “y-yes, I think so!”

“Ow, ow, ow…” The guy was obviously not alright, if the blood on his forehead meant anything. He must’ve hit into the wall really hard, then?

“Please stop moving! I can’t clean the wound if you keep moving…”

“It hurts, though! It hurts a lot, shit…!” The guy shook his head and stood up. “I’ll be fine!”

“But--”

“Fuuka, er, Yamagishi,” the other woman finally spoke, moving to hold out a hand to Fuuka, “he doesn’t seem like he’s going to be taking the help. We have things to do, come on now.”

“Mitsuru-san…” She blushed as she took the hand and allowed herself to be helped up. “Alright, if you’re sure you don’t need help, sir…”

“I’m sure, I’m sure! Thanks, though…” The guy groaned and touched his forehead, grimacing when he saw the blood on his fingers. “Aw shit…”

Fuuka seemed to pause for a moment before being led off by Mitsuru. Yu noted as they walked away that they seemed nervous about touching each other for more than a few moments, both moving away whenever they noticed themselves being close. Odd…but whatever.

Yu decided to at that point turn his attention to the bleeding man. Unlike the women, he wouldn’t give up if swatted away at first. If there was one thing about him, it was that he was stubborn.

First, though, he had to go grab his first aid kit, which luckily hadn’t been in the first round of items carried up to his apartment. In fact, it was the first item he was planning to take on the second trip, what luck he had.

“Don’t move.” He made his way over and started dabbing at the wound, the first aid kit already open and next to them.

“Whoa, whoa! You think I want you touching me if I didn’t let that pretty lady help?” The guy backed up a few steps and right into the wall. “I’ll be fine. Really!”

“You’re going to bleed out if you leave it like that, though.” Yu began to try and clean the wound, despite the fact this guy didn’t seem to want that to happen, like at all.

“H-hey, I haven’t--ow--seen you around before! Who’re you?” Someone was trying to distract Yu.

“Yu Narukami, I’m moving in today.” And yet, he didn’t even pause his cleaning of the wound for a moment.

“I could kinda tell by all the boxes in that car, but hey--ow! How about you go back to moving in, you have a lot and I’ll even help you!”

“I just need to bandage it now, though. I won’t say no to the help, though.” He paused as he grabbed the bandages. “What’s your name?”

He sighed, seemingly resigned to being cared for by Yu. “Yosuke Hanamura...Nice to meet you, even if this is an odd way to start things off.”

Yu shrugged as he finished (sloppily) wrapping the bandages around Yosuke’s head. He’d had worse first meetings before, so he didn’t see the issue with all of this, not really.

“Anyway…” Yosuke moved around him, to the back of Yu’s car, picking up some of the boxes. “What floor are you gonna be living on?”

“Fifth floor.”

“Whoa, well, looks like we’ll be on the same floor then!” Yosuke laughed a bit and turned to Yu. “What a coincidence, huh?”

“Guess so, good to know it won’t be hard to take you to your apartment when you hurt yourself.”

“Oh come on, I don’t hurt myself that much!”

Yu looked him over and frowned. “Are you sure?”

“I am!”

“Alright.” Yu shrugged and moved next to him, picking up some boxes himself. “Still, in case you do hurt yourself.”

“I really don’t need you worry about that happening,” Yosuke sighed and shook his head, moving towards the entrance, “just forget about my--Holy shit!”

“What?” Yu looked over his shoulder and blinked. There was a group of people, all crowding around someone. What was going on?

“Risette! Risette!”

“Dude, did you hear that? Risette is here!” Yosuke turned to look back at Yu, his eyes sparkling. “An actual idol is here!”

“Whoa, that’s cool.” He smiled at Yosuke, he didn’t keep up with idols usually, but he knew an idol being at the apartment building was going to be something special.

“Cool?! It’s more than cool! Oh man--” Yosuke looked around. “Let’s hurry and get this stuff up to your apartment, alright?”

“Alright, sure. But how are we going to get into the apartment?” It was, to say the least, nearly impossible to fight through a crowd this dense.

“We just have to do our best…” Yosuke gulped and pushed forward, only to basically be spit right back out by the monster of a crowd. “Dammit!”

Yu frowned and looked around, was there an easier way through? There was a woman at the front of the crowd, with plenty of room near her. They should just go that way, right?

“Follow me.”

“Huh?” Before Yosuke could truly question what was happening, Yu was on his way, pushing towards the woman. “Dude, no! Wait!”

“Excuse me, could we get through here?”

The woman blinked a few times and looked to Yu, a frown on her face. It was as if she wasn’t expecting anyone to approach her so casually or something.

“Stop!” Yosuke tugged him back by a shoulder. “Do you know who that is?”

“No, should I?”

“That’s Risette, you idiot!”

Yu blinked a few times. “Oh...oh.”

Risette sighed, running a hand through one of her ponytails and shook her head. “You can go through here, don’t mind me.”

“Thank you, sorry for any issues.” Yu smiled at her and nodded as he walked past, leaving Yosuke no choice but to follow after her.

Risette watched them go and frowned. As they got closer to the doors, Yu heard her mumble something

“...If you’re living in the building too the least you guys could do is ask my real name.”

Chapter Text

Ren Amamiya looked up at Velvet Apartments and frowned. A lot had happened in the past couple of months and he wasn’t sure how to feel about any of it. Helping that woman had been the best thing he could do in that situation, right? If he’d left her be, who knows what could have happened to her…

He closed his eyes and shook his head, a headache coming on. That had been a constant the last few months, headaches. Headaches of his own, headaches of his parents, just headaches in general. There was no way around it and it was making everything hard.

“I shouldn’t worry too much about it right now…” He looked down at his phone and frowned. Velvet Apartments was where Sojiro Sakura was supposed to be, right? He looked at the last message his mother sent him.

Yep, third floor of Velvet Apartments, last door on the left of the first hall off the elevator. That shouldn’t be too hard to get to, right? If he didn’t take the elevator it might take a little longer, but that wasn’t so bad. At least his parents shipped his things ahead of time, right?

Time to go, anyway. He had to be there before it got too late, that would just make him seem like a delinquent. He didn’t want that to happen, he’d already switched from contacts to glasses in order to blend in better. He didn’t want that to be ruined on the first day.

So he started off, opening the door to the apartments, only to pause. Two young girls were standing in the lobby, quiet.

What is this? The Shining?

The girls seemed to notice him, and in silence, turned towards him. Was this a horror movie in the making? Ren felt like it was a horror movie in the making. The fact their eyes were yellow of all colors didn’t help matters at all, either.

“Who are you?!” One of the girls, her hair pulled into two buns, spoke up and the fear died down, just a bit.

“Not many people have been waiting for Theodore to do his job.” The other girl spoke up with less, well, emotion in her voice.

“Uh…” Ren blinked and fixed the bag on his shoulder. Of all the things he could run into when he walked into the building, it was this? “I’m moving in today.”

“Where’s your luggage, then?” The first girl spoke again, crossing her arms and frowning. “Someone doesn’t just move in with one bag!”

“Well, my parents sent the luggage ahead…”

“Are you moving in with your grandparents, then? Perhaps an aunt or uncle.” The second girl seemed more calm about this all.

“No, not really.” He shook his head. He could just feel the problems that’d come from this.

“Then what--”

A woman walked from behind the front desk at that point, standing behind the girls and putting her hands on their heads as she said their names. “Caroline, Justine, what are you doing?”

“M-Margaret!” Caroline turned to look at the woman and shook her head. “We were questioning the weird man!”

Margaret sighed and shook her head. “Now, now. I know you want to help with the apartments, but harassing people isn’t helping.”

“Elizabeth thought it was a good idea.” Justine glanced at Ren before turning to look at Margaret as well.

“And what do we say when Elizabeth thinks it’s a good idea?”

The twins looked at each other, both frowning, before looking back to her. “To not do it.”

“Exactly.” She ruffled both of their heads a bit and made her way for the desk. “Now, go along and play, alright?”

Caroline huffed a bit and looked back to Ren, giving him a glare. “Come on, Justine! Let’s go.”

Justine nodded and began following after her, only stopping for a moment to give Ren a small wave. Ren risked waving back before watching them walk off to the elevator. Looked like he would definitely take the stairs, then.

He made his way to the stairs and sighed, maybe he’d just run up them and cut time as much as he could. Here he went, hopefully he wouldn’t be too out of breath when he made it up there. He wasn’t exactly the most athletic guy around…

He shook his head and started up the stairs. If he was lucky, Sojiro would be there when he made it up to the apartment. He should be, right? It was pretty late in the day, so most would be off work by now.

Soon enough he was on the third floor and he looked around. Where was the elevator now…? There it was! So the door he needed was…

Here! He knocked a few times and waited. Was no one home? Maybe Sojiro worked a different shift than he was expecting? Well, that was just making this shitty year even worse. He was going to have to sit out in the hall for who knows how long.

“Guess I could get some reading in.” Ren looked into his bag and pulled out the first one he saw there. Arsene Lupin, well that would be interesting enough to keep him busy for at least an hour.

He opened to the first page and began reading. A good novel was always--

“Oh? Are you alright?” Ren looked up and saw a boy smiling down at him. He was pretty, to say the least. His hair was kind of messy, bangs hanging in his face.

“I’m fine.”

“Oh, I see!” He smiled and nodded at him. “I just thought I’d ask, seeing as you’re sitting in the hall.”

“Just...waiting for someone.” Ren shrugged, he wasn’t really expecting this conversation to go anywhere, so no need to go into detail.

“A friend?”

“No, my guardian for the next year.” Looked like the conversation would actually be going on for a while, huh? Maybe he should’ve included more information to start, then.

“I see! So you’re moving in?” The boy seemed to think for a moment. “I suppose I should introduce myself, then!”

“Oh, yeah. I’m Ren Amamiya.” He looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back at the boy and smiling just a bit.

“I’m Goro Akechi, nice to meet you, but I should be going.” Goro turned to the door across the way. “Bye now.”

“Ah, yeah…” Ren gave a small wave and turned back to his book. There went that small break from the slog that was time currently. Too bad it hadn’t lasted all that long.

Well, time to get back to his reading, then. Now, where was he--

“Shit, shit!” He looked up at the expletives and saw a bag flying towards him.

He didn’t know how he did it, but he caught it. He caught the bag and now his hand hurt. What was in this?

“Oh man, thank you!” A blond guy came running up to him. “I tripped and if that broke…”

Ren blinked a few times and handed it to the boy. “It’s something important, then?”

“Yeah, it’s something for my mom…” He rubbed the back of his head and smiled a bit. “Mother’s day is coming up, you know?”

“Oh, that’s right, it is.” He nodded and frowned a bit. He wasn’t sure if he should do anything for his mother…

“Uh, something wrong?” The guy tilted his head to the side, now frowning as well. “You look kind of upset.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, just a bit sad I won’t be seeing my mom this Mother’s Day, that’s all.” He shrugged before giving a little smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright, well...Still, thanks so much for catching this! You’re a real lifesaver, man!” The guy gave him a pat on the back. “You new around here?”

“Ah, yeah, I’m moving in today. I’m Ren Amamiya. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet ya! I’m Ryuji Sakamoto. Maybe I’ll be seeing you around, then?” He was smiling again and Ren couldn’t help but give a more genuine of his own.

“Yeah, that would be nice.” This guy seemed nice, maybe a future friend for Ren? That would be nice, he just knew the criminal record thing would make it hard later on.

“Well, I gotta get going, see you later!” The guy waved at him and ran off down the hall, now holding the bag carefully. He’d seemed vulgar at first, but hey, he still seemed like a nice enough guy.

Ren sighed a bit and sat back down, looking back to his book. Maybe no one else would show up and he’d be able to just read now? As long as Sojiro wasn’t planning on showing up soon, that is.

--

Ren had started to doze off when he felt a tongue on his face. Why was there a tongue on his face? At any normal apartment complex there would not be a tongue on his face.

“Koromaru!” He opened his eyes when he heard someone call out. Oh, it was a dog licking him.

The dog noticed his eyes were open and barked happily, his tail wagging.

“A Shiba Inu…? Do you live here?” Talking to an animal? Yes, he was indeed talking to an animal.

“I’m so sorry!” A boy about his age ran up and picked up the dog. “Koromaru sometimes gets excited about new people.”

“I see,” he fixed his glasses, “it’s no big deal, really. He wasn’t hurting me or anything.”

The other boy smiled a just a bit and looked away. “Ah, well that’s good. Still, I should probably be going. Come on, Koromaru, Shinjiro-san is probably worried.”

He put the dog down and he barked happily, his tail wagging. Without a moment’s hesitation, the dog darted off and the boy followed after him. As he watched them go, Ren realized he’d learned the dog’s name but not the boy's. Well, that was too bad.

Maybe he’d see him around later, though? That could be nice, he’d met quite a few decent people already. Maybe his luck would keep up--

“You talk to animals a lot, buddy?” Ren blinked and looked to the side. Was...was someone sitting next to him?

Well, yes, there was someone sitting next to him. However, this someone wasn’t a human, but a cat. A very cute black and white cat. Was he so tired that he was hallucinating that this cat was talking? That seemed possible.

“Uh…” He reached out a hand and ruffled the cat’s fur. “Good kitty.”

The cat bristled at that and hopped back. “Don’t play dumb! I’ve never met a human who can’t understand me when I speak!”

“Meow?”

“Don’t get smart with me, either! Besides, I’m not a cat!”

Ren frowned and looked him over. “You look like a cat, though, you even have a little yellow collar--”

His hand was swatted away as soon as he reached for said collar. Well, someone was touchy about that collar, then?

“I am Morgana, and I am not a cat! I’m cursed!” Morgana moved to hop into Ren’s lap.

You seem pretty cat-like to me…

“Cursed? Who cursed you?” He would play along for now, he guessed. If nothing else he’d have something to do until Sojiro showed up.

“I’m not sure, that’s what I’m trying to figure out! All I know is it must be linked to this apartment complex in some way!” Morgana nodded his little head surely, standing up on Ren’s leg. “And I’ve just decided, you’re going to help me get to the bottom of it!”

Ren blinked a few times, registering what was just said to him. “E...excuse me?”

“You heard me, didn’t you?” Morgana looked back at him and sighed a bit. “I said you’re going to help me!”

“Why?”

“Well, you just got here, right? You’re new meat! And young enough to have free time.”

Ren thought for a moment, the being new and thus less likely linked to the “curse” thing made sense, but the other part... “Is that free time part really that important?”

“Yes it is,” Morgana nodded a bit, “if it wasn’t I’d have just used one of the others who moved in today. That blue haired man or red eyed woman. Maybe even the grey haired guy!”

“So are they not useful, then?”

“Oh no! They could still be useful, just not as often. If anything, they’re going to be your allies!” Morgana seemed proud of himself, as if he felt he’d come up with a great idea.

“Allies? Is this so intense--”

“Are you the kid?” Ren felt like everything he said or thought was being interrupted that day. Great.

He turned and looked up, a man with his hair slicked back and some pointy facial hair looked down at him. Was this Sojiro, then? He kind of wished his parents had told him what he’d look like.

“Yes, I’m Ren Kurusu.” He stood up and fixed his bag, noting that Morgana climbed in while he had been busy. “I’ll be living with you starting today, correct?”

“Not exactly. You’ll be living near me is a better way to put it,” Sojiro sighed, “you’ll be living in the apartment next to this one and I’ll be checking up on you at least once a day.”

He handed Ren a key and he took it, looking it over. So he wouldn’t be living with Sojiro? That was...more lenient than he was expecting, seeing as he was under probation. A probation bad enough he couldn’t even live in his hometown for now.

“Do you trust me enough to live on my own?”

“What? Of course not, your parents and I are only paying half the rent. You’re going to have a roommate covering the other half.” Sojiro sighed, shaking his head. “So don’t think you can go and do whatever you want.”

“Understood. Who exactly is my roommate, though?” Ren wanted to at least know who he was going to meet.

“I only met him once, but he’s about your age, a little odd, but a good kid. Might be a good influence on you.” Sojiro didn’t seem very interested in this conversation, looking towards his apartment door. Was Ren really that boring?

“Alright, well, I’ll let you go then. It’s late tonight…” He turned to walk to the door, only to notice Sojiro’s apartment door opened.

He paused in order to get a little look at whoever had opened the door. Who was living with Sojiro…? Oh! A girl who looked around his age, if not a little younger. A daughter? Ren wasn’t told he had a daughter…

Well, maybe that was why he was being pushed into another apartment. He finally shrugged and made his way to the door, placing the key in the lock.

“I suggest you knock before you go in, it’s late and I doubt you want to scare your roommate.”

Ren jumped a bit. “Oh yeah, thanks…”

He watched Sojiro disappear into his apartment and Ren sighed, knocking once. When there wasn’t even a sound in reply he decided that his roommate must be asleep and tried to open the door. It...it was locked? Has his roommate left it unlocked?

Turning the key once more, Ren pushed the door open and entered the apartment. As soon as he made it in he let out a sigh, closing and locking the door. His roommate wasn’t the most careful, good to know.

“Wow, who leaves their door unlocked like that?”

“Shhh…” Ren held a finger up to his mouth and glanced back at Morgana, who had decided to pop back up again. “I think my roommate is sleeping.”

“Then why are the lights on?”

That...was a good point. Why were the lights on if he was asleep? Was he careless about lights too, then? Ren felt like this was just a recipe for things going really bad really quickly…

“Alright…” He slipped his shoes off and walked into the living room, blinking in surprise. His roommate was up, there was no doubt about it, but he was focused on what looked like a painting.

An artist roommate that had no sense of when someone was at the unlocked door, huh? That seemed a bit dangerous, was this roommate thing really just to be cheaper or was it so this kid could have a babysitter?

“Excuse me?” He moved up behind the artist and placed a hand on his shoulder, only to be knocked back a bit when he turned around.

“Who…? Oh. You must be the roommate I was told about…” The artist rubbed his eyes and yawned. “It’s nice to meet you… Ren Amamiya, was it?”

“Yeah, and you are…?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Yusuke Kitagawa, it’s quite late, isn’t it…?” Ren watched Yusuke’s head drooped forward a bit. “You must be tired…”

“You must be too.”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Yusuke shook his head, “I’ve stayed up for longer amounts of time than this, this is nothing!”

“That’s not a good thing.” Ren sighed, fiddling with his bangs. “You look like you’re falling asleep at your canvas.”

“I do that often, though.” Yusuke blinked at him a few times and looked confused, as if he didn’t understand the issue.

Ren sighed a bit and moved over to him. “You probably shouldn’t do that. Sleep is important.”

“Many people on this floor tell me that.”

Ren frowned, he wasn’t getting through to him at all, was he? Yusuke really thought there was nothing wrong with staying up when he was basically falling asleep where he sat? That was...worrying to say the least.

“Well, good night then.” He’d worry about it tomorrow.

“Yes, good night.”

As Ren walked away he glanced over his shoulder, watching Yusuke’s head droop towards his chest yet again. This was going to be a long year.

Chapter Text

Minato Arisato had never realized how hard it was to drag Minako away from something she was angry until the day they moved in. She was a small ball of fury when she was angry, kicking her legs out as Minato dragged her towards their apartment door.

It didn’t help that everyone around seemed either dumbfounded or uninterested in helping him at all. Akihiko and Teddie were standing there, blinking and looking at each other in confusion and Shinjiro seemed more interested in leading Theodore away from everything. Wow, what great help they were all being.

He watched Shinjiro and Theodore disappear down the hall and almost sighed in relief when a couple of woman walked past them, hand in hand. Maybe they’d help him out with the door thing?

“Hello, excuse me.” The woman (who, now that they were closer, kinda looked like a walking Christmas card), came to a stop when he quietly called out to them.

“Are you alright?” The taller woman came closer, a frown on her face. “You friend seems really angry.”

“Yeah, kinda like she’s itching for a fight!” The other woman watched carefully, laughing just a bit.

“She is, and I’d rather she doesn’t murder our cousin…” He awkwardly reached into his pocket. “Can you open this door for me?”

The red woman grabbed the key and nodded, quickly opening the door and handing the key back to him. “There you go!”

“Thanks.” He nodded and slowly walked Minako inside, watching the green woman pick up the boxes Theodore had been forced to leave behind when Shinjiro led him away. Well, these two were helpful, weren’t they? That was never a bad thing, he didn’t think.

Soon enough Akihiko, Teddie, and the women had gotten all of the boxes into the apartment, while Minato finally got his twin on the couch. He glanced to the door and sighed in relief when he saw Teddie close the door right on Ryoji. That should make Minako feel better.

“Ugh, why is he here?!” Minako frowned and crossed her arms. “I thought we moved here to get away from him!”

“We did, please calm down Minako…”

“Are you two alright?” The taller woman from earlier walked over, kneeling next to Minato.

“I’d say she still kinda seems mad, Yukiko…” The green woman frowned, hands on her hips.

“Oh, she totally is,” Akihiko walked up next to Minato with a nod, “I don’t know if she’s going to calm down anytime soon, either.”

“Well, Chie and I will help however we can!” Yukiko smiled at Minato and placed a hand on Minako’s knee.

“Thank you…” Minato nodded a bit and stood up, only for Akihiko to place a hand on his shoulder. Why was he…?

“I’ll do my best to help too.” Akihiko gave Minato a toothy smile and Minato did his best to smile back.

“I’ll do my beary best to help too!” Teddie basically threw himself across the back of the couch, his arms around Minako’s shoulders.

“Thank you guys…” Minako sighed a bit, seemingly a little calmer, even if there was still some anger clear on her face. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, though!”

Chie frowned, sitting on the arm of the couch. “Are you sure--”

A knock on the door made everyone pause. Was Ryoji knocking? If he was there was no way that door was being opened. Things would just get messy if the door was opened and it was their cousin on the other side.

“Hello?” A girl’s voice came through the door and Minato made his way for the door, unless Ryoji was good at sounding like a teenage girl, he should be fine to open the door.

He opened the door and blinked. A young girl, probably in high school, stood there. Her hair was pulled up into two blonde ponytails on either side of her head. She looked like she was worried about something, but he couldn’t tell what.

“Do you need something?”

“Oh!” The girl blinked and looked around the hall a few times. “I was just worried about whoever was in here. There was a guy waiting outside the door and he just left...I thought it might be a problem.”

“Oh, that’s our cousin. He sometimes has problems taking a hint.” Minato shrugged, no reason to worry a teenager with family issues.

“I see…” She kicked at the ground, still seemingly worried. “Well--”

“Takamaki-san, are you still here?” Minato peeked out the door and saw a woman standing nearby.

“Takeba-san! I’m sorry, I just saw something and was worried, so…” She started to twist some of her hair around her finger.

“It’s fine, you should just head back to your apartment. You were talking about a lot of homework earlier, right?”

“Oh yeah, I should. Well, bye then!” She waved at both of them and Minato gave a tiny wave back before the girl headed for the elevator. Wasn’t that broken, though…?

“Sorry about that, that’s Ann Takamaki. She’s a good kid, just sometimes a little too curious.” The woman sighed, shaking her head a bit. Minato noticed there was a small smile on her face, though.

“It’s fine, she seemed to mean well…” He rose an eyebrow. What was her name, he’d caught Takeba from Ann, but…

“Oh, I’m Yukari Takeba, nice to meet you. Are you new here?”

“I’m Minato Arisato, and yeah. My sister and I just moved in today--”

“Minato, what’re you doing~?” Speak of the devil, Minako was now leaning on him, peeking out the door and happier than she’d been before. “Oh, hello!”

“Hi there, is this your sister that you mentioned?”

“Yeah, this is Minako. Minako, this is Yukari Takeba-san.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Yukari-san! I hope we become good friends.” Minako gave her a small smile and wave.

“Ah yeah, that would be nice.” Yukari smiled back and laughed a bit. At least it looked like Minako was entertaining to Yukari, at the very least.

They all stood in silence for a moment until Yukari finally looked behind her. “Well, I have things to do, so I should go back inside… It was nice meeting you two, though!”

“Nice meeting you too, Yukari-san.” Minako waved and pulled Minato back inside. “I hope to see you around later!”

As soon as the door closed, Minako seemed upset again. More like she let the happy facade she’d put on for new people drop when they made it back into the apartment. There was no way she calmed down that quickly when it came to Ryoji.

“So, was Ryoji anywhere out there?” She crossed her arms, a frown on her face. It was like she was expecting him to pop out of the darkness.

“No, he left apparently…” He frowned and thought for a moment. “Why do you dislike him so much?”

Minako sighed and looked away, shaking her head. “I have my reasons...let’s just leave it at it’s to keep you safe.”

“...That makes no sense.” What was she keeping him safe from? Ryoji was a bit odd, yes, but that didn’t mean he was dangerous.

“I know it doesn’t, but I don’t...really have time to go into it, not when, well…” She gestured to their living room. “We have so many guests you know?”

“...Fair enough.”

“Come on now,” Minako grabbed him by the hand and pulled him into the front room, “sorry about that everyone!”

Yukiko looked over at them and smiled. “You seem a bit calmer than when we first ran into you.”

“That I have.” Minako smiled and sat down on the couch again, kicking her legs up a bit. “Thank you for helping Minato out, though!”

“Ah yeah, it was a big help. Only so much I can do when Minako’s in a rage.” He gave a small smile, even though he got a punch in the side for it. It was totally worth it.

“You suck sometimes!”

“Only sometimes?” He raised an eyebrow. “Wow, looks like I’m getting better.”

“You know what I meant.” She kicked his leg and stuck her tongue out.

“Well, you only suck sometimes too.”

Minako gave a small laugh and rolled her eyes.”There’s the Minato I like to see!”

“You’re being embarrassing, Minako.” He looked away and shoved a hand in his pocket. Why did she have to bring that up? Every time she said that he couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

“Whatever.”

--

Minako hummed as she placed the blanket over her brother. They’d had guests most of the time they’d been unpacking and it’d tired him out. Her introverted brother wasn’t made to do that all day, huh?

“Hm…” She looked at the clock and frowned. It was around dinner time and they hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

She’d been planning on cooking, but well, there was no time to do that now. Well, she could, but then they’d be eating at nine at night.

“I’ll go grab something from the convenience store, then.” She pat his head before heading for the door. Should she leave a note…? Nah! He wouldn’t worry too much if he woke up!

She made it out the door and hummed, looking into her wallet. She had enough for something small (not too small to split, of course), at least. Minako really needed to start keeping a little more pocket money on her.

Well, oh well. There should still be something she could afford for both of them, and that was what mattered. Like hell she wasn’t going to at least make sure Minato ate before it was super late! Someone had to mother him when...well...their own mother wasn’t in the picture anymore.

She shook her head and started for the elevator, which seemed to be in working order now, at least.

As she approached, it opened, and a teenager and dog came running out, right past her. They seemed to be in a hurry, too. What, were there some creepy girls in the elevator or something? Like hell--

Oh god, there were three creepy girls and a creepy woman in the elevator. What kind of luck was that? Bad luck, that was what kind of luck.

“Hello!” And yet here she was, running into the elevator. As long as she wasn’t murdered it would be okay, right?

“Hello!” The woman who seemed to be in charge of the running of the elevator smiled at her.

The three girls didn’t seem that interested in her, however. Two of them seemed to be twins and the third seemed to be a little older than the other two. The twins didn’t seem to even glance at her, but the other did give her a small smile before focusing back on the front of the elevator.

“Please don’t mind my little sisters, they’re sometimes a bit shy,” the woman laughed a bit, “now, which floor?”

“First floor, please!” Minako felt a bit awkward in the elevator now, but it could be worse. At least the creepy twins were paying no attention to her, and they were shy? Cute! Shy kids were cute, right? Right?

She would just tell herself that and it would be fine. Maybe she’d talk to the other little girl? She had a big book, so maybe she read a lot! Talking about reading was never a bad thing.

“So--”

“Here we are!”

Minako blinked a few times and realized she was indeed already at the first floor. How had that happened? She felt no time had passed at all…

“W-well, thanks then!” Minako smiled, giving a small wave before running off the elevator. Weird. That had been so weird.

She was never riding in the elevator again, no way, no how! She’d have to try and keep Minato away from the elevator too, no matter what it took.

“Excuse me, miss!” She made her way to the front desk. “Where could I find the closest convenience store?”

The woman smiled up at her and laughed a bit. “If you go straight ahead you’ll find one on the corner.”

Minako gave a shaky smile and took a step back. How many people around here had those yellow eyes? She swore she’d seen at least five pairs in that day at least…

“Thank you very much!” And off she went. Maybe her empty stomach was making her freak out…

“Minako.” She paused and looked back. Minato had already woken up? Oh come on…

“Minato, you should go rest.” She put her hands on her hips and frowned.

“You should too, today was tiring…” Minato yawned a bit, shaking his head. “Where are you going?”

“To get us something to eat…”

“I know you never have any pocket money, though.”

God damn him for knowing so much about her… Having a twin could be a real curse sometimes, she would always think that and stand by said thought... Even if it was usually a blessing in a lot of ways.

“Well, I still have enough for snacks from the convenience store, not enough for us to not share but... I didn’t have time to make anything in the apartment, so…” She kicked at the ground and looked up at him, watching for a reaction.

As usual, it was only the slightest reaction, but she still caught it. The slight upturn of his lips, the little quirk of his eyebrows… He was laughing at her! Of course, his version of laughing at her didn’t involve any laughter, but that just made it worse!

“At least actually laugh, you jerk!” She kicked him in the knee and he jumped back a step.

“I’m not laughing at all, though.”

“I know you are!” She frowned at him.

“Are you sure you’re not misreading the situation?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“You little--”

“Whoa, what’s going on over here?” A guy in a baseball cap came running up to them. “Is this a fight or something?”

They both looked at each other for a moment and seemed to think. Was this really a fight…?

“No, not really.” They both spoke in unison and shook their heads.

The guy blinked a few times, looking back and forth. It was as if he’d never heard someone speak in unison before or something. That or he’d never seen a pair of siblings talking the way they’d been.

“So, uh, what was that then?”

“That’s just how we talk to each other, how else do you deal with a baby sister?” Minato placed a hand on Minako’s head and she swatted it off.

“Oh come on, Minato! You’re at most an hour older than me.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Oh, so twins!” The guy nodded his head and laughed a bit. “Well that makes more sense than friends arguing or anything.”

“Yeah, guess that makes sense…” Minato shrugged and Minako looked the guy over.

“So, who’re you?”

“Junpei Iori, it’s nice to meet you.” He grinned and held out a hand, waiting for one of them to shake it.

Minako seemed to take said hand before Minato could fully process it. “Nice to meet you too! I’m Minako Arisato and this is Minato.”

“Whoa, your names are more similar than your looks!” Junpei laughed a bit as he looked between the two.

“That’s the magic of fraternal twins, they’re kinda twins who aren’t identical.” Minato shrugged.

“Oh come on, Minato, no need to be so dry!” Minako sighed, kicking his leg ever so lightly. “Sorry about that, Iori-kun, Minato is like this when tired.”

“I’m always tired.”

“Exactly.” Minako sighed, shaking her head.

“Well, uh…” Junpei blinked a few times, looking around. “Maybe I should leave you two alone for now. Maybe I’ll see you around?”

“Mmhmm, see you!” Minako waved as Junpei walked away, only to sigh when out of sight. “Minato, what’s up with you right now?”

“I just realized something...Do you have your key on you?”

Minako checked her pockets and the only thing she found was her wallet. “No, I guess I forgot it at home. Why?”

“...I think mine fell out in the building, and I locked the door when I left.”

“Are you telling me that we’re locked out if we don’t find your key?”

“Bingo.”

Chapter Text

Yu Narukami woke up early the next day, ready to get on with getting used to this part of the city. There was a lot in the area and he needed to find a part time job nearby, anyway… Train fare would eat up way too much of his money if he stuck with his current one.

“Well, guess I should--”

He paused when there was a knock on his door. Who in the world could be bothering him this early? Sure, he was up, but who else would be up?

Well, maybe he should go get the door. It’d be rude to just leave them hanging after all.

“One minute!” He finally pulled himself out of the bed and yawned.

When he opened the door, there was someone very blue standing in front of him. Who in the world was this…?

“Excuse me.” The person spoke, looking up at him. “I’m Naoto Shirogane, could I speak to you?”

Yu thought for a moment, had he heard that name before…? Maybe on a television program at some point. Yeah, that was it, but a Junes commercial came on after that so he’d been more focused on Nanako’s excitement.

“What do you need?”

“I just need to ask you a few questions, that’s all.” Naoto moved some hair behind her ear.

“Sure thing, but I just moved into the area, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be.” Yu shrugged just a bit. Unless she needed to know something about how he moved in, he didn’t see what he could give her.

“That’s fine. It might actually prove to be helpful, in fact.” Naoto seemed to think for a moment before looking back to Yu. “How did you hear about Velvet Apartments?”

“I saw an ad online and looked into it more, turned out to be affordable, so I took the place.”

“I see…” She seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. “What kind of website did you see the ad on?”

“Well, just a normal one, I think.” Now that he thought about it, actually, it was kind of strange. The website had been so blue and only really advertised this building, after all. “Well, uh…”

“Was it not normal?” Naoto raised an eyebrow.

“No, not really. The website was actually really odd, if I’m being honest with you. The site seemed to be just for the vacant apartments here.” He rubbed the back of his head, a frown on his face. Why had he thought this was a good idea, again?

“I see, how odd…”

“Do you need anything else?” If not he might need to think on how weird this was all for a while. Maybe call his uncle, Ryotaro was a detective after all.

“Oh, no, that’s all I’ll be needing for now, thank you.” She nodded at him and smiled before making her way down the hall.

“Well, that was...something else.” He sighed, shaking his head. Maybe he’d get ready for the day, look for a job, and then call his uncle. That seemed like it was going to be the best bet.

Shaking his head, he made his way back into the room and quickly changed out of his pajamas. There was a lot to do that day and no time to waste! Who’d have guessed that it’d be so busy today…

Oh well, better to get started on everything now and worry about the stress later! That was always his way of doing things and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. The only problem with that would be if it led him to some big trouble. That wasn’t going to happen, though, right?

He shook his head again and made his way out the door. Look out world, here he came!

Now then, stairs or elevator? The elevator had been so awkward, so… Stairs. Stairs seemed to be a good idea. At least a better idea than the elevator…

Making his way towards them, he hummed as he started down the stairs. He was pretty healthy, so it wouldn’t take him too long

Too bad for him that when he hit the stairs down to the second floor he hit right into someone. It didn’t affect Yu too much, sending him stumbling just a bit, but the person who hit into him almost fell off the stairs.

Yu barely moved in time to catch the guy, judging by the uniform he’d say a high schooler. He was also a kinda scrawny kid, scared looking. How sad.

“Hey, are you alright?” He pulled the teenager up onto the step and made sure to watch him steady before letting go of him.

“Oh, yeah, I-I’m fine.” The kid fixed his shirt and tugged at the collar of his turtleneck. “Sorry about that…”

“It’s fine,” Yu shook his head and smiled at the kid, “just...what were you doing that kept you from being careful on the stairs?”

“Well, uh, I forgot something and needed it before school started. I wanted to be quick so I wouldn’t be late or anything.” When he moved hair out of his face, Yu noticed the bandage and small scrapes on his face. How hadn’t he seen that before…?

“I see, are you okay, though…?” He moved to touch the boy’s face and he flinched away. Oops…

“I’m fine, really. I just need to…” He moved to walk around Yu, only to be hit into by someone else.

“W-whoa! Mishima!” The blond boy reached out to try and catch the other, only for both of them to fall. Thank goodness it wasn’t all the way down the stairs…

“Sakamoto--!”

“What’re you still doing here, dude? If we don’t leave now we’re gonna be late!” Without letting the Mishima kid say anything, he was on his feet and pulling him towards the stairs.

“W-wait…!”

Yu blinked and watched them go. Well, maybe that kid had a friend, at least, that was good! Unless that friend was behind the bandage and scrapes, but...nah. He’d seemed like an alright kid from the little Yu had seen.

He nodded to himself, yeah. It’d be fine, he had enough to deal with right now and could help that Mishima guy later if it bothered him enough.

Well then, he still had a lot to do that day, he needed to get a move on already.

He started moving down the stairs again, this time paying more attention as to avoid hitting into another person. That was just the last thing he needed after earlier. He felt if anymore happened he’d get involved in something he wanted nothing to do with…

Ugh, he shouldn’t think about it like that. He didn’t want to see a kid hurt, but if he had to get involved, he’d do it…! He’d do it without a second thought.

Yu shook his head. He would wait for now, though. In case something changed about that kid when (more like if) he saw him. For all he knew, he ran into him after getting beaten up by bullies, and there wouldn’t be much he could do. Well, he could go scare the bullies, maybe…

“Alright, time to focus on what I was doing--” Wait.

Wait just a second, who was that? He looked kind of like a punk, and an angry one at that. The guy looked like someone who could and would hit someone for bothering him… Yu would try to ignore that if it wasn’t for the fact he’d seen the Mishima kid, but…

Maybe he should go talk to this guy. Just try and find out if his hunch was correct or not.

“Excuse--”

Before he could say anything the man started to move away, quickly. Dammit…! Fine then, he would try and follow him instead! He needed to try and find out what was going on with this guy.

He could try and find a job as he went, too. He was sure he could stop by a few places and get some applications as he followed the guy. Two birds with one stone! That was how he did things, get through as much as he could in a short amount of time so he could focus on other things planned.

Was this eventually going to be his downfall? Probably, at least in a small way, but he didn’t seem to know that yet. Would he ever realize that before it became a problem? No, no he wouldn’t.

--

Yu had lost the guy completely within minutes of leaving the complex. How had he lost the guy so quickly? Well, that was anyone’s guess. The best guess would be he’d gotten distracted by a possible gift for Nanako, however, seeing as he stopped to look at it for way too long.

“I guess I won’t be following him any longer, then…” He frowned a bit, but hey! He’d found an umbrella for Nanako and that was what mattered.

...She still liked Loveline, right?

Well, he hoped she did, since he’d already bought this for her (he knew she would act like she liked it no matter what, but still). If not, he would try and grab something else for her, to make up for it. Gift buying was just too hard sometimes, especially when a kid like Nanako was growing up.

He sighed, shaking his head. The umbrella had been pretty expensive, too, he really needed to get a job closer to the apartments, now. He wouldn’t have money for the train to get to the other job…

“Excuse me…!”

He turned to see the woman who’d been trying to help Yosuke running up to him. She didn’t seem to have that red woman with her that day, though. Huh.

“Do you need something?” Was her name Fuuka? That’s what the other woman called her, right?

“Well, I was just curious about that man from yesterday. Did he end up being alright?”

“Yeah, he was totally fine…” He nodded and gave a small smile. “I didn’t let him get away without me helping him out.”

“Oh, w-well, while worded oddly, that’s good to know!” Fuuka smiled back at him, giggling a bit.

He thought for a moment, what else could they talk about? It seemed like that’s all the woman wanted to know, but… It’d be a waste for this all to end already! Maybe he’d ask about Mitsuru?

“Were you and your friend alright after you walked away?” Yeah, that was a decent question to follow up with. It was at least semi-connected to the Yosuke issue.

“Friend…? Oh!” Fuuka flushed a bit and she looked away. “You mean Mitsuru-san…?”

“Yeah, are you not friends?” Yu tilted his head to the side. They’d been awkward together, but he’d gotten the impression they still got along to some degree.

“Actually, we’re, er…” She seemed to stop herself, shaking her head. “I’m her secretary, that’s all.”

Yu rose an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. “That’s all?”

“Yes, that’s all!” Her face was still as red as could be. Yu had a feeling something was being hidden from him.

“I see…” He decided not to push it, at least not yet. Fuuka seemed a little too jittery to push it anymore. “Well, what are you doing out here?”

“Ah, picking some things up for, uh…” She looked at her feet and frowned. “For my roommate!”

“You have a roommate, then?”

Fuuka nodded a bit, doing her best to keep her cool, it seemed. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt and looked away. “Yeah, we were missing a few things, so I went out to grab them.”

“I see, I’m sure that your roommate will appreciate that!” He gave her a smile, trying to calm the nerves he could basically see fraying.

Fuuka smiled back at him and turned to walk away. “Well, I guess I should be going, then. I’ll be seeing you around, er…?”

“Yu Narukami, and I think I heard your name before…” He paused for a moment. “Fuuka Yamagishi was it?”

“Oh, yes! Well, uh, it was nice talking to you, Narukami-kun. I’ll be seeing you around?”

“Ah yeah, probably. See you, then, Yamagishi-san.” He waved at him and smiled just a bit. She seemed like a nice enough lady! Though he did feel she was hiding something when it came to Mitsuru… He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was something.

Looked like Yu was just finding all sorts of mysteries that day and no real leads on any of them…

“Huh, well, at least I’ll be busy, then.”

“Excuse me.” Someone else talking to him now? What were the odds?

He turned and saw Mitsuru standing there, arms crossed. Funny how she showed up shortly after Fuuka had left, huh? Maybe he’d find a lead for this mini-mystery, then.

“Can I help you?”

Mitsuru moved some hair behind her ear and Yu was pretty sure she was trying to act casual. “Did a woman come by here? With--”

“Do you mean Yamagishi-san?” Judging by the look on her face, yes, that’s who she was thinking about.

“Yes, I er…”

“Something for work, maybe?” He rose an eyebrow. “She said she’s your secretary?”

“Ah, yes, that’s what she is.” Mitsuru nodded and seemed to regain her posture. However, Yu felt there was just the smallest hint of something wrong in her tone. What was she hiding about Fuuka?

“I see, what kind of work are you in?” Maybe he could learn enough from Mitsuru that he could throw Fuuka off and catch them in some sort of lie next time he talked to her.

“Electronics.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I’m sure you’ve heard of Kirijo Electronics at some point?” She rose an eyebrow. “It’s a pretty widely known brand.”

Yu thought for a moment. He didn’t remember seeing much of that stuff in Inaba, but before that he might have seen some? Yu remembered hearing an ad for them at least once, he guessed… The curses of small town life, it seemed.

“I’ve heard of it, at the very least?” He offered this weakly, shrugging.

Mitsuru blinked a few times before shrugging. “Well, fair enough. That’s more than some people I’ve met recently.”

“Well, hey, at least I’m not the worst at knowing these things.” That was good, seeing as he hadn’t recognized Risette yesterday, despite her being a big deal. Remembering he’d heard of Kirijo Electronics was sure to be a good sign.

“Yes, well…” She seemed to think for a moment. “Can you tell me which way Yamagishi went? I need to speak to her soon.”

Oh, so he wasn’t going to be able to find out much more, huh? She wanted out of this conversation and Yu couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable about all of these things, after all.

“She went that way…” He pointed and frowned. He would slowly crack this case, then! Slowly but surely he’d get the truth…

“Thank you.” She gave him a small smile and nod and started off in that direction, walking quickly.

So, she had no interest in taking things slowly. Maybe he could just pretend she wanted to end the conversation because she had a lot to do. Yeah, that would make him feel better about all of this, so that’s what he’d tell himself.

“Whatever you have to say to make yourself feel better…”

He blinked, had he been mumbling to himself, then? Oh, he did sometimes have a bad habit of doing that, didn’t he? He needed to start working on that, it seemed.

He turned his head and saw no one other than Risette (or, as she’d mumbled, just Rise) standing there, looking in the window of the store. Someone was doing some shopping, huh?

“You were listening to that?” Yu rubbed the back of his head and sighed, deciding to look into the window as well. Nothing interested him.

“Just a little bit of it…” She yawned, shaking her head. “Seems a lot of stuff happens around me no matter what, huh?”

“You must be used to a lot of stuff since you’re an idol, then?”

Rise seemed to think for a moment, a frown on her face. “I guess so. I was just hoping for a break from it, you know?”

“I guess, but is a city the best idea for that?” He rose an eyebrow.

“I thought about a small town, but blending in a crowd is easier in the city, don’t you think?” She looked over at him and gave a weak smile. So she just wanted to be able to blend in with the crowd for a while…

“I understand that, yeah.” He nodded a bit and looked back to the window. There was still nothing that interested him. "Less chance of the paparazzi finding you, more chance of them finding an impersonator or something."

Rise seemed to give a stronger smile now. “Glad you seem to get it, my manager didn’t…”

She shook her head and started to walk off. “Well, nice talking to you. See you around the apartment, I’m sure.”

Yu blinked a few times and waved. “See you.”

Chapter Text

Ren wasn’t sure why, but he had a bad feeling as he headed towards Shujin Academy. This was going to be his first day at this school, and, well, he was kind of worried. Sojiro had woken him up early to tell him how to behave and hand him his uniform, but…

He sighed, looking down at his phone. News of a student with a criminal record was sure to spread quickly in a high school, right? He was pretty sure, at least, since it took less than a week for all his friends back home to start avoiding him.

As he walked, Ren began to lose track of exactly where he was. He was so lost in thought, in fact, he started crossing the street without thinking about it, only to freeze when a horn was honked. He’d been zoning out really badly, already messing this up.

The window of the car, which actually looked like a limousine now that he thought about it, rolled down and a girl stuck her head out.

“Are you alright?” She had a soft face, currently decorated with a worried frown.

“Ah yeah, sorry…” He walked across the street quickly, glancing back just in time to see the girl slide back into her seat and roll the window up. He swore she looked pretty unhappy as she did so.

Stopping on the other side of the sidewalk, he watched the big car pull away. What a way to start the day, almost getting hit because he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings. Was this a sign for the rest of the school year?

“Hey, excuse me!” He looked over his shoulder and saw the boy who’d had the night before. “Are you okay?”

“Huh, oh, yeah.” He must’ve seen the whole car ordeal then. “I wasn’t paying attention, but I wasn’t hurt or anything…”

“Oh, well, that’s good…” The boy seemed to be wearing the Shujin Academy uniform as well. “I just wanted to say sorry about Koromaru again. He gets excited when he meets new people.”

“It’s no big deal. I was just...worried when I felt a tongue on my face.” If anything, it being a dog had made the experience a lot less disturbing.

“I see…” The boy rubbed the back of his neck and sighed before finally looking back to Ren. “By the way, I’m Ken Amada. Looks like you’re going to Shujin too?”

“Ah, yeah, I’m Ren Amamiya.” He nodded a bit and went to say something else when a blond boy rushed by, dragging someone after him.

“Sakamoto-kun…!” Ken sighed a bit and shook his head. “He must’ve gotten the time wrong again.”

“Does he do that often?”

“Yeah, though the person he tries to drag along usually changes.” Ken sighed, shaking his head. “Today it looks like it’s...what was his name? Mishima-kun…?”

“I see…”

Ken sighed, shaking his head a bit. “It’s usually Mishima-kun or myself, actually. Once it was Takamaki-san…”

Ren nodded, interesting… He’d had to look into talking to the three people mentioned, at the very least. Maybe something good would come of it if he did? That Sakamoto had seemed the type who’d be an alright friend, at least.

“Well then,” Ken cleared his throat and looked Ren over, “we should get going before there really is a reason to rush to school.”

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded a bit and started to follow after Ken. This could make the trip easier, less chance of getting lost.

That was what he was thinking as they walked along, at least. Ken walked quickly, like he didn’t have time to wait for anyone or anything, despite the fact he told Ren they should both get going. Was he not supposed to follow Ken…?

Well, it didn’t matter for now.  He would just keep quiet and follow after him to make sure he made it on time. He didn’t really know how to use the subway system correctly, after all. The downsides to growing up in a small town, huh?

Well, there were a few others, but still. Right now, the biggest downside of the day was the lack of needing to use trains as often as one in Tokyo would.

Soon enough, they made it to the station and Ren noted every area they went to, in order to try and remember for himself the next day. As they went, he couldn’t help but think that maybe this’d be easier than he thought.

That was good to know, he didn’t want to follow after someone every day, that was sure to get awkward, after all. Awkward and, if his record followed him too closely, could get him in trouble for no reason. Who knew how long it’d take for someone to claim he was stalking whoever he was following to make his way to school… That was the last thing he needed.

“So uh,” Ken looked back at him with a frown on his face, “are you alright?”

“Huh?” He blinked a few times and waved a hand in front of him. “I-I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You’ve been quietly following me this whole time…” Ken’s expression could easily read as both upset and concerned. Ren wasn’t sure which was the correct way to read it, sadly.

“Ah, sorry, I’m just not used to using trains so much...I was trying to note how you get to Shujin so I could do it myself…”

“Oh, no, following me is fine, but the silence is kinda, I dunno…” He frowned and tapped his foot. “What’s the word I’m looking for…?”

“...Uncomfortable?” Ren suggested, an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, that’s the word. It’s uncomfortable just walking along in silence, I guess…” Ken sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “So, you know, feel free to talk if you want to?”

“So you don’t mind if I talk to you, then?” Ren rose an eyebrow.

“Well, no, not really, but don’t feel bad if I don’t reply. I’m thinking about a lot of things right now.” He looked away, seemingly not too keen on saying more than that. Too bad, Ren was kind of curious now. Just what was Ken thinking about?

“That’s fine by me, I’ll try to talk some so it doesn’t get as uncomfortable again.” Ren smiled at him, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

Ken gave a small smile. “I see, that’s… Yeah, thanks.”

He turned and started walking again, leaving Ren to follow after him. What should Ren try and talk about to keep some noise between them…?

“Is Shujin Academy a good school?” That was an alright question to start with, right? Since they were heading on there way there at the moment.

“It’s pretty alright, super focused on volleyball, though… The coach won gold at the Olypmics once, I think?” Ken shrugged a bit. “Sorry, I don’t get super involved with anything at school.”

“It’s fine…” Ren shook his head. So Ken wasn’t super involved in the school, then? Interesting.

What else should he talk about on their way? They were almost to the train, so maybe he would see if there was any news to talk about when they got on. As long as it wasn’t too crowded to easily talk, at least.

If not, well, he could talk about the Velvet Apartments? They both seemed to live there and Ren did want to know at least a little more about the place he was staying for a year. There was the whole talking cat thing, so maybe--

“Hey!” He paused when he heard a voice from his bag. Was...was that Morgana?

“Did you say something?” Ken stopped and turned to look at Ren, raising an eyebrow.

“Someone hit into me, that’s all. Sorry…” He shook his bag a bit, hoping that Ken would buy it.

Ken shrugged and turned to keep walking. Thank god, he seemed to have believed him or didn’t care enough to push it. He would just hope it was fully the first one.

Ren peeked into the bag and frowned. It looked like Morgana was indeed sitting in his bag, looking quite mad about the shaking. That wasn’t the biggest issue for Ren, though. The biggest issue on his mind was how could Morgana breathe in there?

Maybe this cat wasn’t a cursed human, maybe he was a magic being who didn’t need air. Or an alien? Both of those could be really interesting, honestly.

“Why did you shake me--”

“Kurusu-kun, come on.” Ken gestured for Ren to catch up and hop onto the train. “Before it leaves.”

Ren shook the bag a bit one more time as a warning to Morgana to stay quiet and nodded, before running over and catching up to Ken. Time to head to school, then.

--

When they made it out of the station, Ren sighed. That had been way too busy for his tastes, but hey, they were almost to school. As long as nothing went wrong, they were sure to make it on time--

“Heeeey, excuse me!” Ren paused when a man in a suit came running up to him. Who…?

“Can we help you?” Ken talked first, sounding anything but happy about being stopped like this.

“Ah yeah, well, do you guys know a Yu Narukami?” The man seemed to easily ignore the unhappiness radiating off of Ken. “I was leaving Inaba and his uncle asked me to bring him something.”

“I just moved here myself, so no.” Ren shook his head and moved a bit behind Ken. He would let him handle this…

“I’ve never heard of him, either…” Ken shook his head. “Who are you, anyway? Approaching high school students is going to make you look like a creep.”

“Hey now, don’t say that. I’m a detective, a detective! People won’t think I’m creepy for talking to some kids.” The man laughed, but Ken shook his head.

“Don’t be so sure about that.”

“Besides, we don’t know you’re really a detective…” And if he was, Ren wasn’t sure he wanted to stick around too long. Anyone who could be even a little involved with the police made him kind of uncomfortable.

“I am, though! I am! I’m Tohru Adachi, I’m sure you could look me up and verify it!”

Ken and Ren both shifted a bit, sharing a look. Neither of them wanted to be here in that moment, huh? He wasn’t sure if Ken just didn’t want to run late or if he had another reason he didn’t want to be there, but well… He couldn’t blame him, this guy was something else.

“I don’t think I wanna waste my time with that.” Ken finally spoke up, shaking his head. “Come on, Kurusu-kun, let’s get to school.”

“Wait, wait just a second! I have a few other questions!” Tohru really didn’t want them to walk away, huh?

“What?” Ken frowned, looking back at him. This was the last thing Ren wanted, he felt something was going to go really wrong, really quickly.

He watched Ken walk over to Tohru as they began talking and he tried to decide if there was something else he could do. He didn’t want to try and walk off to school alone and leave Ken alone with this guy, but he didn’t want to get anymore involved…

Ren looked down a nearby alleyway and frowned. There was an older man standing there, an older man who looked a little less...normal. His eyes were bloodshot and bulging and his nose was so pointed…

He didn’t know why, but he wanted to walk down that alley and talk to him. He wanted to figure out who he was and why he was standing there… It wouldn’t hurt for him to make his way down the alley, right? He could go see what was going on and then come right back, no one would even notice…

He started to walk that way, only to jump when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was that Sakamoto kid from earlier. When had he gotten there?

“Hey, did I see you earlier this morning?”

Ren nodded. “Yeah...I think so.”

“Looks like you’re headed to Shujin too, huh?” He smiled at Ren. “Well, I’m Sakamoto Ryuji. Looks like we’re heading the same way.”

“Yeah, well…” He looked back over at Ken, who seemed to have finally gotten Tohru to walk away. “I’m with Amada-kun.”

Ryuji whistled a bit as Ken made his way over to them. “Whoa, I’m not used to you talking to anyone, Amada-kun.”

“...Yeah, and I’m not used to seeing you around here when you were already rushing to school.” Ken sighed. “We’re all going to be late, you know that, right?”

Ryuji grimaced. “Yeah, yeah, I realized that…”

“We saw you running for school, though,” Ren played with his bangs, “why are you back here?”

“...I got distracted by that bastard Kamoshida.” Ryuji grimaced as he said the name.

“Kamoshida…?”

“The volleyball coach.” Ken shook his head. “I’m heading to school, I don’t want to be later than I have to be.”

Ryuji blinked a few times before following after Ken. “Hey! Wait up! I don’t wanna be any later than I have to, either!”

“Then keep up.”

Ren blinked a few times and frowned. What a colorful group he had found himself already. If he found that Mishima guy and Takamaki girl later maybe it’d be even more colorful… At least it was a group and he wasn’t alone.

“Okay...Let’s just follow them.”

“Good idea...and you could let me out to breathe!” The muffled voice of Morgana made Ren jump.

Oh yeah, he was in his bag, wasn’t he? He’d stuffed the poor thing in there when he got on the train and kind of forgotten about him. So he unzipped the bag a little and started following after Ken and Ryuji.

Morgana poked his head out and settled on Ren’s shoulder, looking around. Looked like he was interested in seeing the surroundings too.

“Huh, so this is what it looks like outside those apartments…”

Ren rose an eyebrow. “You were never out of the apartments…?”

Morgana seemed to freeze for a moment. “W-well I’m sure I was out of them at some point! I just...don’t remember it.”

“I see…” Ren frowned and turned to see Ryuji and Ken at a standstill at the gate. He pushed Morgana back into the bag and hurried over next to them.

He looked over and saw a man in a white t-shirt standing at the top of the stairs. His chin was...very wide, to say the least, too. He looked like he was very fit, however. If he had to guess, maybe this guy was Kamoshida or something?

“Oh, look at this! Sakamoto, you’re late again. You were never this bad when you had track practice.” The man smirked and Ryuji seemed to bristle some.

“Kamoshida…!”

Ken put a hand on Ryuji’s shoulder and frowned. “We’re sorry that we’re late, Mr. Kamoshida, could you just let us through?”

“Oh, don’t think I don’t have anything to say to you, Amada-kun.” The man’s smirk was still on his face. “You’re getting worse at being on time too. Is that deadbeat guardian of yours starting to rub off on you?”

Ken seemed to become upset himself at this point and Ren could tell this wasn’t good. Was Kamoshida trying to rile these two up, then? That had to be what was going on… And, well…

“We’re only about five minutes late.” If his phone was right, at least.

“Huh?” Kamoshida turned to look at Ren and frowned. “Oh, you’re that transfer student, aren’t you? Ren Amamiya, correct?”

“...Yes.” He nodded a bit. Was this going to be a mistake? Well, hopefully not, he didn’t want to think leaving Ken and Ryuji to get angry was the right thing to do.

“I hope you don’t think you can talk back just because you’re new here!” Kamoshida crossed his arms, a frown on his face. “You are here on probation, after all.”

“I know that, that’s why I’d rather not be any later than I have to be.” He nodded, doing his best to appear timid. He wasn’t going to back down, exactly, but he didn’t want to come across as looking for a fight.

“...I see.” Kamoshida glared at the boys. He was nothing less than pissed for Ren getting involved, huh? Oops.

They stood there in silence for at least a few minutes. It was uncomfortable, but Ren did his best not to shift or look away. He had to stick to his guns, right? He couldn’t look away or give up.

“Then hurry and head to your classes.” Kamoshida turned, a scowl on his face, before walking away. Did that mean Ren had won this (for now, at least)? Well, that wasn’t what he was expecting, he'd expected to at least lose at first. That was what happened in all those underdog stories, after all...

“Wow, impressive.” Ken still seemed upset by what had been said, but gave Ren a small smile. “Try not to get too involved with Kamoshida too much, though.”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve never actually seen Kamoshida back down!” Ryuji seemed angry still, too, but was also excited. “That was--”

“Bad, if Kamoshida never backs down.” Ken pointed out.

Ryuji blinked a few times before grimacing. “Dammit. You...you have a point.”

“So, what should I do if it really is bad?” Ren asked, tilting his head to the side.

Ken sighed, shaking his head, before looking back to Ren. “Just try to lay low for now. That’s the best you can do.”

So, the plan he’d had for the entire year? At least he didn’t have to change anything about said plan.

“Alright.”

Chapter Text

Everything around him was on fire. He looked over to his mother, she was in a mess of metal. Blood ran down her face and she smiled at him. No, no. This couldn’t be happening.

“Live.”

He wanted to cry, but nothing came out of his eyes. He tried to look further, to see his father or Minako. Where were they? He wanted his mother, his father, his sister. He just wanted someone to tell him it was alright. He wanted more than that single word.

“Live.”

Minato sat up with a shock, his breathing heavy. He hadn’t dreamt about that night in years… He hadn’t felt this scared in years. He hadn't felt so wrong about something in years...

“Minato…!” Minako ran into the room, concern clear on her face. “Are you okay?”

“...Fine.” He shook his head, moving to get out of bed. “I just need to get some fresh air.”

She frowned, crossing her arms. “Are you sure? I’ll go with you--”

“No.” He shook his head as he slowly got dressed, a frown on his face. He needed some air and time alone. If Minako was with him all he would be able to see was her little body lying near him.

He shook his head again, trying to throw the image out of his head. Trying to get Minako’s whine and tears out of his head. Trying to get the pain in his legs and arms out of his head. Trying to get the fear and confusion out of his head. He wanted to get it all out of his head.

“Minato…” She frowned and looked at her feet. “Alright, don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“I won’t.” He held his breath until she walked away.

When he was sure she wasn’t around anymore, he let out a breath and shook his head once more. If she’d pushed for just a bit longer, who knew what would’ve happened. Well, probably her pushing him to tell her what was going on.

“Ugh…” He placed a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. He really needed to get outside. The fresh air would make him feel better.

He pulled on a jacket and walked for the door. Was it even cold enough for this? He wasn’t so sure, but… He’d rather not feel the need to come back for a jacket. Taking it off was always an option, after all.

Walking into the hallway he looked around. Stairs or the elevator? Well, he’d never tried the elevator, so why not that?

He made his way for the elevator, hands in pockets. It looked like there was an elevator attendant waiting when he pressed the down button and the elevator appeared. Huh, how fancy. He’d never lived somewhere where they actually had an elevator attendant before. He'd actually kind of thought they were a dying breed of job due to that.

“Good evening.” She tipped her head towards him and smiled. “What floor?”

He stepped on and looked away. “Ah, the ground floor.”

“Alright.” She pressed the button and looked to him with a smile on her face. “You remind me of someone.”

Minato blinked a few times, confusion clear on his face. “Do I…?”

“Yes, you do,” she nodded, “perhaps a girl I saw yesterday…?”

Could she mean Minako? If she did, well, that was odd. They were twins, yeah, but in a lot of ways they were more a mirror to each other. She was outgoing and extroverted while he was reserved and introverted. She was loud and seemed friendly while he was quiet and seemed unfriendly. The only things he could think of was the fact they both had a penchant for being witty and sarcastic. Was that enough for this woman to notice?

“Deep in thought about who I might mean?” The woman chuckled a bit, holding a hand up to her mouth.

“...You might mean my twin. We...have the same nose.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Only the nose?”

“The ears, too. But you can’t really see mine.” He shrugged a bit and leaned against the wall. When would they reach the ground floor?

“Oh, you’re funny! I like you!” She slapped Minato’s back, moving him away from the wall.

“Funny…?”

She laughed, nodding her head. “Yes, you’re funny!”

“How so?” He tilted his head to the side, a frown on his face. He’d never heard anyone besides Minako call him funny before.

“The way you’re talking, how deadpan!” She chuckled again and turned to the doors. “Oh, look where we are.”

“Thanks…” Minato sighed, happy to be on the ground floor. He needed to get outside for at least a while.

“See you later.” She waved at him as the doors closed and he gave an awkward wave back.

Well, now he could be alone. He could be alone to think about everything and try to get it out of his head--

“Oh,” he looked over and saw Theodore standing there, “funny seeing you here!”

--

Minako didn’t know why, but she felt like she needed to talk to someone. Minato had had that look on his face again and she hadn’t been able to do anything about it. She was never able to do something about it. Hell, she'd even take the family she'd ran away from with this move.

“Dammit…” She shook her head and made her way to her room. She’d get dressed and go find someone to talk to. Someone willing to listen to her vent.

She took no time throwing on what seemed at least kind of cute, in order to keep whoever she found from knowing something was up with her. At least from knowing how big that something was, when she started talking about it.

Looking in the mirror she frowned, her hair was a mess. She’d been thinking about letting it stay down, but no. That wouldn’t be a good idea. She’d just have to put it up again. Sometimes average was better, huh?

“Too bad...I’ll try something different some other time, then.”

Soon enough, she had her hair up and she was walking down the hall. Had she locked the door? She hoped so, because she wasn’t going to be heading back.

Soon enough, she found herself in front of the elevator. Maybe she could vent a bit to the attendant and then leave. That would work, right? She doubted the attendant would care much.

She pushed both buttons and waited. She hoped the attendant wouldn’t get mad at her for that.

“Hello.” The elevator opened and the woman smiled at her. “What floor.”

“Could we, uh. Go to every floor before I get off?” She just needed time to talk.

She nodded a bit and chuckled. “I just saw a boy who reminded me of you, you know?”

“Oh, Minato?” That had to be who she meant, right. “We have the same nose.”

The woman laughed and shook her head. “He said the same thing!”

“Huh, how funny…” She smiled a bit before. “Hey lady--”

“Elizabeth.”

Minako blinked, was that her name then? “Oh, uh, Elizabeth. Do you think I could vent at you for a while?”

“Oh?” She seemed very interesting now, as she pressed all the buttons. “Please, feel free to! I’d love to hear some venting. Angry at someone?”

She thought for a moment. Could she say she was angry at someone? She wasn’t really mad at Minato, so she couldn’t with him, but...

“Does being angry at myself count?”

Elizabeth blinked before laughing again and clapping her hands together. “Oh! This is going to be really fun!”

“So I guess you’re willing to listen?”

“Yes.” She smiled at her, the smile being almost blinding.

“Alright, where to begin…?”

-

Minato didn’t know how it’d happened, but he was walking along the empty street with Theodore. First the woman in the elevator and now this? Was there no freedom from these yellow and blue weirdos?

“So, you seem like you’re hiding something from me. Is there an issue you need to speak about?” Theodore rose an eyebrow, a smile on his face.

“I’m not hiding anything from you.” He shook his head, a frown on his face.

“Yes you are. I can tell when someone is hiding something.”

The smile on Theodore’s face made Minato want to scream. He was so good at hiding his emotions, how the hell was Theodore seeing through it so easily? Was he a psychic or something like that? No, a demon would make more sense with everything he'd seen...

“Well, are you going to say anything?” Theodore titled his head to the side.

“...I’ve been having bad dreams.”

“Oh! I’ve heard about bad dreams. They’re usually called nightmares, right?” Theodore’s question set Minato on edge. What kind of question was that…? Who would ask that?

“...Yeah.”

“And they usually have things such monsters in them, correct?”

Minato shrugged. “Some do, but…”

“But?” He tilted his head to the side and watched Minato carefully.

“Mine don’t. Mine are more like...reliving memories.” He didn’t know why he went into more details than no monsters. Maybe so Theodore wouldn’t ask another string of questions about nightmare.

“I see. They must be bad memories if you consider them a nightmare.” Theodore was watching him as if he was a rat in a cage.

“Ah, yeah. I guess so.” He rubbed the back of his head and looked away.

“What kind of memories are they?” He rose an eyebrow and Minato felt he wasn’t going to be allowed to get away with saying not to worry.

“...A car crash I was involved in when I was young.” He was going to try and stay as vague as he could when it came to this. He just had to hope Theodore didn’t push it too far.

Theodore, however, gave him a knowing look. “How interesting...Mind if I ask a bit more?”

“You’re going to do it even I say no, right?”

“It seems you’re learning.” He clapped his hands together and laughed a bit. “...I hope I’m doing this right.”

“Doing what right?”

“I’m trying to channel my inner Elizabeth.” Theodore nodded. “And by that, I mean I’m trying to be more pushy like her. I try not to repeat her more bully-like tendencies.”

“...I see.” Minato wasn’t sure he understood. Was it like when Minako tried to copy his deadpan tone?

“Yes! So, I would really like if you told me more.” Theodore nodded, a smile on his face.

“...It was a bad crash. My sister and I were in it, along with out parents. I...don’t remember much.” He frowned, looking at his hands.

“Well, I’ll take whatever you can remember, and happen to be willing to share.” Theodore gave him another blinding smile. Minato hated it.

“Minako and I ended up being farther away from the crash and only suffered minor injuries,” he narrowed his eyes as he thought of the scene, “my mother and father weren’t so lucky. I always saw it as them being eaten by a metal beast.”

Theodore nodded a bit, his smile going away. It seemed like he noticed that this wasn’t exactly the happiest memory of his. Good, Minato was afraid he wouldn’t be able to pick up on that. It didn’t seem like he’d been picking up on much about the mood, after all.

“My mother...her face was covered in blood and I can still see it. I can still see the smile she gave me. She must’ve been glad I wasn’t as injured…” Minato shook his head. Thinking about this was so hard.

“That’s enough now.” Theodore shook his head.

“You really want me to stop, now?” Minato hadn’t thought he’d make him stop now… Maybe it was because he was shaking.

“I’m no counsellor, but…” He sighed, shaking his head. “Maybe you need to let out some of these negative feelings?”

Minato frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “What do you mean?”

Theodore smiled at him. “I think it would do you some good to cry...maybe scream a bit too!”

Minato looked at his feet. Cry and scream…? Would that even help? Maybe for a short amount of time, but…

He shook his head. No, he couldn’t--

Theodore placed a hand on his head and gave it a pat. “Come on. Don’t be shy.”

Minato felt some tears coming up and he shook his head. That didn’t stop the tears thought. He didn’t mean to, but after that, it was almost inevitable that a small scream escaped him.

“There we go. Just do that for a while.”

Minato planned to.

-

“I feel like I can’t do anything for my brother.” That was where Minako finally decided to begin.

“Oh?” Elizabeth rose an eyebrow, a smile on her face. “Why is that?”

“...We’ve been through a lot and. Well...it affects us both still. But I’ve told myself I’ll protect him! I shouldn’t let it get to me so much that I can’t help him!”

Elizabeth blinked and thought for a moment. “That’s stupid!”

Minako paused and looked up at her. “E-excuse me? Why do you say that?”

“If it’s still affecting you, there’s not much you can do. You have to take care of yourself first, right?” Elizabeth titled her head to the side.

She frowned. She’d never actually thought about it like that… Maybe because of how they were. Minato always showed the trauma more obviously than she did. Enough so that when people pointed it out, she felt the need to step in. Who cared that he seemed closed off? She knew her brother had his reasons…

And besides, no one noticed her pain, so why linger on it? People would tell her she was so strong for taking the issues so well. They’d tell her she was so brave for not crying every time they had to move. But...she’d done that for Minato.

She wasn’t actually that brave or strong. Minato was all her bravery and strength. Without him… She wouldn’t have come off as nearly as amazing to others without him. She would’ve been a mess without him to take care of.

“...But he needs me.”

“I’m sure he does. But I’m sure he also needs you to be there for yourself.” Elizabeth chuckled. “My brother for example! Theo would be useless if Margaret didn’t look out for him. But Margaret could not do that without keeping an eye on herself first!”

“I see…” She kicked at the ground and frowned. Maybe her cheery facade was hurting her, then?

She was always trying to be happy for Minato and others...Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to do. At least not all the time.

Elizabeth seemed to be watching Minako carefully now, a smile on her face. Was this funny to her or something? It was really hard for Minako to tell, her facial expression was hard to read despite the smile.

Damn these yellow and blue people. They were the hardest thing to understand in this apartment! Minako wasn’t sure she’d ever fully understand them, either. There were like, what, six of them? That was way too many… She'd never seen a family that big in her life...

“Uh…” Minako looked at the elevator door. “Why are you staring at me?”

Elizabeth blinked a few times, as if not expecting that question. “Oh? Was I staring?”

“Yeah...And I’d like to know why, please.” Minako crossed her arms.

“Oh, well I was expecting you to cry or something! Since you seemed to come to a conclusion about what you must do.” Elizabeth shrugged a bit. “Isn’t that what usually happens?”

“...I guess, but…” She looked away. That didn’t mean she wanted to cry or anything like that.

“Then maybe you should cry!” Elizabeth clapped her hands together and nodded, as if she had the best idea in the world.

“I don’t want to cry, though.” Minako frowned, what the hell was with this woman?

“I still think you should.”

“So what? That’s what you think…”

“And I know I’m right in this situation. I’m sure you’ll agree with me too.”

“Uh, no--”

Elizabeth held up a finger and smiled at her. “Come on now, I know crying a bit will help. We have about…” She looked over at the elevator door. “Three or four more floors to go!”

Minako frowned and looked at her feet. Dammit...She wasn’t going to get a choice, was she? Elizabeth would wear her down into tears one way or another…

She covered her face and shook her head. No. She didn’t want to cry, she didn’t want to cry…

“There you go.” Elizabeth walked over to her and pat her head. “Crying is helping, hm?”

“No…!” She shook her head, trying to ignore the tears falling down her face. “No...no…”

Elizabeth smiled at pat her head again. “This will be good for you in the end!”

The elevator soon came to a stop, and not just for a moment. No, they came to a stop at the bottom floor. Looked like Minako needed to--

“Minako?” She jumped a bit when she heard her brother’s voice.

“M-Minato…!”

He was staring at her, his eyes red. Had he been crying too? Minato never really cried, though…

“Minako, are you crying?” Minato looked her face over with a frown.

“No, no!” She tried to wipe her tears away. “I promise I’m--”

Minato pulled her into a hug, cutting off her lie. She hadn’t been hugged by him in years… He’d been so far off from her for so long…

She began crying again, louder, and wrapped her arms around him.

“I missed you…!”

Minato didn’t seem to understand fully, but tightened his grip. “I’m here, I’m here…”

Chapter Text

Yu wasn’t sure why he saw people crying and hugging in the elevator, but he decided to leave it alone. He was already taking the stairs, so… Well, he would just walk past and out of the apartment. No reason to get involved with what seemed to be a personal thing. Sometimes people just needed to work things out on their own.

He had to go job hunting again, after all. There was so many places to check. He’d only gotten about three applications the day before thanks to all the issues he’d run into. That wasn’t enough, at all.

Walking along, he hummed a bit. There were a few more shops he wanted to stop by. If he was fast about this--

He looked up when he heard a dog bark. Oh, he loved dogs! Where was the cute little thing?

He finally saw it, an albino Shiba Inu, trotting along happily. Now, if that wasn’t the cutest thing he’d seen in awhile! What a little cutie--

Too bad Yu looked up at the person walking the dog and decided he wasn’t nearly as cute. In fact, he found the guy walking him to be terrifying. He was kind of bent over, a beanie on his head and pea coat covering his body. He didn’t know why, but the smile on his face also scared him.

“Excuse me!” He watched a boy who couldn’t be out of high school run up to the man. “Shinjiro!”

The Shinjiro guy frowned and looked at him. “Don’t you have class, Akechi?”

“Oh, classes were cancelled today.” He smiled at Shinjiro, laughing a bit.

“Then go study.”

“You didn’t finish high school, though. Should you really be telling me to study?” He tilted his head to the side, a smile still on his face. Yu didn’t know why, but something about the boy’s tone had started to shift some.

“Don’t even start with that, brat.” Shinjiro sighed and flicked his forehead. It seemed like the shift in tone was missed or Shinjiro didn’t even care.

“Excuse me…?” He rubbed his forehead, a small frown on his face.

“Go study.” Shinjiro flicked his head again and rolled his eyes.

It seemed like this boy didn’t affect Shinjiro at all. Well, Yu wasn’t exactly surprised, this Shinjiro guy looked terrifying. Terrifying enough that he couldn’t see anything really affecting him. Then again, that could just be what Yu was getting from it all. His imagination did like to run wild sometimes.

Too bad for him, the dog barked, calling attention to his staring. Dammit, why? Usually dogs were his allies, why was this dog betraying him like this? This was going to be really bad. At least, he was pretty sure that was the case.

Shinjiro looked at him and frowned. Yep, here it was, trouble was coming. Oh, why had he decided to stare? He should’ve known better…

“You want something?” Shinjiro shifted a bit, still frowning and staring at Yu.

“...No! I just...uh, saw the kid with you? Isn’t he a bit young to be wandering around right now.”

Shinjiro turned to look at him. “Yeah, he should be at school or studying.”

The boy laughed a bit. “You’re being grumpy, Shinjiro.”

“And you’re being a weirdo, like usual.” Shinjiro rolled his eyes.

“Isn’t that a bit mean?”

“Most squeaky clean detectives don’t hang around someone like me.”

Yu blinked a few times. “Huh? What, you’re a detective?” He looked to boy, an eyebrow raised.

“Ah, yes. I’m Goro Akechi. Have you heard of the second coming of the Detective Prince?”

“Oh, maybe?” He shrugged a bit. He really didn’t pay enough attention to things like that, did he?

“Well,” Goro grabbed Shinjiro by the arm with a small laugh, “you can also remember me as Shinjiro’s darling little half-brother!”

Shinjiro frowned, looking at Goro for a moment. “Don’t ever say that again.”

“Well, why not?” Goro looked at him, with what looked like a fake smile on his face.

“You’re not darling, Akechi.”

Akechi frowned for just a moment and Yu shivered a bit. It was unsettling, to say the least. He was really tempted to walk away.

“Why don’t you ever call me my first name? We’re brothers, aren’t we?”

“I don’t know you enough to call you anything else.” Shinjiro shook his head and Goro tightened his grip.

“You call Amada-kun his first name, though.”

“And I’m his guardian…” Shinjiro shook his head, sighing.

“So?” Goro frowned. “You supply for him so that’s enough?”

“Stop it, alright? Let go of my arm, Akechi.”

It seemed that in that moment that Akechi faltered again, just for a moment. This one was more...sad to Yu, though. As if he was defeated.

“Oh, sorry!” He let go and basically skipped to the other side of Shinjiro. “That’s Theodore’s arm, huh?”

“Theodore’s arm?” Yu was too curious not to say something now.

“Oh, yes. The doorman is usually the one hanging off Shinjiro’s arm.” Goro smiled at him and chuckled a bit.

Shinjiro shook his head. “Don’t make things up, kid--”

“Shinjiro!” As if on cue to prove Goro right, a man Yu had seen near the hugging people ran up and grabbed Shinjiro by the arm.

Weird, they were pretty far from the apartment, right? That guy hadn’t seemed like he was going to be moving anytime soon, yet here he was. What, had he teleported? Did he have superhuman speed? Yu was pretty sure that a normal person in that situation wouldn’t be here.

“Theo…” Shinjiro sighed, trying to tug his arm away. “What do you want?”

“Did you take your medication today?” Theodore smiled at him, the smile being one that could scare anyone who didn’t take their medication.

So, the discomfort on Shinjiro’s face told Yu that he hadn’t taken his. Well, that was a problem. For Shinjiro, at least.

“Yeah, I did…”

“I don’t think you did.” Theodore shook his head and began to tug on his arm. “Come on, back we go.”

Shinjiro grimaced and tried to pull away. “No, I took them. I really did, Theo. Let me go.”

“I don’t think he did!” Goro smiled at them and laughed just a bit.

“You have to be a brat about this, don’t you…?”

“I’m just telling the truth, Shinjiro!”

“Oh!” Theodore smiled even wider. “It looks like it’s two against one, Shinjiro! You should come with me.”

“I’m not going, Koromaru needs to walk.” Shinjiro did his best to hold his ground. By the slow dragging of his feet, however, Yu had to guess Theodore was winning.

“Oh! I can walk him for you!” Goro smiled at him and held out a hand for the leash.

“You know Koromaru isn’t your biggest fan.” Shinjiro frowned at his younger brother and shook his head.

“I can still walk him, right?” Goro bent down, but Koromaru backed up, whining a bit. “Oh come on, now!”

“He really isn’t a fan. You scare him.” Shinjiro tried to pull his arm free again. “So I should walk him.”

“Oh no, you need your medication! I can--”

Theodore held up a hand and smiled. “I’ll take Shinjiro back to the apartment and then walk Koromaru! Everyone will win this way.”

Shinjiro grimaced and looked over at him. “Are you sure, Theo? Koromaru usually ends up walking you.”

Theodore blinked, tilting his head to the side as if he didn’t understand that. “No, I’m always the one holding the leash.”

“That’s not--” Shinjiro held up a hand and shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?”

Yu wasn’t sure what he was watching anymore, but he was sure of one thing. Theodore was way too naive for someone who looked to be in his twenties. Well, unless he hadn’t been allowed to leave his home until recently. He was pale enough for that to be a possibility.

Shinjiro finally seemed ready to speak. “I mean that he usually drags you everywhere. You might have the leash, but he has complete control.”

“Is that a problem?” Theodore titled his head to the side, a small pout on his face.

“...I, I mean…” Shinjiro sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “You’re going to look like a fool if you…”

“He doesn’t have anything!” Goro laughed a bit, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Take him home for his medication and take Koromaru for a walk if you want!”

“Akechi…” Shinjiro glared at his little brother, who just laughed.

Theodore seemed to perk back up at that point. “Thank you! Now, come on Shinjiro!”

Yu blinked a few times as he watched Shinjiro literally get dragged back towards the apartments. Wow, poor guy didn’t stand a chance, did he?

“...So.” Yu jumped a bit when Goro looked at him. “You were talking to Naoto Shirogane yesterday, weren’t you?”

“Oh...Yeah.” He nodded a bit. “How did you know about that?”

Goro smiled at him. “We’re working on a case together, I know a lot about what she’s doing.”

Yu wasn’t sure he believed that, but he nodded a bit. “Alright.”

“Yes, well…” Goro turned to start walking back towards the apartments as well. “I should study like Shinjiro told me to.

--

Yu had almost forgotten about his conversation with Naoto… He’d started to let it fade, thanks to it being such a small conversation. Not to mention he’d run into those women afterwards, distracting him even more.

He remembered it now thanks to that Goro kid, though. There was something fishy going on with the apartments, huh? That weird website, two detectives looking into it…

“What do I do about all of this?” He wasn’t a detective or anything, but should he look into it?

Maybe calling his uncle would be a good idea after all. He could at least give Yu a little advice. He’d even take being told not to worry about it at this point… If only because he couldn’t even tell himself not to worry.

When should he call his uncle, though? He’d just moved out, after all. If he called now and said he was worried about things it’d probably be chocked up to him being homesick. He would be asked if he wanted to come back and Nanako would probably ask him to, tears in her eyes when she said she missed him…

Okay, so he had to wait to call his uncle. He knew if his cousin asked him to come back that he would do just that. Nanako was his biggest weakness, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

Ugh, why did he have to be so weak to her? If he wasn’t he would call and just deny homesickness. It wasn’t like his uncle would ask him to move back in, if anything he’d seemed the most excited about him moving away. Something about him becoming a real man now or something…? It was hard for him to remember what’d been said exactly.

“Excuse me…!” He was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw a girl in a pink sweater walking up to someone.

When he realized who that someone was, he became very worried. It was that punk looking guy from the other day. Only now, Yu could get a better look at him. The piercings and tattoo made him look even scarier than the day before.

Looking at the girl again he could tell she was a high schooler, a school skirt on her lower half. What was she doing talking to a guy like that? Was she dared to do that by someone or something?

“Whaddya want?” The guy turned to look at her, apparently caught off guard. It didn’t take long for him to go back to being intimidating, though.

“Did you make this?” The girl held out a little knitted bunny phone charm. Where had she gotten that and why did she think this guy had made it?

“W-what?!” The man took a step back, his face pink with embarrassment. “No way!”

The girl took a deep breath, looking at her shoes. Yu could feel her building up courage to say something slowly but surely. She wasn’t used to doing things like this, was she?

“Are you Kanji Tatsumi?” That was what she was building up her courage for?

“Huh?” The man blinked, confusion clear on his face.  “W-well yeah! But what does that have to do with anything?!”

“The little kid who showed me this told me Kanji Tatsumi made this!” She held out the charm again and puffed out her chest a bit. Maybe this was what she’d been building up her courage for.

“I--Ah shit!” Kanji seemed to realize he was caught on that. “I mean, uh...The boy got the name wrong!”

“He said the name was Kanji Tatsumi and that he looked like a scary guy! You fit that description!” The girl did her best to stand her ground and Yu had to be impressed. He wasn’t sure he would do as well as she was doing.

“W-who cares?! He could still have messed it up!”

The girl seemed to think for a minute. “Wait! I never said the kid was a boy, I just called him a kid! How did you know he was a boy?”

Kanji blinked a few times, obviously caught for real this time. There was no way for him to get out of this.

“Why do you even care?!” Smooth Kanji, smooth.

“I want you to make a cat version of this!” She held out the bunny again. “I-I can pay well!”

“Pay well…?” Kanji seemed confused and Yu understood that. She was a high schooler, right? Did she have a part time job that really paid that well or something?

“I’m Haru Okumura, my father owns Okumura Foods…” She kicked at the ground, as if she didn’t like sharing this. “I-I get a good allowance, so…”

Kanji seemed to be thinking now. Was he trying to decide how much he was going to charge her for? That had to be what he was doing, right? With his look he couldn’t see it as him trying to figure anything else out.

“Why do you want one so badly?” What finally came out of his mouth kind of surprised Yu. That was about the last question most would ask.

“Oh, uh…” Haru kicked at the ground again. “Some bad things happened today at school and, well…”

“You need some sorta pick me up?” Kanji titled his head to the side.

“Oh no! It’s not for me!” She shook her head. “There was a girl and what happened seemed to be affecting her the most...I wanted to give her something to try and cheer her up!”

“How nice…” Kanji smiled for just a moment before shaking his head. “Why do you want one of these, though?”

“Oh! They’re so cute and seem so full of love. I thought it would be a good thing to give someone you want to cheer up!” She nodded surely, a small and shaky smile on her face.

“I see…” Kanji coughed awkwardly, the embarrassment clear in everything from his face to his body language.

“So will you do it? I can pay…! I’ll even pay extra to get it as soon as possible!” Haru seemed to be so sure of herself in this.

“Nah, I can have one made by tomorrow...It seems you really want to help someone, so,” Kanji looked away and sighed, “I’ll do it for free. Just tell me where to meet you to give it to you.”

Haru’s eyes seemed to sparkle just a bit at that. “Thank you very much! Do you know where Shujin Academy is?”

Kanji blinked and seemed to start to think. Yu had to guess he didn’t know where Shujin Academy was… Well, Yu couldn’t blame him, he didn’t know either.

“Uh, I can figure it out?”

Haru smiled wide at him. “Then please just bring it to the gate tomorrow before classes start? Thank you very much!”

“Yeah, yeah…” Kanji sighed. “Don’t worry about it, kid.”

Yu watched this and had to smile a bit. Maybe he was wrong about that Kanji guy, then. That was never a bad thing… In fact, it made him happy. The nicer the people in the apartment were, the better!

But wait...There was no way that school was out for everyone. Why was this girl out here, was she ditching after what happened? Was whatever happened bad enough for school to be called off early? Yu was now just a little worried…

It was about then that he realized there were a lot of high schoolers walking along in groups. They were all close to each other, huddled as they whispered to one another. They all seemed to have the same uniform, so… Shujin?

It looked like whatever happened was bad enough to send everyone home. This was concerning… Yu had just moved into the area and there was already problems? Should he stop someone and ask what was going on?

Most of the kids seemed so busy talking to their friends that he wasn’t sure it was a good idea. Still, he really needed to know what was going on. Soon enough he saw a kid he could ask.

He was walking with others, but was quiet. His black hair was frizzy and glasses sat on his face, hiding his eyes. He looked kind of closed off, but he should work, right? He might know something…

“Excuse--”

He stopped when a cat popped out of the bag and stared at him. That was...weird. Cats would stare sometimes (Yu even found it cute, usually), sure, but this cat? It was like the cat was staring into his soul or something…

Okay, maybe not that extreme. It was more like the cat was looking at him with the same understanding of the world as a human. It wasn’t as creepy as staring into one’s soul, but it was still creepy in it’s own way.

So, maybe he wouldn’t talk to this kid. No, he’d just try and wait for a news report or listen in on some gossip… And hope that it wasn’t a diluted version of the truth.

Chapter Text

Ren had been prepared for a lot of possible things happening on his second day of school. He was prepared for a lot, but a girl jumping off the roof was not one of them.

Shiho Suzui, that was the name of the girl who jumped. He’d heard it while kids crowded the halls to look out the window when the jump happened. He’d also heard it when a girl in his class, Ann, ran down the hall, screaming Shiho’s name.

By the time everything began to settle down, they were all sent home. Ren didn’t even have any time to fully process what all had happened.

Now he was just trying to walk home, Ryuji and Ken on either side of him. Everyone seemed pretty shaken up by this all. No one was talking above a whisper, close to their friends and shaking their heads.

Ryuji, Ken, and Ren didn’t even speak. They had nothing to say, a heavy air hanging around them.

Was this the norm for the city? Ren never payed attention to what happened outside his hometown, and now? Now he wasn’t sure what to think. If this was the norm, he wasn’t sure he wanted to be here for a year.

Why had this had to be where he ended up...and why was he afraid this was linked to the apartments?

“Do you guys know where Suzui-san lives…?” His voice sounded so loud compared to everything around them. It seemed so wrong when this was a busy area…

“Huh?” Ken looked up at him and blinked a few times. “Oh, well…She lives in the Velvet Apartments too, I think.”

So there was a link. There had to be, right? He wouldn’t have a feeling like this otherwise.

“Anyone else of note live there…?”

“Kamoshida does…!” Ryuji kicked a rock and hissed a bit. “Shit!”

“Yeah, he’s gotten into at least a few arguments with Shinjiro-san about me…” Ken frowned, grip tightening on his bag strap.

“I see…” Ren was starting to think. Was Kamoshida linked to what just happened to Shiho too? Or was he starting to try and stretch to find some sort of connection?

“Damn...Suzui-san had to deal with him all the time!” Ryuji was more than angry now, it seemed.

“I see...At school and home?”

“...He also coaches volleyball and she plays that.” Ken shrugged a bit, seemingly trying to forget about this all.

That was...worrying. So Shiho was stuck with Kamoshida all the time? Depending on what all happened when one was around Kamoshida...Well, there was a strong chance it was all linked together. That really didn’t sit well with Ren.

He peeked back at Morgana, who looked to him and nodded. It looked like they had a lead of sorts to look into. Hell, even if it was nothing, Ren would be happy to help anyone else escape issues with a teacher like Kamoshida.

“I think I’m going to go on ahead.” He started walking a bit faster, ignoring Ken and Ryuji’s questions. He had a lot to think about and talk to Morgana about, so the sooner he was alone, the better.

“So, you think this could have something to do with the apartment?” Morgana finally spoke.

“I’m not sure, it could be. If not...it’s still worth looking into.” Ren nodded, time to go get started.

--

When Ren made it home, he needed to stop for a moment in the hall. He’d been walking so quickly to try and get Ken and Ryuji off his tail… He wasn’t the most athletic, so that wasn’t a good idea.

The only good part of it was the scene he was seeing unfold in front of him. And even then… It was kind of hard to tell if it was a good thing or not.

A girl wearing a Shujin uniform was standing in front of Sojiro’s apartment. She seemed to be talking to someone…

“Futaba-chan…” He watched the girl move some dark hair behind her ear. “Will you come out?”

He watched the girl look to her phone and frowned.

“I know you don’t want to come out, but I need you to.” She smiled when she looked back to the door.

There was a silence in the hall at that point, the girl waiting. Was she talking to the orange haired girl Ren had caught a glimpse of? That seemed to be the only possibility, well, unless Sojiro had a bunch of kids from affairs or something.

The girl cleared her throat. “Futaba-chan, Boss asked me to take you to your therapy session.”

He watched the girl look at her phone again and heard her sigh softly.

“The therapist is there to help you, Futaba-chan...She’s not going to hurt you.”

Another glance to the phone.

“Please? I’ll stay with you the entire time.”

He watched as the door slowly opened and Futaba (who was indeed the girl he’d seen a glimpse of) walked out. She was staring at her feet and had glasses on her face. Her hair obscured her expression.

The girl offered her hand to Futaba, who didn’t seem all that interested in taking it. Instead she just moved next to her and Ren noticed she was frowning.

“Do you want to take the elevator or stairs?” The girl bent over just a bit and smiled at Futaba. Was she trying to be non-threatening?

He watched Futaba’s eyes flash through a few emotions. Fear, confusion, anger, sadness. All in a few seconds.

“Stairs.”

The girl smiled at Futaba. “Alright, this way, then.” And they started walking towards Ren.

He wasn’t sure if he should move out of the way or just wait. It was kind of hard to tell, honestly. Besides, Futaba was going slowly, what if she found Ren stepping to the side when she was going so slowly annoying? He’d rather not upset the person living with Sojiro.

However, when they got close enough, Futaba moved behind the other girl. It looked like she didn’t want to interact with Ren at all.

“Oh…” The girl blinked a few times before smiling a bit and sighing. “Futaba-chan…!”

“Just keep going…” He watched Futaba grab her arm.

“Oh, alright…” She moved to step around Ren. “If you’ll excuse us, then.”

“Ah, yeah.” He moved to the side and watched them both walk by. This was...something else, wasn’t it? Maybe he’d ask Sojiro about that Futaba girl later…

--

“Finally!” Morgana sighed and jumped out of Ren’s bag, walking along. “I was afraid you were never going to walk into the apartment.”

“I was curious about what was going on, that’s all…” He removed the bag from him arm and dragged it along. He was more than just tired, he was exhausted.

“Do you have a computer?” Morgan turned to look back at him, ignoring his statement. “We need to do some research!”

“A computer…?” No, Ren didn’t have one. His parents always promised him one, but never followed through and he’d forgotten about it… “Can’t we research somehow else?”

“Now that we’re back here? No! We could’ve listened in on people, but you ran off!” Morgana seemed at least a little peeved about this.

Oh great, was Ren arguing with a cat? He felt like he was arguing with a cat. He’d never thought something like this would have happened. Then again, he didn’t think that cats usually talked. If they did, they didn’t talk to him.

“Hello? Hello!” Morgana swiped at his leg, making Ren yell out in pain, just a bit. “Someone’s knocking on the door! Get it already!”

Ren frowned and looked down at Morgana. What a little shit that cat could be sometimes. Hell, Ren had just met him a couple days ago and he could tell that was the case. He was lucky he was cute.

“One minute!” He did his best to make it back to the door, frowning at the pain from the scratches. He’d have to teach Morgana not to do that later.

He finally made it back to the door and opened it slowly, peeking out. There was a woman standing there. Wait a second.

It was that woman who’d been with the creepy twins the day he moved in there. She worked at the front desk, right? Why was she at his door, then?

“Excuse me,” Margaret smiled at him and held out a box, “I believe this is for you.”

“For me?” He rose an eyebrow. Why would there be a box for him? That made no sense...Was it something from his parents?

“You are Ren Amamiya, yes?” She rose an eyebrow.

“Oh, yes, I am.” He nodded a bit as she handed him the box.

“Then it is indeed yours.” She smiled a bit as she let it go. “I’m glad I was able to find you.”

“You’re saying that like I’m hard to find.” He adjusted his glasses a bit and looked at the box. Weird, there was no shipping information on the box… “How did you know this was for me?”

Margaret paused, as if not expecting that question. What, did she do this often and no one questioned her on it? It was concerning if that was the case.

“I was told my the delivery person that it was for you, that’s all.”

“And you know my name?”

Margaret smiled at him. “My dear, I know all of those who reside here.”

She then turned to leave, giving Ren no time to answer him. That was just the oddest thing he’d ever seen…

“So, what’s in the box?” Morgana walked up behind Ren, trying to crane his neck to see it better.

“I’m not sure…” Ren closed the door and made his way to the living room again, setting the box down. “Let’s take a look.”

Morgana nodded and as Ren opened the box, whistled. “Whoa…”

“Jackpot…?”

--

Ren was still looking at the contents of the box when the door opened. There was so much in here, and none of it made sense. Information about Shiho, about Kamoshida, about other residents…

Who had dropped this off and why was it given to him? It made no sense. He was planning on looking into Shiho and Kamoshida, but how did the person know? Was it all a coincidence?

It couldn’t be, though. No, it’d come with a note and the note had made it clear this was all on purpose.

Kurusu. I hope these materials will help you as you move forward. Do not believe you hold all the answers, as you are missing three other pieces of the puzzle.

Other pieces of the puzzle? That had made no sense to him. Morgana wasn’t much better, only able to suggest the others who moved in the same day as Ren.

That had to be it, or there were other boxes coming… But if it was the boxes, why would the note make it sound like Ren wouldn’t get them without looking? This was all so confusing…

“What are you looking at?” Ren jumped when he heard Yusuke’s voice. He’d come home?! When?

“Oh, uh, nothing. Some things from my parents…” He shoved the papers back into the box and looked back to Yusuke.

Yusuke blinked a few times, not at all affected by the way Ren had jumped. “I see. It looks like a lot of papers…”

“Notes from people in my hometown and some pictures, so I don’t get homesick. They want my probation to go well…” That was a total lie. No one from him town wanted anything to do with him. Hell, he was sure most would end up wanting him to just go to juvenile hall.

“I see…” Yusuke nodded and sat next to him. “Could I see one?”

Shit, he hadn’t been expecting something like that. That was, in fact, the last thing he’d wanted. He didn’t actually have one to show him.

“Uh, well, you see…” He looked to the box. What did he do? What was he supposed to do?

Soon enough, he heard a meow. Was that Morgana making that noise? He’d never heard Morgana make a normal cat noise before.

However, it seemed to get Yusuke’s interest. “Oh, was that a cat?”

“Sounds like it.”

They both sat there for a few moments. It was awkward, way too awkward. Yusuke was studying Ren, his eyes boring into him. He felt like he might as well be naked with how hard Yusuke was staring.

“Do you have a cat?” Yusuke finally spoke, breaking the silence with a simple, mundane question.

“Huh?”

“I asked if you have a cat. It sounds like the animal is within the apartment…” Yusuke didn’t seem to realize that wasn’t why Ren was confused. What an odd boy.

“Oh, yeah, I do. Sorry I didn’t mention it before…” Ren stood up, holding the box in his arms.

Yusuke shook his head. “Do not worry, there’s no rules against animals, I was just curious.”

“You’re not allergic or anything, are you?”

“Not as far as I know, no.” Yusuke shook his head. “Please, don’t concern yourself over it.”

Ren frowned, but nodded and started for his room. He needed to get this hidden before Yusuke asked again, so it was better to end the conversation now.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Ren turned to look back at Yusuke, raising an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I’d still love to see a letter later.” Yusuke nodded as he stood up himself.

“...Sure.” Dammit.

Chapter Text

Minako couldn’t believe her eyes, but she was pretty sure an idol was in the lobby of her apartment building. That had to be Risette, right? She’d heard Risette was taking a break, sure, but living here? That was about the last thing Minako expected!

“Whoa…” She looked around, trying to find some sort of prank camera. This had to be part of some prank show, no one would that famous would just move to a place like this!

She moved behind a plant and watched carefully. What was going on here? She wasn’t going to be caught in the prank, no way, no how. Those prank shows were the worst thing, so she’d rather just not. Doing this would be much better. She could laugh at the pranksters later, too. Or maybe jump in to save whoever ended up getting caught! Oh yeah--

“Hey.”

Minako jumped at least three feet in the air when a woman walked up behind her and spoke right in her ear.

“W-what?!” She turned, her heart still beating out of her chest.

The girl sighed. “I’m Marie. Take this.”

She held out a box to Minako and stared. Did she really want Minako to just take this, out of nowhere? Was this another part of the prank? That had to be it! An idol in the lobby and a box from a strange girl had to be linked. Linked in just the worst way possible. She wasn’t a fool, though, she wasn’t going to get caught.

“No thanks.” She shook her head and crossed her arms.

Marie frowned and held it out again. “Come on. Take this.”

“I don’t want it, thanks.” Minako took a step back and frowned. She wasn’t taking the damn box!

“I don’t care. Margaret told me to give it to you.” She pushed it back towards Minako. “Take it.”

“No way--!” She yelped as she fell back into the potted plant she’d been trying to hide behind.

“Whoa…!” Risette seemed to have noticed them then and walked over. “Uh, what’s going on over here?”

“I’m trying to give her a box and she won’t take it.” Marie pouted a bit, looking away.

“Um…” Risette rose an eyebrow. “Okay…?”

Risette didn’t seem to know what at all was going on. Either she was an amazing actress or there wasn’t actually a prank show going on. Either way, Minako couldn’t help but feel she was at least a little bit of a fool. Maybe she’d overthought all of this way too much…

Minako pulled herself out of the pot and wiped off the back of her skirt. She was really glad she’d decided against wearing that white skirt she recently bought. It would’ve been hell trying to get the dirt stains out of that. Hell enough that she was tempted to just leave in until Minato decided to fix it… So yeah, it was a good thing she wasn’t wearing a white skirt.

“Maybe you should just take the box, she doesn’t seem dangerous or anything…” Risette sighed, shaking her head a bit. “I mean, falling into a plant over it seems kind of extreme.”

Minako went red, embarrassment easily creeping up on her. Oh, she really should’ve thought that all through a little more. Why did she always jump into things?

“Hey, you’re really red in the face.” Marie pointed to Minako. “Like a tomato or strawberry…”

Minako covered her face. “Oh! Do I look like a tomato?!”

“It’s not a bad thing…” Marie blinked, staring somewhat blankly at her.

“Huh?” Minako peeked over one of her hands, a frown on her face. “Why’d you point it out?”

“I thought it was interesting.” She shrugged.

Risette seemed to be tired of watching this, taking the box from Marie. “Look, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but please, just take this.”

Minako blinked and nodded as she took it. It was a lot harder to tell a famous person no in a situation like this, huh? Well, that could just be her. Minato was sure to say no when he didn’t want to do something, no matter what… Maybe she was just too nice to not have limits on who she could say no to? It was honestly kind of hard for her to tell at this point.

“There we go!” Risette smiled at her. “The box is pretty light, though. Any idea what’s in it?”

Marie just shrugged. “Nope.”

Both Minako and Risette blinked a few times, trying to register what they were just told. Did Marie really have no idea what was in the box? She was just blindly delivering it because Margaret told her too? Was she even curious enough to ask what was in the box and just didn’t get an answer? Looking at Marie it was hard to tell if she was the type to ask when curious or not (or even if she cared enough to be curious).

“So you don’t have any clue as to what could be in here?” Minako shook it gently, trying to listen for anything.

“I asked, but she didn’t say anything.” Marie shrugged.

“I see…”

--

Minato heard a knock at his door and was almost sure it was his sister, having forgotten her key or something. That or it was Ryoji, wanting to talk to him when Minako wasn’t there to step between them. Those were the only things that really made sense, as far as Minato was concerned. He was too new to the building for many people to know him, and too moved in for those who did to come and check up on how he was doing... That couple or Akihiko wouldn't show up, right? There was no way...

“Hello?” He looked around as he opened the door. No Minako or Ryoji in sight.

“Hello.” He looked down and a young girl, with the same eyes as most of the apartment staff, looked up at him, a smile on her face.

He looked at her and frowned. She was covered head to toe in blue and white clothing, only her face showing. She even had her arms and hands covered with gloves. Minato had never seen someone covered in so much cloth. However, that wasn’t the only interesting thing about her. She also had a box sitting next to her, along with a book. How odd.

“Do you need something?” Minato titled his head to the side.

“I was asked to deliver this box to you.” She smiled at him as she gestured to the box. “I am Lavenza.”

“Lavenza…” He stared at the box for a moment and sighed. “Who is this from?”

Lavenza seemed to think for a moment. “My grandfather.”

“Grandfather…?” Odd. Why was some little girl he’d never seen giving him something from her grandfather? Most people wouldn’t send a young child to do things like this for them… Maybe she had the wrong person?

“Are you going to take the box?” She tilted her head to the side.

“...I think you have the wrong person.”

“You’re Minato Arisato, correct?” She stared up at him, not at all backing down from her task.

“I am, yeah…” So this was meant for him. This was just getting weirder and weirder. “So…”

Lavenza shook her head and put a finger to her lips, silencing him. What…? She pointed with her other hand down the hall, towards where Yukari’s apartment could be found. He peeked out the door and blinked a few times. There was Yukari, head stuck out of her door as she spoke to...was that Junpei? It looked like Mister “Your names are more similar than your looks” at the very least.

Junpei looked upset, though. At least more than the night Minato had met him. His shoulders were sagging and his baseball cap was pulled over his eyes. He had a frown on his face and didn’t seem to like standing in one spot for long. How depressing.

“Junpei?” Yukari seemed to be the first to speak. “What’re you doing here?”

“Yuka-tan…!” Junpei looked up and his eyes became revealed. There were tears in them.

“Whoa…!” Yukari backed up a step. “Why’re you crying?”

Junpei wiped at his eyes, shaking his head. “I’m not cryin’! Look...I need to talk. You free right now?”

Yukari took a step forward, once again in Minato’s view. “I thought you were visiting the hospital today--”

“Yuka-tan, if you aren’t free just tell me so I can go find someone else to talk to!”

Yukari held up a hand. “Whoa, whoa! I’m free, I’m free. Come on in, it looks like you really do need to talk.”

Junpei seemed to straighten himself and try to square his shoulders. It looked like he was trying to be as tough as he could. “Thanks…”

“Wow, you said thanks. This must be really serious…” Yukari sighed and put a hand on Junpei’s back. “Alright, come on, Junpei.”

Minato watched them go into the apartment and the door close. Huh… That was odd.

“Why did you want me to watch that?” Minato wasn’t quite sure he understood.

Lavenza shook her head. “I was just interested in what would be said, actually. I didn’t want you to interrupt my listening.”

Minato sighed, shaking his head. “Alright...fair enough, I guess.”

“Good.” She smiled up at him again before moving to pick up the box. It was almost comically too big for her little body. “Now then, back to the box.”

“Oh, so,” he sighed, “your grandfather wants me to take this box? For some reason?”

“Yes.” Lavenza nodded.

“Why?”

Lavenza shook her head. “My grandfather does many things that won’t make sense at first. I believe it would just be for the best if you take this.”

Minato frowned and sighed. Looked like he was going to have to take the box, no matter how weird this all way. He could say no, sure, but he felt this girl would push him into taking it eventually. If that didn’t work, she could always give it to Minako and then he really wouldn’t be able to escape it.

“Alright, thanks, I guess.” He took the box and Lavenza immediately picked up the book (which was also almost comically big compared to her).

“Goodbye for now, then.”

--

Minato looked over when Minako opened the door. What was she doing with that box? It looked a lot like the one he’d gotten from Lavenza. Was everyone in the apartment getting really weird boxes that Minato didn’t want to open? He felt like it might be and he wasn’t sure he liked that idea.

“Oh, you have one too?” Minako walked over to him and placed the box next to his. “Someone weird give it to you too?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “a little girl with yellow eyes. And a really weird outfit.”

Minako sat down and let out a breath. “Huh, mine was a girl, dressed kind of…” She thought for a moment. “Like an emo!”

“How many people do you call emo?”

Minako stuck her tongue out. “Just that girl and you!”

“Gee, thanks.” He stuck his tongue out in turn.

“You’re welcome!”

He sighed, shaking his head. Minako was something else, wasn’t she? She was like a little ray of sunshine in his life. He had to say, it was nice to have someone like that. Even if sometimes others would bring it up in a way to, well, criticize him. All the questions about why he wasn’t as cheerful or why he wasn’t as interesting in conversation.

It was honestly kind of annoying, now that he thought about it.

“So…” Minako started poking at the boxes. “Should we open these before you get lost in your thoughts?”

“Oh, I guess so.” He shrugged. He was hoping they wouldn’t open these and instead ignore them. This would work too, he guessed. Since he knew Minako wouldn’t listen for long if he said no.

Minako giggled a bit and opened the box closer to her quickly. Minato, on the other hand, took his time. He moved just about as slowly as he could, not wanting to see what was inside. He was afraid it’d be a dead bird or something creepy. This grandfather think scared him, if he was being honest.

“Minato!” She frowned at him and rose an eyebrow. “Come on…?”

He sighed, but opened the box and looked away. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to look into this right now. He’d let Minako look first and hope it wasn’t actually something terrifying… Knowing his luck, it would be something terrifying.

“What is this?” Minako held up what looked like a ripped paper. “Anything like this in yours…?”

Minato finally looked into the box and a paper was sitting on the top. Huh, it looked like there was writing on it. It was really nice handwriting, sure, but it looked like the note was cut off. Since Minako’s also had a ripped piece of paper...Did they go together? Did the grandfather who sent these out know they’d share these with each other?

“Let me see your paper.” He grabbed it from her, earning a small hey in protest. He, as usual, didn’t seem to react to that.

Instead, she ended up jumping up and moving to his other side, peering over his shoulder. “You can’t take things and not expect me to want to read it too!”

“Whatever.” He shrugged a bit.

“Don’t be a brat!” She stuck her tongue out and poked him in the side.

“Ow…” He rubbed his side a bit. “I’m trying to see if these go together, thanks.”

“Then let me see too!”

Soon enough they’d settled down and Minato was awkwardly putting the papers together. It looked like they indeed were made to be read together, so their relation was known. Whoever sent these out must’ve done enough research to know that the last name wasn’t just a coincidence and that they were still living together. That kind of creeped Minato out, more than he’d like to admit. Maybe the letter would make him feel better about this all?

Arisato siblings. You do not understand what is coming to you yet, but change is coming. You will be brought into something bigger than yourself.

Okay, so far this didn’t make Minato feel any better… And to think this was just written on the half he was given.

You only hold half of the puzzle. You must find the others hold information to find what you seek.

“That’s…” Minako blinked a few times. “That’s really weird.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure I like this.” He frowned, shaking his head.

“Well, there’s only one more thing to do…” Minako moved back to her old seat again and grinned at her brother.

He frowned. “Oh no. No way. We aren’t looking into this anymore.”

Minako frowned a bit and shook her head. “You’re just no fun sometimes!”

“I’m never fun.”

Minako laughed a bit and shook her head. “Oh Minato, you’re such a brat...But I can be a brat too!”

“Minako.”

She opened the box next to her again.

“Minako, don’t you dare.”

She began pulling out papers and looking them over.

“Minako!”

Chapter Text

Yu was walking down the hallway when he saw Naoto and Kanji together. That was about the last thing he was expecting to see, actually. Naoto seemed to be a tight laced detective from what he’d seen while Kanji looked like a punk with a soft side. Were they really the type to talk much?

This, however, became even more unexpected when he noticed where they were. Kanji was sticking his head out of a door and Naoto was standing in front of him. Maybe Kanji was being questioned too then? That would be the thing that made the most sense, so why was Kanji handing Naoto a box of some sort?

“You can drop this by Shujin, right?”

Naoto nodded at Kanji. “It’s on my way to work, anyway.”

“Ah, thanks.” Kanji smiled at her and took a deep breath. Was he about to say something else…?

No, instead he leaned forward, kissing Naoto on the cheek. Oh, so were they in a relationship? Why had that thought not crossed Yu’s brain for even a second? Maybe because they didn’t look the type to be a couple? Yeah, that had to be the reason… He didn't see many couples will someone who looked like Kanji and someone who looked like Naoto, after all.

Naoto blushed a bit. “What was that for…?”

“Oh, uh,” Kanji rubbed the back of his head, “a goodbye kiss?”

“I see…” Naoto cleared her throat before standing on her tiptoes and returning the kiss. “See you after work, then.”

Kanji went red and nodded. “S-See ya.”

The two smiled awkwardly at each other before Naoto turned and started down the hall. Kanji seemed to watch her until she made it to the elevator, then retreating back inside. Oh, so she went to work and he stayed home. Cute.

He smiled a bit, only coming too when someone tapped his shoulder. Who…?

He turned around and there was Yosuke, looking at him in confusion. Well, Yu was just kind of standing in the hall, staring forward. That would worry and confuse most average people, at the very least.

“Are you okay, dude?” Yosuke titled his head to the side.

“Oh, yeah, I was just thinking.” He nodded a bit and smiled as he started walking again. “Sorry about that.”

“Eh, whatever.” Yosuke followed after him, shrugging a bit. “You seem a bit different than most people.”

“I’ve been told I’m weird, yes.”

Yosuke paused for a moment, blinking. “Well, I wasn’t going to say that, but…”

He shrugged. “I’ve been called worse than weird.”

“Oh man, too bad.” Yosuke pat his back a bit and frowned.

“It could be worse.” Yu tried to find the bright side of most things, if he was being honest. It was better than being pessimistic… Usually. Sometimes you just couldn’t see the bright side.

“Damn…” Yosuke whistled a bit as he walked along. “Sounds rough, still, dude.”

He just shrugged as he made it to the stairs.

“Whoa, wait!” Yosuke grabbed his arms. “You’re taking the stairs? You gonna be okay if you blank out again?”

Yu blinked a few times. “...The elevator attendant scares me.”

Yosuke sighed, shaking his head. “...That doesn’t answer my second question.”

“I’ll probably just stand on a step doing nothing if I start to blank out.” Yu didn’t see what the issue was. He would take it slow if he had to.

“You sure about that?”

Yu nodded. “Yeah, I really am. I don’t see what the issue is. If I fall, it’s not like I’ll fall all the way to the first floor.” Just to the landing of the next floor.

“That doesn’t make me feel better…” He looked a lot more pale than before when he said that.

“Well, why not? I mean that I won’t get hurt that badly even if I fall…” Yu thought for a moment. “If it worries you that much you can walk with me.”

Yosuke seemed to think that over for a while. Did it really take him that much mental power to decide if he was walking with Yu or not? It was just walking down some stairs, he’d done worse when helping Yu move in. What was there to be afraid of?

“I’m going to get going.”

“Wait!” Yosuke followed after him when Yu began down the stairs. “Fine, I’ll walk with you. I don’t wanna be responsible if you fall and break your neck.”

Yu smiled at him. “Alright.”

--

Yu parted ways with Yosuke at the bottom of the stairs. Turned out Yosuke wasn’t planning on coming down to the ground floor and that was why he’d been having trouble deciding. Well, Yu just felt a bit rude about that all now… Oh well, not much he could do about that.

Instead he would just go continue his job hunt. That was about all he could really. His days were kind of dragging by, the website and Naoto leads kind of turning up dry. He’d done about all he could to research it when he was home at night. No website for him to find again and only the cases Naoto had solved before… None of it led to something interesting.

Well, at least he had in a few applications. He had a few more places to drop some off at and a few more to grab, then he’d be set. He had to get at least one of the jobs, right? If he somehow didn’t he’d have to call it the worst luck he’d ever had. Nothing in Inaba had been that bad…

He shook his head. No, he needed to try and think positive. He would get a job, he would totally get a job. He was charismatic when he needed to be, knew how to to dress more or less, was athletic, and was fairly smart. He should be able to get a job with all of that…! Right?

He walked past the front desk and nodded at the woman sitting behind it. She smiled at him and gave a small wave, but otherwise left him be. It looked like she was in the middle of some paperwork. Maybe he could get a job here if he was desperate enough…? Hm, maybe that would work…

Walking out of the door he took a deep breath. Alright, when he got back he’d ask about possible jobs! That was the perfect idea, maybe the best idea he’d had since he’d moved in… And he’d like to believe he’d had at least a few decent ideas over his time there. He did know the city fairly well, after all.

Yu yawned a bit, he needed to sleep after all of this. He wasn’t sleeping much thanks to all the research and it was starting to catch up. He wasn’t made to research all night, if he was up all night he should be doing something like dancing. Yeah, dancing would be a much better way to spend all night if he wasn’t sleeping.

Okay, so look for more possible jobs, then go home and sleep. That was about all he could do today. He wished he could just do the sleeping part, but there was a lot to do to make sure he could keep living here and not have to move back. Ugh, this was kind of the worst…

“Justine! Over here!”

Yu blinked, was that a little girl talking? He looked over and saw two little girls, who looked like twins. They were staring at him, as if they needed him for something. He wasn’t always the best at sensing danger, but, well, these two scared him. He felt they were going to kick him in the shins and then stab him or something. It must’ve been the look in their weird yellow eyes.

The twin with a braid nodded, her eyes not leaving him. “That must be who we’re looking for.”

Okay, that just sounded like Yu was placed into a horror movie. Yu wasn’t exactly a fan of horror movies. In fact, they were his least favorite movies, they scared him a lot. Maybe because his mother and father thought they were good movies to leave him with when they had work… Why did his parents do that?

“Hey you!” The girl with buns took him out of his thoughts. “Get over here, we need to speak to you!”

Oh no, he wasn’t going to stick around. Being spoken to by creepy twins always led to death, and Yu didn’t want to die today. He just needed to try and be faster than them. How fast could they run, that was the question. If they were faster it could be a problem. Then again, they were just little girls....

Plus he was pretty athletic, not to mention he had longer legs than them. He should be able to get away if he planned it well enough… So…

He dashed off, ignoring the bun-girl’s yell for him to come back. No way was he going back.

--

Yu finally felt like he was going to be able to stop running. There were a lot of people around him now and he blended in fairly well. There was no way those little girls were going to find him now. Well, at least until he went back to the apartments. Dammit, he hadn’t thought about the fact he had to go back…

What did he do about that? Stake it out until he didn’t see the little girls? That might be hard, seeing as their hair and eyes pointed to them being related to the other workers he’d seen. Elizabeth, Theodore, and the woman at the desk all had that hair and those eyes, after all.

“What do I do about this…?” He moved to the side and stared into a window. What was there that he could do? He had a feeling there’d be no way for him to avoid those little girls.

He tapped his foot and frowned. He was starting to think about all the ways around it. There were the fire escapes, right? If he could make it to that and get someone else to let him in he could get to his house from there. Maybe if he could find Yosuke’s apartment, or that Shinjiro guy from yesterday. If not, then maybe just some nice stranger? If he did that, though, there’d be the problem of when he could at the woman at the desk about a job opening…

Wow, there was just no way to do this without there being a problem. It seemed like there was going to have to be a confrontation with those girls. He didn’t want to have to deal with the creepy twins, though…

“What do I do?”

“Narukami-kun!” He turned when he saw a man approaching. Was this…?

“Adachi-san?”

Tohru laughed a bit and rubbed the back of his head, a smile on his face. “Long time no see!”

“I didn’t move that long ago, though.” It wasn’t that long.

“W-well you know what I mean!” Tohru laughed again, shaking his head just a bit.

“I guess…” Yu thought for a moment. Wasn’t Adachi his uncle’s partner? What was he doing all the way in Tokyo? “Why are you here?”

“Your uncle noticed you left something so I offered to bring it to you, and well…” Tohru pulled out his pockets. “I kind of lost it and I’m broke.”

Yu blinked a few times. “My uncle will be a bit mad, but if you call him he’ll help you get back to Inaba.”

Tohru shook his head and frowned. “I can’t do that! Dojima-san will be so mad at me...I’ll find what I lost, I just need a place to stay until then.”

Yu stared at him for a while. He couldn’t help but feel like the detective was trying to get Yu to offer him a place to stay. That or he wanted money for a hotel… Probably the hotel, actually. Too bad Yu didn’t have a lot of extra money right now. In fact, he was on a budget.

“Sorry, I can’t afford to help you rent a hotel right now.”

“That’s not what I meant!” He shook his head and frowned. “I wouldn’t ask you for that much money.”

“Then what are you trying to suggest?” Yu rose an eyebrow.

“You have a two bedroom apartment, right?” Tohru smiled at him and Yu frowned.

Yu didn’t remember even telling his uncle or Nanako how many bedrooms his apartment had. All he’d said was it was supposed to be fairly roomy and come with furniture, in fact. Yeah, he was pretty sure he’d never mentioned anything past that and a kitchen. It wouldn’t really make sense to assume a single person had a two room apartment without a roommate either.

So, how did Tohru know about the second bedroom?

“Uh, yeah.” He nodded.

“Then couldn’t you let me stay there for just a while? Until I find your item and call Dojima-san?” Tohru smiled at him and clapped his hands together. “Please?”

Yu frowned, he felt he wasn’t actually going to get much choice. In fact, he felt Tohru would just make him feel bad if he said no. After all that had already happened today, he wasn’t sure he’d want to deal with that. So, basically, he had to say yes to Tohru.

“Yeah, head to the fourth floor of the building and I’ll see you there.” He pointed behind him with a thumb. “I have some things to do...alone, so.”

Tohru slapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled. “I knew I could count on you! Thanks, Narukami-kun.”

“Yep…” And Yu was already starting to kind of regret it.

--

When Yu made his way back to the apartment, the girls were waiting for him. He just knew this was what was going to happen. There was no way for him to avoid the creepy twins, as much as he wished there was. Maybe if he just talked to them it would be alright.

He thought that until the bun-girl came up to him and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. At least, Yu hoped it was, because he felt that if she kicked him any harder that his knee would break. He couldn’t afford for it to be broken.

“Caroline, that’s not what we were told to do.” The braid-girl (was her name Justine?) shook her head and approached.

“Well, that’s what he gets for running from us!” He watched Caroline stomp her foot and cross her arms.

“I would rather not upset our older siblings.” Justine shook her head, though her expression and tone didn’t change at all.

Caroline opened her mouth, only to close it. It looked like she was thinking this over, now. Yu didn’t have any siblings, but he could see how this might be a struggle. Not wanting to piss off someone older than you was a legitimate worry. He had that with his uncle a lot of the time.

“Well, fine!” She finally spoke, huffing just a bit as she spoke.

“I see…” Justine gave her a small smile and nodded a bit. “Now then…”

Yu blinked as Justine turned to look at him, her expression back to neutral. She watched him carefully as she approached and gave a small bow. What was she doing…? This made no sense.

“I’m very sorry for my sister.” Oh, that’s what she was doing.

“Justine!” Caroline went a little pink. “I don’t need to apologize for anything!”

“That’s why I’m doing it for you.” Justine gave a small nod.

“Justine…!”

Yu swallowed hard. What exactly was going on with this? Why did these girls need to talk to him and why did he feel they were delaying something big? It was kind of bothering him and, well, he already needed to deal with Tohru later. He didn’t have a lot of time to just hang around out here.

Caroline finally cleared her throat and looked to him. “You wait right here until we’re back!”

“Why, though?” He frowned at her.

“Because I said!”

He held up his hands and backed up a step. “Alright, alright. I’ll wait here… For five minutes at the most.”

Justine nodded at that. “That’s a reasonable time-limit, but please do not start timing until we leave your sight.”

Yu thought for a moment and tapped his foot against the ground. “Alright, fair enough.”

Justine gave him the smallest of smiles before she and Caroline started towards the apartments. Soon enough, they were inside and out of sight. Alright, he could start timing.

He tapped his foot against the ground, looking around. He felt weirder than usual just standing here, waiting for little girls to do something. Couldn't they have asked someone else for help while he was gone? Was there a reason it had to be him? He couldn’t think of one reason. He was too new to be of any use, anyway.

Soon enough, though, they were back. Caroline and Justine were balancing a single box between the two of them. It was pretty big, he had to say. It was almost funny watching the two of them slowly making their way over to him. They seemed to be struggling just a bit, if only because they weren’t fully in synch.

“Is this for me?”

“Well, duh! Who else would it be for?” Caroline frowned at him and tapped her foot. “Are you going to take it?”

Yu frowned, he wasn’t sure he wanted to take it. He didn’t know these girls and they creeped him out so much…

“I promise it’s nothing bad.” Justine nodded at him and gave him the same minuscule smile from before. “It is from someone who wishes to help you.”

“Someone who wishes to help me?” He frowned, tilting his head to the side. Odd…

“Yes, so you should take this!” Caroline nodded, her frown growing ever so slightly.

He swallowed hard, but nodded, taking the box. He knew there was no choice and was kind of afraid of being kicked in the knee again. It still hurt a lot and he didn’t want to have trouble with the stairs. Like hell he was going to take it up the elevator.

“Good! Now go ahead and look into the box when you get to your room!” And the girls walked away.

“This is too much…”

Chapter Text

Ren had been thinking about the box he’d been given all night and was still thinking about it when he made it to school. He was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with all the information in that box, and there still wasn’t any clues. Who were the other three people with information, or...was it even people? Were the boxes just hidden somewhere…?

“You still thinking about that box too?” Morgana’s voice was a whisper as they walked down the hall.

Ren nodded, a frown on his face. This was way too much… Was there a reason it had people like Kamoshida in that box? Did the person know he was linked to Shujin just like most of the people in the box…? He just really didn’t know.

He would just think about it more after he got to his seat. He opened the door to the class, and…

The girl who’d been in the limo that almost hit him his first day was placing something on Ann’s desk. He tried to get a better look at it, but all he could tell was it was red and kinda looked like Morgana. It seemed to be knitted, too? Well, whatever it was, it was really cute. Just...why was she placing it on Ann’s desk?

He watched her finish placing it and pull out a little card. Wow, whatever this was was pretty impressive. She was going above and beyond with this, it seemed…

Ren blinked when Ann walked up next to him and pushed past him, over to her desk. Okay, so maybe things were going to take a turn? Hopefully not for the worse, though. The girl seemed to be trying to be doing something nice… He walked towards his seat so he could try and hear what was likely to be said.

“What are you doing at my desk?” Ann sounded on edge. Her eyes were slightly red, too, so Ren had to guess she was still trying to handle the Shiho thing.

“O-oh, uh…” The girl looked away for a moment. “I saw what happened yesterday and thought you could use something to cheer you up!”

“Cheer me up…?” He watched Ann tilt her head to the side before reaching over and grabbing the item on her desk.

Now that he got a better look at it, Ren could tell it was a phone strap. It was a knitted creation, probably handmade by someone who knew what they were doing. It looked like a lot of care was put into it and the little eyes were blue and the small mouth was a small three. It was super cute and Ren had to admit, he’d love to have one of those.

“Yeah, I know of someone who lives in the same apartment complex and me who makes these. They’re so cute, I just thought one might help, just a bit!” The girl nodded, her hair bouncing as she did.

Ann looked around a bit, as if expecting someone to jump out or spy on her. Was she not used to things like this happening, then? She seemed to be really on guard about all of this…

“Oh, uh…” Ann finally spoke as she moved some hair behind her ear. “Thanks.”

The girl smiled at her and nodded. “I just thought it would be nice, uh--” She looked at the clock. “Oh, uh, I need to go now, bye then!”

He watched as the girl ran off, Ann giving a small confused wave as she ran. That had been interesting, to say the least… Wait, had he had information about that girl in his box…? Haru Okumura, was that her name? If he was remembering things correctly, then yeah, probably.

She was an heiress to a food empire of sorts, right? What was she doing worrying about Ann…? Man, things in the big city were odder than Ren had ever expected. Rich people looking out for those going through rough times never happened in his hometown. He just hoped it didn’t get odd in any way worse than the bad things he’d already seen. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to do more than this.

Ann turned to look at him at that point, a frown on her face. “There a reason you’re staring at me?”

Ren blinked a few times, was he staring? He hadn’t meant to, he was more blanking out, after all. Not that Ann would’ve been able to tell that that was the case.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to stare at you.” He held up his hands to try and show he didn’t have it out for her or anything.

“I see…” Ann was still frowning, but didn’t seem as confrontational.

She sighed, shaking her head. He could really see how tired Ann looked, bags under her eyes. She sat in her seat and laid her head in her arms, maybe trying to get some sleep before class started. That must’ve been what it was, right? ...He hoped things started going better for her.

“Alright, class…” Sadayo Kawakami, Ren’s homeroom teacher walked in, also looking tired. “It’s time to start, Kurusu-kun, please sit down.”

Ren blinked a few times, but nodded, ignoring the whispers of his classmates. He sat in his seat, Morgana slipping into his desk. Might as well just try and make it through class today, then. That was about all he could do…

“Now then, let’s begin…”

--

“Kurusu-kun, can you take this to the Student Council room?” When Sadayo handed him some papers he frowned. Why was she asking him to do it when everyone knew him as a dangerous delinquent?

Maybe it was because of that? Since it wasn’t like he had many people to hang out with after school. It made him perfect to run errands for teachers, wasn’t he? Well, that was just the worst.He was going to be an errand runner.

“Yeah.” That’s what he said, despite his thoughts. He didn’t want to butt heads with an instructor already.

“Good.” She nodded at him and started for the door. “I have a lot to do still, ugh…”

Ren blinked a few times before glancing at the papers. He couldn’t really tell what these were for, but he couldn’t just stand here and look. Someone would see him doing that and it’d just be fuel for another rumor about him. He didn’t need any rumors besides the ones already circulating, thanks. Even those were a bit much at times…

He shook his head and started for the Student Council room. He’d looked around a bit the other days and was pretty sure he knew where it was, at the very least. That or he was completely wrong and was going to end up wandering forever before finally finding it. Knowing his luck, either was possible.

He’d just have to hope it was the former. He felt most people wouldn’t be up for giving him directions, after all.

Soon enough, he came to the Student Council room and sighed in relief. He’d been right about where it was located, thank god. Now he just had to go in, hand these papers to someone, and leave. Easy peasy, right? It shouldn’t take long and he could head home, try to piece together more of this mystery.

“Kurusu-kun?” He jumped a bit and turned. There was Ken, holding some papers in his hand as well. Did a teacher send him to drop off papers too then?

“You too?”

“Yeah…” Ken sighed, shaking his head. “Don’t see why, though, the Student Council President is literally in my class…”

“Sounds like they just wanted to give you a busy chore, sounds like you’re not looking forward to being here?” Ren rose an eyebrow, curious. Ken hadn’t actually been in the box he received, was there a reason for that?

“Well, no, I’m not. I had things to do today.” He let out a small huff. “I hope Shinjiro-san took Koromaru on a walk…”

“Koromaru was that dog with you that first night I moved into the apartments, right? He licked me, I think…”

Ken blinked, looking over at Ren. “Ah, yeah. I mentioned he was my dog before, didn’t I?”

“...Probably.”

They stood in silence for a few moments then, neither having anything to say. Ren couldn’t help but feel that maybe he should’ve said something different. After all, Ken was one of the few kids who didn’t seem against talking to him. He didn’t want to end up ruining that in some way. That would just be bad.

Ken finally cleared his throat and reached for the door. “Let’s just go drop these off already--”

Ken didn’t have a chance to actually open the door, seeing as it opened itself. Standing there was the girl Ren had seem talking to Futaba the day before. Was she part of the Student Council, then? Huh, the more you know, he guessed.

“Amada-kun, I don’t usually see you at school this late after classes end.” Makoto blinked, looking Ken over.

Ren looked over at Ken and held in a laugh. He was bright red, seemingly trying to register how close Makoto was. Poor thing looked like his heart was about to explode from the proximity. Ren wasn’t sure if he should help or just keep watching. Both seemed like good ideas.

“Ah, well…” Ken cleared his throat and held out the papers. “I was asked to bring these to the Student Council room, that’s all.”

Ren jumped in at that point. “Ah, I was asked to drop off some papers, too.”

She turned to look at him and smiled. “I see, thank you.”

He nodded a bit and looked away. He didn’t know why, but he felt kind of awkward about this. She didn’t seem to realize that Ren had seen her the day before and he wasn’t sure what to do about that. It was honestly bothering him quite a bit, honestly. Maybe she’d heard the rumors and decided to act as distant as possible from him? Maybe it had something to do with Ken being there?

He really couldn’t tell, but he was ready to give her these papers. She took them, too, thank goodness. Now he was going to be able to get out of here. That was all he could really do. As long as nothing stopped him.

“Actually…” It was almost as if she read his mind when she looked between them. “Are one of you free?”

“...Where is this coming from Niijima-san?” Ken frowned, crossing his arms.

“I need some help carrying some things, that’s all.” She rubbed the back of her head. “I was wondering if one of you could help me.”

Ren had a feeling she was going to get a no from Ken. He’d said he had things to do, right? So maybe Ren would help him out instead, well…

“I’ll do it.” Ken sighed, looking away in what must’ve been embarrassment. Well, that’s not what Ren had been expecting.

“Excellent, follow me, please, Amada-kun.”

--

Ren walked into the apartment lobby and frowned. A lot seemed to be happening here, and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do about this. There were so many people in the lobby that he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to make it to his room quickly. It was just too much chaos for that to be easy. What was he supposed to do?

He started off, trying to walk through the crowd of people. What was going on…? This didn’t make any sense to him.

“Mister, did you hear?” He paused when he heard someone speak. He looked down and saw a little boy.

The little boy was in striped pajamas, his hair fairly messy on his head. His eyes were the weirdest thing Ren had seen in a while, two tones of blue staring straight at him. He was smiling, hands behind his back. The boy didn’t look dangerous or anything, but he was a little unsettling to look at…

“Pharos!” A woman ran up, followed by a man. She picked up the boy, a frown on her face.

“Hi Minako, hi Minato.” Pharos giggled, smiling at the two.

“Sorry about our cousin,” the man looked at him and he was the third tired person Ren talked to that day, he swore, “did he bother you?”

“He just asked me if I heard…?” He frowned, playing with the hair in front of his face.

“Oh…” Minako and Minato shared a look, Minako biting at her lip. “Uh…”

Minato sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’re kind of walking into a crime scene, kid.”

“A crime scene?” His eyebrows furrowed a bit, a frown on his face.

“Someone was killed, didn’t you hear?” Pharos tilted his head to the side. “I heard he was a teacher at your school.”

“What?” A teacher from Shujin?

Minato began speaking “Yeah, apparently he didn’t show up for work today…”

“...Another teacher came to check on him after school and found him dead in his apartment.” Minako finished the thought.

“...I didn’t hear about that.” At all. He was still so new that school that it wasn’t a surprise, but still. Who’d died? He felt he needed to know.

“Yeah, apparently the news haven’t gotten their hands on it, yet.” Minako sighed, shaking her head.

“...Do we know anything else about this? Who died?”

“Some sort of language teacher... Apparently there was a card next to him, though.” Minato frowned, shaking his head as well. These two seemed pretty similar, huh? They seemed to be siblings, after all…

“What kind of card was it?” He didn’t know why he asked, but he needed more information. This was all too much.

Pharos seemed to think for a moment. “It just had a name, right?”

“Yeah, something like…” Minako paused.

“Kamoshida, apparently that's the name of a friend of his or something.” Minato nodded.

“Yeah, that was it!”

Ren frowned, that was weird in the worst way possible. He felt like all this information was just leading him into a weird circle that’d eventually connect his box to this death. But he still needed more information about this. He couldn’t just leave it at this… What else could he ask, though.

Pharos smiled at him, making Ren shift in place a bit. He swore it felt like the kid was looking into his soul or something. It just made Ren feel downright uncomfortable and at least a little scared. He really didn’t like it. How could he get the kid to stop staring at him.

“You seem uncomfortable.” Pharos finally spoke, still staring at Ren.

“D-do I?” He frowned.

“Don’t be rude, Pharos, hearing someone was killed is probably just messing with him.” Minato moved to the little boy and gently flicked his forehead.

“Ow...Minato…”

“You probably deserved that.” Minako then flicked him herself.

“Ow…” Pharos rubbed the spot that had just gotten flicked twice and frowned. “You two abuse your power…”

“Our power of flicking your forehead?” Minato rose an eyebrow.

“...You all seem really calm about this.” Ren swallowed hard and looked away. He didn’t want to be rude, but…

“...Oh, that.” Minako looked away, biting at her lip again.

“Not thinking about it helps us cope with the fact.” Minato shrugged a bit and refused to look Ren in the eye.

Now that he thought about it, this Minato guy was shaking, just a bit. Maybe that’s why Minako had picked up Pharos instead…? Minato looked like he was on the verge of breaking into a lot of little pieces and Ren wasn’t sure what he should do about that.  Maybe he should walk away and leave them be for a bit. It looked like hearing about a murder was affecting at least Minato more than he first thought.

Minako gave him a small smile when he glanced at her and he frowned. There was something off about that smile...maybe she was more affected than he thought, too? She was just hiding it better than Minato? Well, then he really wanted to back off, give them some space. He didn’t want to make their reactions to all of this worse or anything.

“Well, you guys seem busy so I’m going to...go now. I better go check in with my guardian.” He turned to walk away, barely noticing Pharos and Minako waving to him. Minato didn’t even seem to register his leaving. This was all way too weird...

Chapter Text

Minako sighed as the boy walked off, her face looking exhausted now. Minato knew she had been trying to be positive, despite her own feelings. She was just better at hiding it in small bursts than him. When it was only family paying attention, though, it became clear. She couldn’t hold up the facade forever, after all.

“Take Pharos…” She pushed their cousin at him and he took Pharos with a small nod. She often did this... at their birthday party two years ago, whenever Ryoji said something that annoyed her, whenever he looked like he was about to fall asleep… Maybe he was just the designated Pharos holder, too.

“Is there a reason you want me to take him?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Not really, no, I just…” She sighed and smiled at him, he could tell it was forced. “I’m gonna go get some fresh air, I just wanna be alone.”

Minato frowned, but nodded. “Pharos and I will be here when you make it back.”

“I know.”

And he watched her walk for the door, shoulders stiff as she tried to walk away with a perky step. He could tell it wasn’t working as well as she wanted it to. Or maybe he was just really good at reading when she was upset. They had been together since they were young, after all. He was always going to be able to read her well… At least, that’s what he thought.

“Oh, Minato!” He looked over and there was Akihiko, making his way to him. Of all the times…

“Akihiko…” He nodded a bit and looked between him and Pharos. “Oh, this is my cousin, Pharos.”

“Nice to meet you.” He giggled a bit, waving at the man.

Akihiko blinked, confused for a moment before smiling. “Nice to meet you too! I didn’t realize you had another cousin.”

“He’s Ryoji’s little brother.” He shrugged a bit, he didn’t really talk about their family tree much, the amount of people dead stung.

“I see…” Akihiko bent over a bit (Minato noted Akihiko was a lot taller than him, that didn’t exactly make him happy) and smiled again. “How old are you Pharos?”

“That’s a secret.”

They stood in silence for a moment, until Akihiko stood up straight and laughed a bit. “I see…”

Minato sighed, shaking his head. He was hoping to be able to become friends with Akihiko, but his little cousin could make friendships hard. He usually scared a lot of people off, without meaning to. Pharos was just an odd kid and while he and Minako were used to it… Others had a hard time with it. Was there anything he could say about this?

“Are you two friends?”

Minato blinked and looked to Pharos. “Oh, uh, we’re neighbors, at least…?”

“Just that?” Akihiko looked at him, tilting his head to the side just a bit. “I was hoping we’d be acquaintances at least.”

“Acquaintances works for me too,” Minato shrugged and looked away. He wasn’t really used to having friends, at least not for long. So maybe he was just trying to put artificial distance there.

“Maybe you two will end up being friends…” Pharos held onto Minato’s neck and smiled. “You’re always so sad, this could be good for you.”

Minato looked away, doing his best to stay calm. Pharos was always one to point out things he noticed and it was always a problem. He didn’t know any better, Pharos wasn’t the best with people or anything, he was usually only around his family after all. Minato had to admit, only being around their family wasn’t good for social skills.

“Well,” Akihiko placed a hand on Minato’s shoulder, “I think we’ll be able to be close soon enough.”

“Ah...uh, yeah.”

--

Minako kicked a few rocks around and sighed as she tried to calm down. She looked at her hands, they were shaking ever so slightly. She was usually so good at at least physically looking alright, but it didn’t seem to be working this time. She was really feeling the affects of the murder, wasn’t she? Why did the murder have to happen here, of all places?

“Ugh…” She squatted down, pulling her knees up near her face. What was she supposed to do about this.

“Mi-chan!” She screamed a bit when someone hugged her from behind, even if the voice was familiar.

She turned around, a frown on her face...Only to laugh. “Oh, Teddie!”

“I’m beary sorry!” He frowned, sitting next to her on the ground. “Why are you out here, though, Mi-chan?”

“...The murder thing is really getting to me.” Minako frowned and looked at the ground. “I thought coming out here would help some.”

“Oh, Mi-chan…” Teddie hugged her again and she squealed a bit in confusion. “I’m so sorry!”

“Teddie…” She returned the hug and smiled a bit, fighting back tears. “Thank you…”

“Of course, you know, I’m the best at cheering people up!” Teddie smiled at him, laughing a bit.

“You are?”

“Yeah!” He seemed to think for a moment. “Oh, I know what to do! Tell me about some beary good memories, that might help you some! I love hearing about other’s happy memories.”

He gave her a sunny smile and she couldn’t help but return it. Okay, yeah. Happy memories might be a good thing, huh? Some happy memories could help pull her out of this slump, if just a bit. Teddie had the right idea.

“I guess most of mine are in high school.” Yeah, a lot of them were… “There was this cute little girl, Maiko! Me and Minato would always play with her at the nearby shrine. Her parents were getting a divorce, though, and she actually ran away at one point…”

“Uh oh!” Teddie put his hands on her cheeks and squished them a bit. “You’re going down a dark road of memories, aren’t you?”

She blinked and shook her head. “Wait, wait! I was, but it got better after that! I remember the last time we hung out…” She laughed a bit, a smile on her face. “She said I was like a sister and said she was going to marry Minato when she was older!”

Teddie’s eyes lit up. “How beary cute!”

“Yeah, I know! When Minato pointed out it would be weird to marry her sister’s brother she got sooo confused.” She laughed a bit, shaking her head. “She insisted it was different because we weren’t really sisters.”

Teddie laughed a bit and clapped, smiling at her. “This is great, this is great!”

“Yeah!”

“Well, want to tell me more?” Teddie tilted his head to the side and smiled at her. His smile was so damn cute.

“Sure! Oh, what if I told you about Bebe?”

“Bebe?”

She nodded and grinned. “Yeah! He was an exchange student from France and well...Really cute.”

Yeah, she had had a huge crush on him (on top of basically any all blonde people she’d met by that point -- it was quite a problem she’d had). Bebe was special in her heart still, he’d been the biggest crush she’d had and she still had a letter from him. He’d gone back to France and she wasn’t sure she’d ever see him again, but that way alright. She wouldn’t forget him and that was what was important.

“Did you like him?” Teddie smiled and tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah, his cute smile, his blonde hair, his…” She was going slower and slower as she talked. “And...his blue eyes.”

She was red in the face now. Teddie kinda looked a lot like Bebe in a lot of ways. Well, that could be because a lot of white people looked the same to her, but still. They were the cutest guys she’d ever seen and it was getting hard for her to control her heart. It was beating so quickly, and she wasn’t so sure what to do. The last time her heart had beaten so fast was last year when that pretty lady at the nightclub flirted with her…

“Are you okay, Mi-chan? Your face is really red!” Teddie frowned at her, seemingly worried.

“Uh…!”

--

Minato wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact he was now chatting with Akihiko. He’d been able to change topics from his whole being sad thing, but it wasn’t over yet. Akihiko seemed to have a lot of questions about him, and he could only avoid telling things about himself for so long. Especially when Pharos was with him.

“So...Sounds like you don’t have many friends.”

“...I had a lot in high school?” He shrugged. It was after that, when he and Minako started college, that he lost contact with a lot of them. He did have to wonder how some of them were…

Akihiko frowned. “I see…”

“It’s not that big of a deal, I still have my sister.” He shrugged a bit and looked away.

“Having family, or someone as close as family, is always good. But other friends are good too.” Akihiko frowned.

“I guess, most don’t get close to me. I’m too quiet and stunted for most.”

He yelped just a bit when Akihiko began pinching his cheek. What was Akihiko doing that for? Did he think Minato was lying about why he lacked friends? He wasn’t, after high school not many people were willing to get past his outer shell. Well, he’d also tried harder in high school, when things were going a little better for him. Akihiko didn’t need to know that part, though.

“Well, maybe you should let the people willing to get close to you get close to you…” He frowned, shaking his head. “Then I--uh, they can help you make more friends.”

Minato rose an eyebrow and let a small smile play on his face. Akihiko’s awkward cover up was just funny and maybe cute enough to get one of out of him. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, I mean, it might help. Only so much your sister can do to help you.”

“Fair enough…” Minato looked at his feet and thought for a moment. Should he say something else, then?

“Will you be his friend, then?” And there was Pharos, ready to say something when Minato was mulling over saying anything. He seemed to be really good at doing that.

“Oh, well, of course!” He grinned at Pharos before looking up at Minato again. “You seem interesting, after all.”

“Most find me boring, actually, but...thanks.” He looked away, coughing a bit to try and cover up his embarrassment.

“Well, I want to get to know you better, still.” Akihiko placed a hand on Minato’s shoulder.

“...Thanks.” He wasn’t sure what to say, he wasn’t used to things like this. What did he say now?

“Yeah, so…” Akihiko seemed to think for a moment. “If you want to start getting to know each other better we could go grab a bite?”

“Huh?”

“Could I come with you?” Pharos smiled and looked up at him.

Akihiko blinked, as if confused. “Well, you’re here already so I don’t see why you wouldn’t be included to begin with.”

“Because you were talking to Minato, not me.” Pharos seemed to think that made sense.

“When you’re in my arms we're basically one being, you know?” Minato ruffled his hair a bit. “You should know that by now.”

Pharos gave a small laugh. “I guess so.”

“Cute.”

“What did you say, Akihiko?” Minato was pretty sure he’d heard the word cute, but he wasn’t sure about it.

“Uh…” Akihiko blinked and blushed a bit. “I, uh…”

“Yes?” Minato tilted his head to the side and blinked a few times.

“No, uh, nothing!”

“I think you embarrassed him.” Pharos laughed a bit and watched Akihiko carefully.

“Did I?” He hadn’t meant to do that, if he was being honest. “I was just curious about what he said.”

“Well, I still think you embarrassed him.” Pharos nodded at him and laughed a bit. “You’re good at doing things like this on accident.”

“N-no! I’m not embarrassed.” He shook his head and laughed a bit. “I was just caught off guard.”

Minato smiled at him. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Yeah…” Akihiko coughed a bit and Minato was pretty sure he was also covering up embarrassment. Minato couldn’t blame him for that.

“So, uh…” Now what did he say?

--

Minako was currently still trying to figure out how to cover up her blush. There had to be something she could do, right? Teddie seemed to be kind of spacey at times, so she could say almost anything if she wanted to… What could she say, then? Oh, this was so hard.

“Mi-chan?”

She jumped up and turned to him, laughing a bit. “Ah, w-well it’s just really hot out here! It is summer, after all.”

“Oh, then we should get you inside, even though it isn't summer yet...” He stood up and placed his hands on her arms. That just made her embarrassment worse.

“Uh, yeah, good idea.” She didn’t know why, but she hoped Minato had placed Pharos on the ground at this point. She could pick him up and use him as an excuse to get away if that was the case.

They walked back towards the apartments and Minako did her best to breathe. It was usually her who embarrassed people when she liked them, this kind of thing only happened on occasion. It was always with the cutest people, too, and it almost always caused her to mess up. She was about to rip her hair out with frustration due to all of this. What did she do?

“Alright, let’s get you inside!” Teddie happily skipped around her and opened the door.

“Thank you, Teddie.” She gave him a small smile and walked in, looking for Minato. He wasn’t the most easy to notice, but she knew him well enough that she knew she could find him.

Soon enough, her eyes fell on him. He was handing Pharos off to Akihiko and had a small smile on his face. There he was, her saving grace, but now she had a dilemma. He looked so happy, talking to someone and even letting him hold Pharos. She felt she’d ruin it if she went over there right now. What should she do? She really didn’t want to embarrass herself anymore, but…

She swallowed hard and ran over finally, shoving her face into her brother’s chest with a  whine. He’d know what was going on, right? He could read he well, he had to know what was going on and be able to help her. She just had to hope he wouldn’t tease her too much about all of this… Ugh, he was going to tease her a lot, wasn’t he?

“Someone’s face is as red as her eyes.” And there it was, just the beginning of it all.

“Shut up and help me…” Her voice was muffled as she tried to hide her face in his chest even more.

“Did Teddie embarrass you? Finally realize he’s just your type in all the worst ways?” Minato seemed to be enjoying this a lot.

“Shut up…!”

“Hey, hey, is Mi-chan okay?” Teddie ran up then and Minako tensed. Please let Minato come through for her now…

“She’s probably just overheating and needs to go lay down, that’s all.” He pat her head and she almost sighed in relief. He was totally saving her ass here and she was going to owe him big time.

“I see, well…” Teddie placed a hand on her back and she tensed even more. “Try and get some rest, Mi-chan! We can talk again later.”

She nodded a bit and bit her lip. Oh, this was bad.

“...He’s gone now.”

“Thank you so much!” She moved away from her brother and smiled. “Is there anything I can do to thank you, Minato?”

“Watch Pharos so I can go eat with Akihiko.”

“...Alright!”

Chapter Text

Yu was still trying to figure out what was going on with the box he’d gotten when he walked back to the apartment the next day. He’d been job hunting again, really needing money since he had to deal with Tohru living with him now. The entire time he’d been thinking more about that box, though. The people who were talked about in the papers in there were all on his floor. There was even information about Tohru, despite him not actually being a permanent resident. It was all just really confusing.

He kicked at the ground, nothing was going right. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do to make everything work out. He was supposed to find three more boxes or something, right? Why was he chosen for this? Almost none of this was making sense to him… Maybe he should go back to Inaba.

“So, I know a few good places we could go…”

He looked up when he heard a voice and saw two men walking along. One was taller and more muscular, leading the way. The smaller man had his hands in his pockets, seemingly just walking along. He didn’t seem to have anything to say, just nodding and grunting when spoken to. That didn’t mean he seemed to be uncomfortable, if anything Yu thought he looked very pleased.

He walked past them, doing his best not to stare as he crossed paths with them. It was kind of hard, though. They seemed to be such a nice couple, he was a little jealous. He’d love to have a boyfriend like that at some point… Well, maybe in the future. He finally focused on the doors of the apartment. This was what he needed to focus on.

Okay, well, one more peek at them. They seemed to be walking close together, but there was still some distance. What kind of relationship was this? New lovers, maybe? Trying to bring themselves enough courage to walk closer by going on a date? If that was the case it was...heartwarming. He couldn’t help but silently wish them the best before forcing himself to look forward again. The door, focus on the doors...

Well, now he had a new question. Why were there so many people in the lobby? He’d always found this place to be really quiet and empty, almost to a creepy amount. A lot of people was almost creepier. It didn’t change the fact Yu had to go in there, though. He had a lot to look through, after all.

He finally pushed himself forward, walking into the building. What was going on in here? Everyone was whispering and talking. He was pretty sure he saw some police officers, too. What was going on? Why were their police here? This was really making no sense to him.

“Woooow, look at this!” A woman walked next to him and he realized it was Elizabeth.

“What’s going on?” He frowned, looking over at her.

She smiled at him and chuckled a bit. “You didn’t hear? I thought everyone would know! Word travels so quickly by word of mouth, after all!”

“I didn’t hear about this.” He shook his head.

“Well, oh! One moment!” She pushed past him and started waving. “Aigis, Aigis! Over here~”

He frowned and watched as Aigis walked over. Was Elizabeth trying to prove Yu wrong, then? Was she hoping Aigis had heard about whatever was going on? That was the only way Yu could see this all going down, what with how Elizabeth had been the first time he met her.

“What do you need, Elizabeth?”

“Have you heard about what’s going on?” Elizabeth was now standing next to her, a smile on her face.

“There was a murder, correct?” Aigis tilted her head to the side and Yu paled a bit.

“Exactly!” Yet Elizabeth was still excited. “You heard it from words out of others mouths, yes?”

“...It was posted on social media.” Aigis blinked blankly.

“Oh! So was I wrong about words being spread by mouth?” Elizabeth frowned, placing a finger to her lips.

“...Spread of information via social media could be counted as being spread by word of mouth, actually.” Aigis sighed just a bit.

“Is that so? How interesting!” Elizabeth giggled gleefully and clapped her hands together.

“...Why are you so happy about this?” Yu frowned and shook his head. This wasn’t making any sense to him. Any normal person would be at least unsettled.

Yet here was Elizabeth, seemingly having a lot of fun. It was as if she didn’t understand what a murder meant, exactly. It was really starting to throw Yu off and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. Was Elizabeth behind the killing? Should he just walk away now, while he had the chance? He wasn’t really sure now.

“Oh, well…” Elizabeth put a pout on her face. “It’s sad, but it’s interesting at the same time, is it not?”

“How is it interesting?”

“I’ve never seen a real crime scene before this, of course.” She crossed her arms and smiled again. “It’s so odd to see how it is handled…”

Yu grimaced a bit, this was way too much for him. Elizabeth was just way too much. There was no way this woman was human, or if she was she’d lived a very sheltered life. No one else would find something like this so exciting. They’d at least be like Aigis, quiet and without much to say. At least that made more sense.

“I really don’t see why you find that interesting. I’d be okay never seeing something like this.” Yu turned to look at Aigis. “What about you?”

“I’ve seen crime scenes before this, I’m a bit too used to it.” She frowned, shrugging her shoulders.

“I see…” Yu really wanted to leave now. Could he leave or would it make him seem suspicious or rude? He really didn’t know.

“Aigis…” Elizabeth seemed to lose interest in Yu. She was just always one to speed into a new interest as quickly as possible, hm? “Let’s go!”

“Where are we going?” Aigis asked this, but let the other woman grab her by the arm.

“To go get a closer look at the crime scene, of course! I want to see what the police are doing!”

Aigis stared at Elizabeth as the latter fluttered her eyelashes. It was hard to tell what Aigis was thinking, her face as hard as a stone. Yu really wasn’t sure what to expect from her. Was she going to say yes or no? Yu just really couldn’t tell at all… He hadn’t been able to tell much since he moved here, huh?

“Alright.” She was really going…?

Elizabeth grinned. “Let’s go then!”

--

Yu was finally able to force his way to the stairs and up to the fifth floor. Thank god he finally made it up there, he couldn’t handle something like Elizabeth anymore today. He just needed to go to his room and lay down. That would be the best thing he could do, right? Just lay down for as long as he could.

“Pharos, our apartment isn’t on this floor!” He heard a woman’s voice and turned to look.

There was a brunette, following after a little boy. She was small and fairly quick, but the boy was smaller and quicker. It seemed she was having trouble just getting a grip on him, seeing as he slipped away at the last second every time. She looked more than a little disheveled too. Whatever was going on with these two, it was stressing her out, he had to guess.

“I just want to look around some more.” The boy, Pharos he was guessing, turned to smile at her.

“You never do this to Minato…”

“That’s because he’ll just give up and walk away.”

“Well, that’s not what I’m going to do! Come on or I’ll call Ryoji to come get you!” She pointed at him, obviously trying to be somewhat threatening.

“You don’t like Ryoji, though.”

“Ugh…!”

Yu watched this go on for a while, the woman chasing Pharos around. She didn’t seem to be having luck and, well, Yu wanted to help, but was afraid to. He felt if he got involved he might get punched in the gut. That was usually what happened when he tried to help someone out without thinking it through first. Besides, this girl looked like she would be able to punch him hard.

This seemed like a pair that was a family. Maybe she was his aunt or cousin or something, mother was possible but seemed to be a bit of a stretch. Whoever this Ryoji was he was probably part of the family too. An uncle, maybe a brother? If not that than a stepfather of some sort… It seemed like the boy wasn’t afraid of him, though. If he had to guess, this girl was his cousin and the other boy his brother. Oh, but how interesting would it be if she was his mother and the man his stepfather, married to his biological father? This was all too interesting, he was so tempted to talk to them...

Finally, he just walked past them, his head down. That was about all he could do, and they didn’t even seem to pay him heed. That was about what he’d expected, if he was being honest, and it worked. He could just get to his room and mull some things over. A murder, the weird box...Just what was going on? This kind of thing never happened when he was younger.

“Ugh…” He shook his head as he walked into the room. He just needed to try and get some sleep--

“Narukami-kun!” And there was Tohru.

“Did you go look for what you lost today?” Yu looked at him, doing his best not to frown like he wanted to.

“Ah, a little! It didn’t work out though and stuff started happening, so…” Tohru rubbed the back of his head and laughed. “Oops?”

“It’s not really oops when the stuff that happened is a murder, Adachi-san…” He didn’t want to be rude, but he felt Tohru was taking this way too lightly. He knew Tohru wasn’t naive to the world like Elizabeth, too.

“That’s what’s going on?! I didn’t realize.” He shook his head.

“The murder happened in this apartment complex, though…” How could one miss that?

“It’s a big building, you know!”

“It happened two floors down. You had to pass it to get up here.”

“I took the elevator, though.”

“The elevator operator wasn’t in the elevator when I got back.”

“I can use an elevator myself.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I saw people blocking the elevator…”

“I-I am a detective you know? I know how to get past a group of people. Besides, it was before a lot of people knew.”

Yu blinked, Tohru was ready for anything he said, it seemed. Well, too bad he had a few more questions for him. Thanks to living with a detective for so long he knew there were still a few things he could poke and prod at… Even if he wasn’t sure why he was so curious. Maybe he was afraid Tohru hadn’t gone looking at all that day or something.

“Well, did you get questioned at all on your way up? If you showed up shortly after the discovery I’m sure you’d be questioned.” Yeah, that was a decent question.

“Oh, yeah. I couldn’t give anything helpful, though.” He shook his head and frowned. “All I could tell them is I saw a few weird people leaving as I entered.”

“So you saw weird people?” Yu rose an eyebrow. “What kind of weird people?”

“What are you, a police officer?” Tohru laughed and shook his head. “I’m sure they’re nothing dangerous, just kind of weird, like…”

“Me or you?”

Tohru blinked a few times before laughing. “Oh, you’re funny, Narukami-kun!”

“I was being serious, though.”

Tohru blinked a few times before staring at Yu. “You’re really quite the odd one, aren’t you, Narukami-kun?”

“A lot of people say that, yeah.” He nodded a bit. It really didn’t bother him at this point, honestly. It was just who he was, right? No reason to be upset about it.

“You’re used to it, then?”

“Yeah, it’s not exactly a bad thing or anything, anyway.” He shrugged a bit and finally took off his shoes. He was kind of ready for this conversation to end so he could move on to his room already. He had a lot he wanted to think about, not a lot to talk about.

“Did you find a job today?” Tohru seemed ready to keep chatting, though. Great…

“No, it’s sadly not that easy. I need to just apply to places and wait, you know?” And he wouldn’t be in such a rush if he was living alone and only had to feed himself.

“Don’t give up, don’t give up!” Tohru laughed and stood from where he sat in the living room. “Say, got any food with you?”

“Didn’t have time to pick any up. I’ll do that later, after I rest.” He sighed, of course. Tohru was waiting for Yu to cook something for dinner, probably. Since he was pretty sure Tohru couldn’t cook…

“Say, give me some money and I can go pick up supplies for dinner!” Tohru smiled at held out a hand.

“Sorry, I don’t trust anyone other than me or Nanako when it comes to that kind of stuff.” And he really meant it. He didn’t trust many, if he was being honest.

“Ah, just thought I would offer to help!”

“You can go look for your lost item.”

“Shopping doesn’t take as much to do though, y’know…?”

“...I guess.” Yu was going to need to think quickly before he went shopping, then.

--

Yu was trying to figure out what to buy for dinner when he heard two women talking nearby. It sounded like they were mentioning the murder, which had been all he’d heard about since he left, but also their own meal. From the sounds of it, they were trying to figure out how to make curry and, well, everything they were saying was scaring him. That wasn’t how you cooked curry, that wasn’t what you put in it… He would’ve left it alone, but it sounded like it would turn out to be pure poison.

“Excuse me…” He turned to look and saw the two speaking.

There was a shorter woman, her hair short and her outfit sporty. The taller of the two was wearing a less exercise oriented outfit, her hair long on her back. They seemed to be waiting for him to say something else, curious about why he was talking to them. He had a feeling they were expecting a question about the murder. Too bad it was nothing to do that.

“Are you trying to make something edible or poison?”

The women both blinked before the shorter stomped her foot a bit. “W-we’re trying to make something edible!”

“Is there something wrong with what we’re getting…?” The other woman tilted her head to the side.

“A little, yeah...That’s just not how you make curry...at all.” He really hoped this wasn’t coming off as too rude. He just didn’t want them to die from their own cooking.

“You think you could do better?”

“Well, when I was living with my uncle and cousin I did most of the cooking. They seemed to like it.”

The second woman spoke up again. “Maybe he could help us, Chie.”

“Yukiko--!”

“I don’t want to take one bite only to pass out again…” Yukiko sighed, moving some hair behind her ear. “And then you panic and call an ambulance...We get home so late we have to get take out after dealing with the leftovers…” She said that as if they needed special care to be thrown out.

Chie seemed to gulp a bit, sweating. It looked like cooking never ended well for this pair and it was starting to catch up with them. Maybe they wouldn't stay mad at Yu then. Honestly, if he could, he was going to convince them to split the bill cost of ingredients and just make enough for four. It’d be cheaper for him that way and he might be able to buy a few more days worth while still being able to pay rent.

“I’m not sure, I don’t want to be a bother…” Chie kicked at the ground and Yu saw his chance.

“I don’t mind on a few conditions.” He gave a thumbs up and hoped that didn’t sound too creepy or anything.

“Oh?” Yukiko rose her eyebrows in questions. “What are those conditions?”

“One, you let me direct you in what to buy for curry.”

Chie blinked. “Well, I thought that was a given already! How else would you help us make sure it’s edible?”

“And you can’t argue if I say no to an ingredient.”

“Fair enough.”

Yu nodded. “Alright, then two. You let me supervise the cooking.”

“That would be very helpful, so I don’t see why not.” Yukiko gave a small nod and smile.

Yu smiled himself, this was going great so far. He just needed to keep going, honestly. He now to give the last two at once. They were kind of connected, so he needed to speak quickly. He could only imagine what would happen if he only said one -- probably an ass kicking or yelling. Which he’d deserve, most likely.

“Finally, we get enough to feed four and you split the cost with me.” Yeah, that went perfect!

“You want some too?” Chie blinked, sticking her hands in her pockets. “I guess that makes sense, but…”

“Why enough for four?” Yukiko titled her head to the side as she finished Chie’s train of thought.

“I have someone kind of...living with me? And he expects me to make him dinner.” He sighed a bit as he spoke. “Well, more like he hints at me that he wants food, but…”

“I see! You’re trying to make it cheaper by buying in bulk and splitting costs!” Yukiko nodded. “Plus you’ll have extra hands in the kitchen, so it won’t be as tiring to cook…”

“Gee, Yukiko, growing up in an inn really did teach you a lot about economics and such.” Chie whistled, seemingly impressed by it all.

“Oh Chie…” Yukiko giggled a bit and looked away, her cheeks pink. “It’s nothing, really… You just learn simple things like that.”

“I’d never know that kind of thing without you around, though!” Chie jumped at Yukiko, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

They seemed to be quite the couple, how nice was that? The two were hanging onto each other, smiles on their faces, as they chatted with each other. It seemed like they’d basically forgotten Yu was there, but that was okay. This was so nice to see, two people happily in love… Yu lived for this kind of thing, if he was being honest. Happy couples just made him happy, if not a bit jealous.

“You two are very cute together, you know?” He smiled at them and they both turned to look at him.

Chie gave him a grin and laughed a bit. “I-I guess so, huh?”

Yukiko smiled and turned to kiss Chie’s cheek. “Seems like it…”

They went back to being very interested in what the other was doing and Yu smiled. They really were cute, and he was happy to be able to see this. There’d only been so many happy couples to spot in Inaba, and now that he was here? He was pretty sure this was the second couple he’d spotted today, if he was right about those men earlier. He was seeing all sorts of new people and couples and it was just interesting to him. He just had to hope this kept happening…

If it didn’t, well, he might be more than a little sad. This was all really interesting to him, after all! People watching was just kind of his hobby. He’d picked it up when his parents had never been much for conversation and it never really went away. He wasn’t sure if it was ever going to go away, actually… He kind of hoped it didn’t. There was a strange sort of comfort in watching people go along in their daily lives…

Then again, his hobby had changed a bit over time. There was now a lot more imagining involved. He would look at a couple like Yukiko and Chie and try to think about things like how they met and fell in love. He didn’t mean to do it, that’s just where his brain liked to wander when he people watched now. It sometimes got worse when he got to know a person or couple too. He would start trying to imagine even more, but would always forget to ask about it…

Well, no use in thinking about that now! He had a couple ladies to help cook, after all! He needed to focus on that, he could think about his odd habits and kind of lonely childhood later. For now, he would start by looking at what they had in the cart. There had to be at least a few things he could use, right? Right?

Well, no actually. None of this was going to be right. Some of it because they’d want to buy more and some because it made no sense for curry. Who the hell put peppermint in curry, anyway? He’d never met someone who did that. And if he did, he felt he would slap them if he didn’t talk to them first, like he had with Yukiko and Chie. Maybe they were lucky he’d started a conversation before peeking in their basket, then.

He sighed, rolling up his sleeves. Well, time for him to put everything back and start from the top. He would help them make decent curry if it was the last thing he did…! He needed to be able to eat this too, after all. Besides, it might be one of the few meals he could eat that weren’t prepackaged at a convenience store for a while! He had to make it the best he could!

“Uh, by the way,” Yukiko pulled him out of his thoughts for a moment, “what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Yu Narukami, nice to meet you both.” He nodded at them before grabbing their basket and starting off. He had a lot of work to do.

“Huh? H-hey!” Chie started off after him, obviously not understanding what was going on. “Get back here!”

“Chie, Narukami-kun…!” Yukiko followed after the best she could. He clothes didn’t allow for as mobility as the other two's’ outfits did, after all. “Wait, why are you running?!”

Chapter Text

Ren was still trying to figure out how he was feeling a day after the murder happened. It had been so scary, if he was being honest. Walking in and hearing a teacher had been murdered… Death wasn’t the most pleasant thing, and combine it by being caused by another human made it even worse. He just wasn’t sure what to think. If it’d been in his hometown it wouldn’t be that bad, it’d be easier to catch the killer, since everybody knew everybody else. Tokyo was just so big…

“Hey…” Morgana sat on his chest and frowned. “Someone’s knocking and I don’t think Yusuke plans on getting it.”

Ren frowned, looking at Morgana. He was almost afraid to open the door, but he knew it had to be done. He would just open the door a sliver and peek out, not risk anything more than that. That wasn’t an issue, was it? The murder had happened on this floor, so it was sure to be understandable, right? He had to hope so.

He dragged himself to the entry hall and opened the door, a small frown on his face. “Hello?”

“Hello!” The boy from the first day he’d moved in was standing there, smiling. “Oh, do I know you?”

“You saw me sitting outside my apartment, waiting for my guardian…” Ren nodded a bit.

“I see! So that was you…” He seemed to think for a bit. “Oh, did I not introduce myself then?”

“I don’t think so.” Not that Ren did either.

“Oh, well, I’m Goro Akechi, and you are?” He smiled at Ren, tilting his head to the side.

“Ren Amamiya...nice to meet you, Akechi-kun.” He nodded at him and kept the frown on his face.

“Nice to meet you as well!” Goro’s smile began to fall. “It’s too bad I have to ask you about something so grim…”

“The murder…?” He rose an eyebrow.

“Oh, you’re ahead of the game.” He smiled again.

“I remember things that don’t usually happen in my hometown easily.” He frowned a bit, shaking his head.

“I see, this must be hard for you, but I have to ask you some questions.” He seemed to be only a little sympathetic.

“I understand.” He didn’t plan on opening the door anymore, though. Goro could talk to him like this.

“Can you maybe open the door more?”

“No.”

Goro frowned a bit and crossed his arms. “It will be easier for me to speak to you if you open the door more.”

“I’ve been nervous since I heard about the murder, sorry.” He wasn’t going to open the door more unless it was Sojiro or something. And that was only because he’d get in trouble if he didn’t open the door.

“...Understandable, but I need to talk to you about it. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I didn’t think you were going to, I’m just doing this to anyone who comes to the door.” Ren frowned. Did he make it seem like he thought Goro was dangerous, then? He hadn’t meant to do that, really.

“So do you expect me to ask you questions from here?” Goro raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” He nodded a bit.

“Well, that’s going to make my job all the more difficult!” Goro laughed a bit, shaking his head. Despite the fact he seemed to be trying to remain calm Ren could tell something was off.

“...Sorry, but I’d really rather not open the door anymore if I can help it.” Ren wasn’t going to give up on this.

“Oh no, I understand.” Goro shook his head before looking around. “We seem to be alone, though, so I can question you now.”

He didn’t understand why he wanted them to be alone, but well, maybe it was because of the questions, or the chance of the murderer being around. “...Go for it.”

--

After Goro left, Ren realized he had nothing to eat. It didn’t help that Yusuke seemed more focused on other things than food, too. He didn’t even want to ask if he had money for something. Instead, actually, he would just head down to the convenience store and buy himself something. Maybe a little thing for Morgana and Yusuke too, depending on the prices. He didn’t exactly have a lot, but he’d get a part time job soon enough.

He walked out of the apartment, telling Yusuke he’d be back in a while. Yusuke had waved him goodbye, seemingly a little less spacey than their first meeting. Ren was afraid that was because he still wanted to see a note from someone back home. A note that he didn’t have… Could he forge one?

Maybe, Yusuke didn’t know anyone from his hometown. All he’d have to do was make sure it didn’t look like his handwriting. Yusuke could see an assignment of Ren’s by chance at some point and if it looked like a “friend’s” handwriting he wouldn’t be able to explain it. He was sure Yusuke was smart enough to see an issue if it was the exact same. Maybe if he wrote like he did in elementary school…?

This was hard, honestly. He didn’t like lying, but sometimes he just had to. He felt that box was too important to let just anybody see, after all. And even if he was wrong about that, there was another problem. What if someone thought he was stalking people and gathering information? That was totally enough to break his probation and get him kicked right into juvenile hall. He’d really rather not end up there if he could help it.

He stepped onto the elevator with a sigh. He didn’t want to fight with the stairs again, there were still so many people pouring into the building. He guessed this was a big deal, apparently the murder had been gruesome in some way? He’d did his best to ignore the details, he didn’t have the strongest stomach, after all.

“Someone looks upset.” He jumped a bit and turned to look at the elevator operator. Oh right, he was probably going to have to talk to her.

“Uh, no, just thinking about some things…” He looked away.

“How interesting…!” The woman giggled a bit and turned to the controls. “Floor? We’ll be going up first, if you plan to head down.”

“...The first floor, please.” He didn’t see how him thinking about some things was interesting to anyone who wasn’t looking to get him in trouble. He had to be careful.

He looked to the number displaying the floor they were on. They went from the third to the fifth. He just hoped they weren’t picking up too many people… Just one or two, if they absolutely had to. He wasn’t a fan of crowds, for some reason most people could pick him out as a “problem child” and would just stare. Was there no end to things like that? It didn’t seem like there was…

Thankfully, maybe, the only person to step onto the elevator was a famed idol. Risette, was she living in this building? He’d been so caught up in other things that it was possible he’d missed something like this. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all…

“Oh! I know you!” She pointed at her and smiled. “You’re that idol! Marie just recently bought your poster.”

“Marie…?” Risette rose an eyebrow.

“I’m sure you’ve met her! She’s an, what’s the word,” she thought for a moment, “emo-looking girl! Blue hat, black hair…”

“Oh, yeah, I met her once…” Risette shrugged a bit.

“She’s been writing poems--excuse me, pathos, about you!”

“What…?”

Ren shifted a bit and looked away. He just wanted to go get food already. Was that too much to ask or something…? He really didn’t get it. For now, he’d just endure what seemed to be a woman embarrassing someone else and get out of here. That would be okay, right? He just had to hope so.

--

Ren was almost to the convenience store when a man with black hair stopped him. He had a smile on his face and something about his eyes bothered him. Kind of reminded him of that Pharos kid’s eyes, actually… Huh, maybe there was some sort of relation...or it was just a coincidence. Ren wasn’t the best at picking that kind of thing out.

“Excuse me!” The man smiled at him, swaying just a bit from side to side.

“Can I help you?” And if he could, could it not take long? He wasn’t exactly the nicest when hungry and, well, he was kind of starving.

“I’m looking for my little brother, actually.” He smiled at him and laughed a bit. “You kinda look a bit like him!”

“Do I?” He frowned. He wasn’t often told he looked like someone, so this was odd to say the least.

“Your hair is messy like his! Put you in the right clothes and remove the glasses, and well…” He pulled the glasses off as he spoke. “There you go!”

Ren began to squint, him now not nearly as in focus. He couldn’t see without those, so this guy was kind of looking like a blur. Especially now that he seemed to be hopping back just a bit. What, was he afraid Ren was going to go berserk and punch him for taking them? That wasn’t his plan…

“I’d really rather a stranger not touch my glasses…” He held out a hand, hoping he’d place the item in his hand.

“Oh!” He did just that. “I’m Ryoji Mochizuki, by the way!”

“...Ren Amamiya.” He cleaned the glasses before placing them on his face again. Now Ryoji wasn’t blurry at least.

Ryoji smiled at him and laughed. “Well, you really do kinda look like him!”

“...Well, I can’t think of who your brother could be, and I can’t help you there.” He shook his head.

“Are you sure? Maybe if I give you a name you can help more?” Ryoji seemed to really want some help. Ren wasn’t sure he could say no…

“Alright, fine.” He sighed a bit. “Give me a name.”

“Pharos!” Ryoji giggled a bit. “It’s a pretty unique name, you know? I’m sure you’ll know where I can find him if you recognize the name.”

That was the name of the little boy who’d talked to him yesterday, right? So, yeah, he knew him… But he saw him yesterday, how was he supposed to know where he was? He didn’t keep tabs on everyone he saw in the apartment… Besides, he’d been with his cousins, right? Wouldn’t they have made sure he got home to his brother.

“I saw him at Velvet Apartments yesterday…” He shrugged a bit.

“Oh, he must be with Minato and Minako, then!” Ryoji nodded and laughed a bit. He seemed to be relieved upon hearing that, how nice. He seemed to care about his little brother. Caring about your family was always a good thing, in his opinion.

“Those are your cousins, right? I think they called the little boy their cousin, at least…”

“Yeah! They were living with us until recently, actually.” Ryoji smiled at him. “Pharos must really miss them if he came out all this way to find him.”

Ren nodded. Poor kid must’ve really missed them if he found his way to the apartments, on the day of a murder no less. It didn’t sound like he asked his brother to bring him, at least. That wasn’t something he would try and encourage, but it was at least a little endearing. It didn’t seem like Ryoji was mad about it, either. So...Wait. Why was he worrying about this? Did it have to do with the murder? He was sure the news had spread by now.

Ren shook his head and started to walk past him. “Sorry, I need to get going. I’m hungry and food isn’t going to buy itself.”

Ryoji blinked a few times before nodding. “Oh, okay! See ya around, then!”

“See you.”

--

Ren was walking home and he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable. He felt like he was being watched and it was just about the worst thing. It was so late out, it was so dark… He felt like he could be jumped at any minute. That or he would be blamed for hurting someone else again. He almost wanted it to be the latter if it had to be one. He could survive juvenile hall, not so much the jumping if it went wrong.

He looked around and swallowed hard. Something about all of this was really starting to bother him. Maybe he should pick up the pace some to avoid anything bad happening… That was probably the best he could do. That and make sure he stayed on high alert the entire way. If he let his guard down for one second it would end badly.

He kept glancing at every small sound he heard. In case it was something dangerous. He couldn’t let just one sound pass as he went. He wouldn’t be able to let it pass until he was only a few feet from the door or he saw someone he could walk with. Currently, though, it wasn’t going to happen. He was too far away and no one safe was walking with him or near him. He was on his own.

At one point he glanced and swore he saw someone. He could feel his chest tighten when he saw the figure in the alleyway. He was going to just keep walking, though, doing his best to act like he didn’t see them. If he acted oblivious, maybe he would be safer. Maybe he would just be followed further. He could get back and ask the person at the front desk to call someone or check it out with him. Surely that would work. Margaret was the one at the front desk, correct? She seemed to be able to handle things like this...

What could happen if he let himself be obvious about seeing? He felt it might lead to him dying or something. If the person panicked about being seen, they might attack him and hurt him. He could really be injured, and if not, blamed for what happened. There was just too much negative riding on this all, he couldn’t risk it. He would just ignore the lanky frame of the person and keep going.

He felt his breathing pick up a bit in, and he did his best to calm it. He didn’t want anything to make him even a little more obvious. He didn’t want to be hurt or land in trouble again. He just wanted to go home and eat something, give Morgana and Yusuke some things. He wanted to be able to lay down and pretend this didn’t happen. He wouldn’t even mention it to anyone today, he would just wait. He couldn’t handle more of this, not today.

Was he just too paranoid? That could be it, he could be paranoid, since everything went wrong at night. It was a big city and he was alone on a quiet street… Maybe that was it… Was Tokyo even supposed to be this quiet? He didn’t think it was and he was worried because of it.

Soon enough he saw the door to the apartments and he was trying to decide if he needed to run forward. Was it safe from this distance to run, or could he be caught and hurt? Would the person attack him if he took too long? Should he just get a little closer before making a run for it…? He didn’t know what to do.

He finally decided to dash for the entrance. It was a short enough distance that he should make it in less than a minute, and the lights would let anyone inside see him. Soon enough, he was running through the doors, panting a bit. That had been nerve wracking, to say the least… To say the most, it’d been kind of terrifying for him to experience.

Margaret peeked from over her desk. “Are you alright?”

“....Fine.”

Chapter Text

Minato didn’t know who was in bed next to him, but he wasn’t sure he liked it. He liked having room to himself when he went to bed by himself, and now there was someone in his bed. Who had thought to do that? They were too small to be Minako or, well, most people he knew. That didn’t mean he wasn’t being pushed against the wall by the person. So, chances were it was Pharos, huh?

He groaned, turning over and opening one eye. Yep, there was Pharos and on the other side of him Minako. They were pushing him right into the wall, not realizing what they were doing. They both did sleep like the dead, after all… Minako especially, seeing as she did this to him all the time when they were young. It just seemed to be a trend.

“Ugh...Can you guys move…?” He pushed against Pharos gently, but he didn’t move. Minako was like a brick wall keeping the two in place.

So, he was going to have to just...Slide out of here. He didn’t have a lot of room, but he was going to have to stand up and scoot out. There was really no other way and laying here was way too much. His shoulders were starting to ache lying here, so he really needed to move. He did so carefully, though, he didn’t want to wake them up.

Soon enough he squeezed his way off the bed and he sighed. Maybe he would go try to make something for breakfast. He wasn’t exactly good at cooking, at least not as good as Minako, but he could try. Well, okay, he was actually pretty horrible, but he was good at making toast. He could make them toast and kind of shitty scrambled eggs. They’d be edible, at the very least… And he knew Minako would get excited that she didn’t have to cook, so…

He started on just that. He would go make them get up in a bit, maybe throw the curtains open. That would get Minako up and whining and Pharos would be woken by the whining. It’d work in the end, at the very least. He just had to hope he didn’t burn anything and set off the fire alarm. He’d done that a lot at Ryoji’s house, actually. The amount of times Ryoji had run out of his room thinking it was a fire while Minako slept on... It was scary.

Soon enough, though, he had some toast going (thank god he let Minako get a six slice toaster) and started on the eggs. They were going about as good as they could when it was Minato cooking. Meaning they would taste alright if you smothered them in something. His family would eat those, at least, so…

Soon enough the eggs and toast seemed to be done. He placed some plates on the counter and, after doing his best to separate it, moved to his room again. Minako was snoring loudly, sprawled out now that Minato was gone. Pharos was curled up next to her, a smile on his sleeping face. He almost felt bad that he was about to wake them up. Almost being the key word.

“Get up, already.” He pulled open the curtains and it took Minako no time to start groaning.

“You suck…!” She sat up, frowning at him. “Isn’t there another way for you wake me up?”

“No.”

“Oh, there totally is!”

“Not really, you sleep like a rock, Minako.”

“I do not!”

“You kind of do, though.”

“Minato--”

“Mmmm…” Pharos sat up, stopping both twins bickering for a moment. “What’s going on…?”

“Oh, morning Pharos!” Minako started leaning over on her little cousin. “Minato decided we needed to get up, for some reason.”

“...I made breakfast.” That was all Minato could really offer for peace.

That seemed to work, though, as Minako hopped to her feet, a smile on her face and Pharos in her arms. Her hair was down, something Minato wasn’t really used to. She almost always had it up in a ponytail, claiming that was easier to deal with. She had basically always had her hair up since they were preteens, and now? Now it was hanging loosely.

“You look younger like that.”

“And you’d look younger if I put your hair up in a little ponytail.” She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed as she made her way to the door. “Come on, I’m hungry--”

A knock on the door made her frown. “Who the hell is here this early?”

“You don’t even know the time, and don’t worry, I’ll get the door.” Minato walked past her with a sigh. If he’d glanced at the clock right he was pretty sure it was about ten in the morning. That wasn’t that early.

He made his way to the door and opened it slowly. He was still kind of tired, so he was going to try and finish this quickly. Whoever it was better have something important to say or he was going to be mad. Okay, not at as mad as Minako would be, but still pretty mad. Standing there was a woman, a hat on her head. This better be good.

“Can I help you?”

“I just needed to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright.” The woman straightened the hat as she looked at Minato.

“What about?” He tilted his head to the side.

She sighed. “I’m sure you’re aware of the murder that happened two days ago, yes?”

He grimaced before nodding. “Sadly, yes.” He was trying to forget about it.

“I know it’s not fun to speak about, but I do need to gather some information on it.”

“Excuse me?” Minato frowned. “Why?”

“Oh, my apologizes. I’m Naoto Shirogane, a detective.” She held a hand out and and Minato took it. “I’m looking into the case.”

“I see…” Minato sighed, wanting to shake his head and tell her no. He knew it was probably too important not to do this. If he just answered the questions he could keep Minako from having to deal with it.

“So, are you willing to talk?”

--

Minako frowned when Minato finally came to sit down and eat. Pharos had already finished his plate and she was almost there. The food was starting to get cold when he was back. She knew Minato didn’t like to eat his food when it was cold.

“Make sure you eat up. I don’t want your meal to go to waste!” She pointed at him with her fork, a frown on her face.

“I will…”

“Only because I’ll make sure you do! The amount of times I found the food you said you ate in a trashcan…” Minako shook her head.

“I’d rather not eat cold food, besides, I’d eat a snack to make up for it…” He looked away.

“You need to eat actual food, though. We both know this.” She shook her head and poked him gently with the fork. “Why do you think you’re so scrawny.”

“I only looks scrawny.”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe if we’re talking about you when you were in high school, yeah.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He frowned at her.

“You were super athletic in high school, for sure, the scrawny look helped you kick ass in kendo, I swear. That doesn’t mean you still are, though.”

“I’m still pretty athletic.”

“Oh yeah?” She rose an eyebrow. “Can you prove it.”

He stood up then and moved over to her, easily picking her up with one arm. “There.”

“I don’t count, though!” She stuck her tongue out at him. “You know I’m lighter than most people.”

“So what?”

“So it’s not that impressive, sorry, Minato.” She grinned at him.

“Oh, you--”

“Put me down already!” She laughed a bit, kicking around just a bit. She didn’t want to be held up all day.

Minato sighed before placing her back in the chair and moving to his seat. “Fine, I’ll just eat it like you want me to.”

“Good!” She giggled a bit before another knock came at the door. She knew Minato would go for that if he could… “I’ll get it!”

She made her way to the door quickly, throwing it open. She had to keep this short and simple. If she didn’t, he would be scraping his food into the garbage can and finding a way to trick her. He was just too good at lying to her about food, if she was being honest. It was always kind of a headache.

She looked out the door and smiled at the person standing there. That was...Yukari, correct? She lived in a nearby apartment, she was pretty sure? At least, that’s what she guessed based off the one time she saw her? It was hard to tell, since she’d been hanging off Minato’s back, having issues seeing anything clearly. It was probably kind of a miracle she could tell it was Yukari, actually.

“Yukari-san, right?” She smiled at her, tilting her head to the side just a bit, a smile on her face.

Yukari blinked and nodded as she spoke. “Oh, Minako-chan! Are you and your brother home?”

Minako gave her a small nod. “Yep! Do you need something from us?”

“Oh, uh, well I was just needing to talk to someone about some issues I’ve been having. Are either of you free?” Yukari seemed to almost be embarrassed by this, if her looking around said anything.

“Well, I’ll be free in just a sec if you can wait! I need to get dressed and make sure Minato ate.” She rubbed the back of her head. “Think you have the time?”

Yukari blinked. “Huh? O-oh, yeah! I can wait. A little.”

“Then I’ll be fast, just wait right here!” She closed the door gently before running back to the kitchen and clearing her throat.

There was Minato, trying to scrape it all into the garbage can, like she wouldn’t notice later. The look on his face told her he wasn’t used to being caught in the act and she couldn’t help but love it. It might be mean of her, but hey, what can you do? Certain things were just going to be small pleasures in her life and she could admit that.

“You don’t do that. Pharos, tell me if he tries to do it again, okay?”

Pharos smiled at her and nodded. “Okay.”

“You’re such a snitch.” Minato frowned at him.

“Minako told me that’s a good thing.” Pharos smiled at him.

“Of course she did…”

She laughed a bit and stuck her tongue out. “I’m going to get dressed and chat with Yukari-san for a bit. Don’t do anything dumb while I’m gone, boys.”

Pharos turned his smile to her. “Okay!”

She smile before running to her room. She needed to be quick about this, so she didn’t worry about what exactly she was wearing that day. Instead of making sure it was matching as nice as she liked it, she just grabbed. They looked like they would go okay together, right? If it looked bad Minato might nag her a bit, but that was okay. She could just let him pick her out a change of clothes for later.

After slipping on the clothes, she ran out of her room, waving to her brother and cousin. “I’ll be back in just a bit!”

“Oh, Minako-san--”

Yukari yelped as Minako ran out the door and grabbed her by the hand, seemingly ready to go. She wanted to do this before Minato could do something stupid again, but she didn’t want to stand where Minato could listen in. She just had to get them to the stairway and then they could talk. It would be a little more private there, at least, that’s what Minako was thinking would be the case.

“So…” She turned to face her, a smile on her face. “What do you need to talk about?”

Yukari blinked a few times before sighing. “I need to talk to you about, well, uh…” She sighed and looked away. “I guess you could call him a friend?”

Minako frowned. “Something’s going on with a friend?”

“Yeah...He’s having some trouble and I don’t know what to do to help him.” Yukari seemed really upset about this.

“Well, just start from the beginning.”

“Well, a few days ago he stopped by…”

--

Minato watched the clock tick by and tapped his foot against the ground. Was she still talking to Yukari, then? If not, well, what could she be doing? He knew unless something came up she would’ve rushed back to the room to make sure he ate. He did eat, too. He ate it all, in fact, so why wasn’t she back? He’d taken forever to eat it…

Maybe whatever Yukari needed was a big thing, then? That was all he could imagine was happening. At least, the only thing he could imagine that didn’t make him worry. He couldn’t drag Pharos along just to check on her, after all, and he couldn’t leave him alone either. Pharos, though… Maybe he could talk to him to stop being worried.

“So, when are you going to go home?” He looked over at him.

Pharos seemed to think for a moment. “When my brother comes to get me!”

“It’s been two days and Ryoji still hasn’t come…” Minato sighed, shaking his head.

“I have a feeling he figured out where I might be last night…” Pharos kicked his feet and smiled. “He could show up at any minute.”

Minato sighed, that was Pharos for you. “Any other almost inhuman knowledge you want to share with me today?”

“The workers here aren’t like you or Minako or anyone else who lives here.” Pharos smiled, as if that made sense.

“...You’re such a weird kid.” He sighed, shaking his head. “Can you tell me--”

He jumped a bit when a knock came at the door. Maybe Ryoji was here to get Pharos, then? Pharos did seem to know more than a normal person would, so him guessing this was coming would make sense. Maybe he should go get the door then… Even though if Minako found out about it he’d get his ass kicked. After Ryoji got his ass kicked, of course.

“Coming, coming…” He stood slowly and picked Pharos up as he went, just to be safe.

He opened the door and there was Ryoji, smiling at him. He could tell by the look on his face that he planned on doing more than grabbing Pharos. In fact, the look said he was planning on trying to convince Minato of something. Did he know Minako wasn’t at the apartment, then? It seemed possible, at the very least.

“Minato!” He smiled at him and laughed a bit. “I’m glad you answered.”

“It’s hard to ignore a knock on the door, you know.” He shrugged.

“I see, I see!” Ryoji laughed a bit. “I guess I do knock loudly.”

“Yeah.”

They stood in silence for a moment before Ryoji stretched out his arms. “Well, then! Come here, Pharos.”

Pharos slipped out of Minato’s arms and right into Ryoji’s. Minato had to say they looked quite a bit alike when next to each other. They even shared the same beauty mark, thanks to whatever weird DNA thing made that possible… It was kind of cute, though. They probably looked more alike than he and Minako did, honestly.

“So…” Ryoji shifted a bit, smiling at Minato. “How’s the apartment treating you?”

“It’s not bad, really. I enjoy it.” He shrugged a bit. “At least, as much as I can.”

“Well, you know you and Minako always have a place at our house, right?” Ryoji looked to Pharos. “You miss them, don’t you Pharos?”

“I do, but can’t we just come visit them here?” Pharos tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah, but you can’t play with them as much when they’re here, can you?” Ryoji copied his little brother’s head tilt.

“...They have things to uncover here, though…” Pharos turned and smiled at Minato. “You know that, right?”

“As much as one can based off your cryptic speaking, yeah.”

Pharos giggled. “I had a feeling you would say something like that.”

“I don’t have enough information to say anything else.” He stuck his tongue out at Pharos.

That earned him another giggle as Pharos settled fully into his brother’s arms. “You’re funny, Minato!”

Ryoji laughed a bit himself. “Yeah, you are! We could use more of that in our house.”

“Minako and I just moved in, we can’t just leave yet.” Minato shook his head. He was going to avoid outright saying they weren’t going back.

Ryoji pouted at him and sighed a bit. “You really think this place is good for you? I heard about the murder…”

Minato grimaced and looked away. “I really don’t want to talk about that, sorry, Ryoji.”

“I just don’t want you guys to get hurt staying here.”

“I know.”

They stood in silence again. He wasn’t sure what he should say now. He knew that Ryoji wanted them to come back, but he felt that was a bad idea. For a number of reasons other than Minako wanting to kick Ryoji’s ass. That was just one of the big reasons, though. Maybe the biggest reason, if he was being honest…

He just wanted this conversation to stop already. Maybe he could just… Use Minako to scare Ryoji off? He’d rather discuss this at a later date, after all. When he wasn’t still feeling the aftershocks of the murder. He just needed some time to rest for now, if that was possible.

“Can you just go away for now? I don’t want Minako to find you here.” He looked away. “It could end badly.”

“End badly…? What do you mean?” Ryoji tilted his head to the side.

“You know Minako doesn’t seem to be very pleased with you.” He shook his head. “Enough so that she might hurt you if she sees you here.”

“You don’t really mean that, do you?” He frowned at Minato, only kind of buying it.

Minato looked away and sighed. He needed to keep playing this up the best he could… “I’ll come to the funeral.”

“I think we should leave.” Pharos poked his brother’s cheek and smiled. “I don’t want you to be hurt.”

Ryoji sighed, but took a step back. “Alright. Let’s head out, then… That’s the best thing we can do. See you later, Minato!”

He nodded a bit and frowned. “Bye.”

Chapter Text

Yu walked along, but stopped when he heard two women talking. He was sure he knew one voice… Whose voice was it? He felt he’d heard it super recently, though, so he should be able to recall it… He just needed to try and think for a little. Oh, wait! He knew this voice. That woman with the kid Pharos, right?

That had to be it, she looked right. Though her hair was now down around her neck. She seemed somewhat tired, but was listening intently to what another brunette had to say. Whatever they were talking about, it seemed serious. The woman looked unhappy, but not in the same way as the day before. This was a more serious, hearing something bad, unhappy.

“Yukari-san…” She crossed her arms. “I-I’m happy to hear you out, but why are you asking me about this?”

“...Well, the other few I thought talking about…” Yukari sighed, shaking her head. “One of them is my ex, another is in a relationship with said ex, and the third is preparing for a family visit…If it was any kind of non-relationship related thing, I’d go to them, but...”

“I see…” She nodded, giving Yukari a small smile. “Then I’ll do my best to help you out!”

Yukari blinked a few times. “Minako-san…”

“Don’t worry! It seems like you really need some help, and I’m here.” Minako grinned at her and giggled a bit.

“...Minako-san, thanks…” She smiled at her and sighed, moving some hair behind her ear. “I guess you seem like you’ll have better advice than most of them.”

She laughed a bit and shrugged. “Who knows...But you said your friend was having issues with a girl…?”

“That’s kinda simplifying it…” Yukari sighed. “But yeah--”

Yu cleared his throat as he passed by. He had a feelings this was personal enough that he shouldn’t be listening in on it. He’d usually love to stick around and listen a bit more, but even he had his limits to things like that, after all. Sometimes things were better left alone, at least at this point in time.

“Oh…!” Minako stepped to the side, allowing him easier passage. “Sorry about that…! Didn’t see you there.”

“Not a big deal, I just thought I’d get your attention so I could pass by.” He smiled at her and then turned to smile at Yukari. “Sorry for the trouble.”

Yukari shook her head and gave a small smile. “No big deal, really.”

Yu gave another small smile and waved a bit. “Sorry, I’ll leave now then!”

He walked off, glancing back to see Yukari speaking again, quietly this time. Minako was leaning forward to listen. Looks like they didn’t want him (or anyone else) to listen in anymore. Must really be super private if that was the case. Well, he hoped whatever the girl troubles were, that they weren’t that bad. At least not anything hard to handle.

He turned forward again and kept walking. He had a job interview to get to, after all! Things were totally looking up for him. He’d get a job and be able to eat something nice again tonight. The curry he’d made with Yukiko and Chie had been amazing, honestly. Even if he’d had to stop both of them a lot…

They just hadn’t done well at knowing what to do. He didn’t know why they pulled out things like chocolate powder, but they did. Who put that in curry, though? He’d never met someone who put that in curry… Then again, they didn’t seem to know how cooking worked exactly (he'd caught them with peppermint in their basket, after all). It was kind of scary to think about that, actually. How much did they have to eat out…? Way too much, he was pretty sure.

Oh well, he needed to focus now! He was going to get a job at this crepe shop if it was the last thing he did. He’d still have to travel by train, but the fare would be less than his current job. Anything would be better than his current job. He just had to make sure he caught the train, otherwise it could be messy… And he doubted Tohru would be putting forward money anytime soon.

--

He let out a shaky breath as he left the shop. He felt like that went pretty well, at least? He was sure he’d get the job, if his gut feeling told him anything, at the very least. Trusting his gut usually ended up going well, so… He would do just that.

Yu peeked over at the shop and he left and hummed a bit. “Maybe I’ll buy a few before I go home…”

There were a lot of people at the stand, but he was willing to wait. He moved to the back of the group and hummed a bit, looking at the people around him. Most of them were your everyday people, but one girl kind of stood out. She looked more...foreign, he guessed that was the word at least. Her blonde pigtails seemed to give that feeling, at the very least.

Maybe he could start a small conversation. She seemed to be looking kind of down, and he liked to try and cheer people up when he could, so… He couldn’t see it hurting, at the very least. He was pretty good at cheering people up, anyway. So it wasn’t going to hurt to try.

“Hey, what do you recommend?”

The girl jolted a bit, turning to look at him. “Uh…Why are you asking me?”

Yu shrugged a bit. “You look like a girl who knows her crepes.”

She blinked a few times, seemingly trying to process what was just said to her. When she seemed to finally understand, she gave a small laugh. She shook her head a bit, seemingly trying to find the words. At least it seemed to be in a good way, at least?

“Wow, what a thing to say to a stranger…” She wiped what seemed to be a tear from her eye.

“Oh, we are strangers, huh…?” Yu cleared his throat. Okay, so he probably seemed really weird.

“Kind of, yeah. Did you not realize that mister?” She rose an eyebrow at her.

“Oh no!” Yu shook his head and smiled. “I’m Yu Narukami. Please don’t call me mister, it makes me feel like my uncle…”

She snorted a bit and shook her head. “Oh my god.”

He tilted his head to the side. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, not really.” She shook her head and moved some hair out of her face. “I’m Ann Takamaki, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Ann-san.”

“Yeah, you too…” She turned a bit and frowned. “Hey, uh, can I ask you a favor?”

Yu frowned, she seemed a lot more uncomfortable now. Was she going to ask him to shut up? “Sure.”

“Could I kinda...hide behind you.” She seemed embarrassed, looking at her shoes.

He blinked, looking around a bit. Soon enough, he was pretty sure he saw the reason for this. There was a man, looked like he was older than him. He had a large jaw, a large body built for athletics, and an air around him that made him seem way too confident about himself… Yu thought he was bad with things like that sometimes, wow. Still, this guy seemed to be looking for someone, and Yu was willing to bet it was Ann.

“Come on, then…” He moved Ann behind him and stood as casually as he could. He was glad he was a bigger guy. “Does this happen often.”

“Uh, kinda? This punk looking man at my apartment building usually helps me out when he sees me, though…” Ann was mumbling.

“Punk looking guy…?”

“I think he’s Kanji Tatsumi…?” Oh, Yu knew who that was. “He...really doesn’t like Mister Kamoshida.”

“So that’s the guy’s name, huh?” Yu frowned. He’d keep an eye on this Kamoshida, then. Didn’t want him doing anything weird.

“Ah, yeah…” He heard Ann kick at a rock.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t see you, then.”

“...Thanks.”

He waited for a bit, keeping an eye on Kamoshida. He was still looking around, but it didn’t seem like he was having any luck. Good, that’s what Yu’d wanted. The less he saw of her, the better he would feel when he parted ways with her… Because right now, he didn’t think he was going to let her walk home alone.

“He’s leaving…” Finally Kamoshida seem to have lost interest.

“Thanks so much…” Ann sighed, moving back to her original spot. “I owe you, Narukami-san.”

“If you tell me what kind of crepes you’d recommend we can call it even.” He gave her a small smile.

Ann blinked. “Huh…? Oh, well I suggest the chocolate crepes, they’re soooo tasty…!”

--

Yu couldn’t help but find it hilarious that Ann ended up living in the same apartments as him. They’d, of course, found this out when Yu ended up walking the same way as her (though her saying Kanji helped her out and lived in the same building should've tipped him off, honestly). She’d thought he was actually secretly a stalker until he’d explained it, too. That could’ve ended badly.

At least he could make sure she made it back alright. It was even better for him when he learned where Kamoshida lived. If he really lived on the same floor as her he’d feel better walking her home and waiting until she locked the doors to leave. Call it the big brother instinct in him.

Too bad for him, it seemed Kamoshida was waiting at the doors of the apartments.

“Ugh...I don’t want to see him…” He saw Ann bite at her lip, shaking her head.

“...Maybe we can find away around him without him seeing you.” He nodded a bit and looked around. Was there another entrance?

Before he could keep looking, though, someone came up next to them. It was...that Kanji guy. Yu had to say, he was much scarier up close. Especially since he seemed kind of angry about something. Yu just hoped he hadn’t done something to make him pissed. He felt that would end bad.

“Oh, uh, Kanji-san!” Ann blinked a few times. “Funny seeing you here right now…” Ann finished it off with a strained laugh.

Kanji frowned at her. “You still haven’t done what I suggested? You know there’s a way to get rid of that creep!”

“I told you that I can’t do that kind of stuff...My…” She sucked in a breath. “My friend would’ve been in trouble and everyone thinks he’s so amazing, I’d get in even more trouble…”

Kanji crossed his arms. “That’s bullshit! Who cares what people think of him?”

“Weren’t you a delinquent, though?” Ann frowned at him. “So you don’t care what happens if you hit a popular person?”

“I can’t put up with people like him, alright?! It’s like those assholes keeping my mom up all night…” The second sentence was mumbled, so Yu decided it was best not to say anything about it.

“Yeah, but it’s not your problem, right?” Ann looked at her feet and Yu felt this was a conversation they’d had before.

“So what?! I just said I can’t put up with people like him!” Kanji was really bristling.

“...Kanji-san, please don’t worry about it.” She shook her head.

Kanji gave a small angry noise before walking for the door. Yu was almost expecting him to walk in, but… He stopped and turned to Kamoshida. Yu had a feeling this was about to get very messy. And not in the fun way.

“Oh no…” Ann hid her face in Yu’s arm, shaking her head. “He’s going to get in trouble again…”

He frowned at her before turning to look back. In the short amount of time he looked away Kanji had started throwing punches at Kamoshida. It seemed like he was the type who really didn’t treat those he disliked nicely. Yu had to say with the little he’d seen of Kamoshida...he didn’t blame him for this. Especially when a punch connected.

What happened next, though, really confused Yu. Theodore and Elizabeth came out to see what was going on. It took them no time to start pulling Kanji back. It seemed to only take Theodore one arm to knock the other man on the ground. It took even less time for Elizabeth to sit on top of him. From the looks of it, Kanji couldn’t move.

“What…?”

“...The staff always stop Kanji-san when he starts fighting…” Ann shook her head. “Most’ve stopped questioning how they’re that powerful.”

Yu frowned. “I see…”

He then realized one thing, though. He could use this confusion. There was a lot of chatting and yelling, so… He could get Ann inside and to her apartment before Kamoshida knew what’d happened! That was just the perfect idea!

“Come on…” He started walking quickly, pulling her along.

“W-what?! Wait, what’re you doing? Where are we going…?””

Chapter Text

Ren wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was pretty sure he saw some older man walking with Ann from his class. She seemed to look unsettled by something they had just seen, but was otherwise alright. From the looks of it the man was leading her somewhere, though, and it worried him. He felt he needed to go over there and see what was going on.

“Excuse me…” He walked forward, stepping in front of them. “What’s going on?”

“Oh…” The man blinked and smiled. “I’m just making sure Ann-san makes it to her apartment alright.”

Ren rose an eyebrow at Ann, asking her to confirm. She seemed to understand and gave a small nod. Alright, so this was okay? He would have to trust Ann on that, and hope she wasn’t lying in some way…

“That’s good...Sorry, I was just curious.” He frowned, still watching them carefully.

The man just blinked and shook his head. “It’s really not a big deal. It’s good to be concerned about others!”

“...I see.” This man really seemed to be alright. Maybe he didn’t need to worry about this.

“Any other questions?” He tilted his head to the side and Ren blinked.

“N-no, not really.”

He stepped to the side then, casting his eyes down. He didn’t want to cause a fight in the guy wasn’t an issue… Ann seemed to trust him, at least, and wasn’t being forced along against her will, right? If she was, well...maybe he’d have a problem. For now, though, he’d leave it be. He had other things to do anyway.

“You alright there?” The man put a hand on his shoulder and frowned.

“Fine…! I just. Need to be going.” He hadn’t panicked that much since he first got here… Why did that have to happen now?

“Whoa…” Ann blinked a few times. “No need to freak out...Do you not like being touched?”

The man pulled his hand back. “Oh, uh, sorry.”

…”It’s fine, sorry. I just really need to be going.” And off Ren went. He couldn’t keep hanging around now.

He heard Ann and the man call out to him, but he kept going. He didn’t want to hang around and make things worse for himself. He just knew that’s what would happen if he stayed. He couldn’t be getting into too much trouble… Probation was just the worst. He wished there was a way out of it that was faster than this. That wasn’t possible, though.

He moved faster, finally making it to the lobby. It looked like there was a lot going on right now. There was yelling, a man being sat on by the elevator attendant, Kamoshida seemingly being restrained by another man… What was going on? He felt being down here was a bad idea right now. He couldn’t go back the way he’d come, after all…

The elevator attendant seemed to notice him, giving him a small smile and wave. She seemed to be having the time of her life, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Who was so happy to restrain someone like that? And how was she doing it? He seemed like a big guy, but he could barely move under her…

This was just weird.

“Hey! You!” He turned and saw the creepy twins. Just his luck…

“We would like to speak to you.” The quieter twin, Justine, looked up at him.

“Uh…” He swallowed hard. “What do you need me for?”

“We need help delivering some packages.” Caroline looked up at him. “There’s too many for us to do it on our own!”

“We only ask you take a couple for us.” Justine looked up at him. “You will be compensated for it.”

He blinked a few times. “You want me to do your job for you, basically…?”

“We said we’d pay you, didn’t we?!” Caroline crossed her arms.

“...Kind of?” But what would little girls pay him in?

“Just help us!” Caroline kicked his leg and he yelped a bit. Okay, she kicked hard.

“Please?” Justine looked up at him, her face still as neutral as could be.

“...I feel if I say no I’ll be kicked again--” He pulled in a breath when he was indeed kicked again. “Or no matter what I do I’ll be kicked…”

“You just made her angry." Justine paused. "She gets angry quickly.”

“Be quiet, Justine!” Caroline crossed her arms.

“My apologizes, Caroline…” Justine turned to look at him. “You will assist us, right?”

“...Yeah.”

--

Ren wasn’t sure why he was sent to give an idol her package, but here he was. What was he supposed to do about all this? He felt giving this package could end badly if he said one thing wrong. Hell, he didn’t look like he worked here, so she could think he was a stalker, using a package to try and hurt her in some way. That was the last thing he needed right now.

He steeled himself and knocked on the door. He needed to deliver this as soon as he could. He would answer any questions asked of him truthfully, that way if the cops were called he wouldn’t have to keep track of lies. Even if some of the truth was sure to sound completely out of the realm of possibility... That would be his best bet.

Rise Kujikawa, hopefully she won’t be angry.

Soon enough, she opened the door. “Hello…?”

“This is for you.” He held out the box and cleared his throat a bit.

“Why’re you giving this to me?” Rise frowned at him.

“...Those little girls in blue asked me to bring it to you.” He shrugged. There wasn’t much more he could say.

“Little girls in blue…?”

“Justine and Caroline, those are their names.” He wasn’t sure that was going to help any, but he could try.

Rise’s frown grew a bit and she sighed. “I don’t know anyone by those names.”

“They look like they could be related to all the workers here.” He was hoping that would help just a bit.

“Oh, so do they have those weird eyes and...stuff?”

“...Yeah.” He nodded, he had a feeling she meant their odd yellow eyes.

“Weird…” Rise looked over the box. “Huh…? Who sent this?”

“Does it not have a return address?” He hadn’t really looked at it ahead of time, so…

“No, it doesn’t. Which is...kinda worrying.” Rise frowned as she stared at the box.

“Well, uh…”

“Could you hang around for a minute while I open it? I’m really kind of worried about it.” Rise shifted from side to side in discomfort, looking at her feet.

“Oh, uh, sure.” He nodded a bit. If it made her feel better about this, he didn’t really mind. He didn’t have much to do that day, anyway.

“Thanks…” Rise gave him a small smile before she started gently tearing away the tape. She seemed to be trying to take as long as she could. She seemed almost scared of it all.

Soon enough it was open and they both held their breath. It was like they were both afraid to look and see what was in there. Who could blame them, though? A strange package that strange little girls basically forced Ren to deliver, who wouldn’t be weirded out? Even Ren felt there was something off about all of this.

Rise gasped a bit. “There’s only a paper and some pictures in here? What’s going on?”

Ren peeked into the box and frowned. “Who…?”

“I think that’s that Marie girl…” She shook her head and sighed. “Why did someone send me pictures of her?

“Maybe the paper explains…?” Ren felt there was something going on. Was it linked to the box he got in some way…?

Rise frowned, but reached carefully for the paper, pulling it out. Ren noticed for a moment that there was writing on it. It seemed to be nicely written, and all by hand too. Whoever did this must’ve been dedicated to scaring Rise or something… That was about the only thing Ren could see this all meaning.

“What the…?”

“What’s wrong?”

Rise sighed. “Just listen to this -- “To Risette, the one they call an idol. My younger, adopted sister, seems to be very interested in you. Here are some images of her doing what people call “writing poetry” about you. I believe you will find this interesting. From, Elizabeth. PS, I also included and image of her staring at your visage as captured by a poster." what does that even mean?”

“I wish I knew…” Ren frowned, fixing his glasses a bit. Was Elizabeth the elevator attendant who mentioned those things to Rise the other day? That seemed to be the most likely possibility.

Why did she send this, though? Was there a point to it, or was it to just mess with Rise? Ren couldn’t tell, seeing as she’d happily sat on some big guy to keep him from getting up. She was just the oddest thing, so… Ren couldn’t read any of what she was doing. It was way too much for him.

“Ugh, I’ll just talk to the staff later…” Rise shook her head. “Thanks, though.”

Before Ren could say anything, Rise had shut the door.

--

Ren made it to the next delivery and sighed a bit, shaking his head. He didn’t want to do this either… At least he was pretty sure this one wasn’t for a famous idol. He’d never heard of a Minato Arisato being big in the idol world, for what that was worth. If he was famous, well, it’d be a real shock to him.

“Okay, here goes…” He knocked on the door and stood back. Why had the girls needed him to deliver a letter? More important, why had Caroline yelled at him to deliver it second? It didn’t make sense.

“Hello?” A man opened the door. He looked kind of scrawny, just a bit shorter than Ren, but there was an aura about him that made the teenager take a step back.

“Oh, uh, I was asked to give you this letter.” Ren held it out and the man frowned. “You are Minato Arisato, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” The man just looked at the letter. “Who told you to bring it to me?”

“Some little girls in blue.”

Minato looked up at him, a lazy look in his eye. It didn’t seem to weird him out that he said that, in fact, he seemed to be remembering someone. Did he know the weird girls in blue too? That had to be it, right? He wasn’t the only one who’d seen them…! That would be nice, he’d love to know someone else who knew them. Then he wouldn’t feel as crazy about all of this…

“Did one have a large book?” Why was that his first question…?

“Uh, no?”

“...Oh, then I don’t know them.” He shook his head.

“But--”

“I’ll still take it, but on one condition.” He held up a finger. “You wait while I open in.”

“I can do that, yeah.” He nodded a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. Someone was being awkward about this.

“Alright…” The man began tearing into the envelope.

He seemed to be taking forever, as if he didn’t want to open it. Ren felt at least a little scared about this, but… The man didn’t seem to be malevolent or anything. He wasn’t sure why, though, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. What was he supposed to do about all of this? He really didn’t know. He just wished the feelings would stop…

“Okay, got it open…”

He turned back to Minato. He still seemed to be moving slowly as he pulled out a piece of paper. Why was he taking so long? Did he not want to look at this, either? That would make sense, but still…! It was bothering him a lot. Was he doing it on purpose…? Ren kind of felt like he was doing it on purpose, to make him even more unsettled or something.

Minato finally started to read it over, a frown on his face. It seemed like whatever it was saying was bothering him… Wait, this was all weird.

Was it possible that this had something to do that box this time? He felt like it had to. There was no way both errands had nothing to do with it. He felt that there had to be something about those twins that linked him to it. It was just a hunch, but he trusted it. His hunches usually turned out to be correct, anyway.

Soon enough Minato turned to look at him. “So, wanna tell me what this means?”

“Do I want to…?” He took it and frowned.

The time is coming to find those who hold the rest of the puzzle. I have assisted you in leading the boy to you. Be glad. - Elizabeth

“Well, this is...awkward.”

Minato nodded a bit and stared him down. “I just have one question for you.”

Ren felt himself swallowing hard as he nodded. “Uh, go ahead and ask me anything.”

“Do you have one of those boxes too?”

Chapter Text

The boy who’d come to Minato’s door was still staring at him. He’d just asked if he had a box, too, but he seemed to be caught off guard. Was he not expecting this to be the way the conversation went, then? He couldn’t blame him, though. The question was kind of out of left field, was it not? That was usually how Minato did things, after all, bringing up the oddest questions from left field.

“You too? That makes two of four--”

Minato held up a hand and shook his head. “Nope, actually. Three of four, my sister got one too.”

The boy blinked a few times and looked around. “Is she here?”

“Not right now, no.” He was still waiting for her to come back.

“Oh, I see…”

“Do you want to stick around and speak to her as well?” He rose an eyebrow.

“No, not really, thank you.” He shook his head. “I think I want to leave for now and maybe come back later?”

Minato gave him a small nod and an awkward smile. “Understandable, thanks for the letter, then.”

“Not a problem, uh, see you then.” The boy waved and ran off. Minato couldn’t help but note he was really jumpy. Like, ridiculously so.

He couldn’t blame him, though. He’d been jumpy for a long while after everything went to hell for him… Minako had been too, for less time. Maybe she was just good at acting like things didn’t affect her as much as they really did. He wouldn’t be surprised, after having seen her in tears the other day…

...That had been something else, honestly. He wasn’t used to seeing her cry, she hadn’t done it since their parents’ funeral. She’d always done her best to smile after that. Had she done it for him, then? If she had, well…

“Ugh.” He shook his head. He couldn’t think about that, he needed to distract himself…

He walked back into the apartment, closing the door. He’d look back at the box again, there were some weird people in there, after all. Maybe if he looked them over he could learn something more… He hadn’t exactly looked at it carefully before, after all. He didn’t really find it that interesting, after all.

“Hm…” He sat down in front of it and started shuffling through the papers. Why were some of these people in here? At first he’d thought it was only people from his floor, but that’d turned out to not be the case pretty quickly. There were even a few who apparently didn’t live in the complex… Which just made things even weirder.

Like, why did he need to know about some artist who had a pupil staying on the third floor? He didn’t see how that was going to matter in the grand scheme of things, and really didn’t want to try and piece it together. He felt, if anything, that this was going to be more of a red herring. The worst part, however? It wasn’t even the most confusing piece of information he’d gotten.

The elevator attendant, Elizabeth, had her information in the box too. The biggest issue, however, is half of it was left blank. Age? Apparently not available. Race? A bunch of questions marks. Height? Weight? Literally just blank spaces where numbers would usually be. It was probably the most frustrating thing Minato had seen.

“Why even list these items if the information isn’t available?” It was like he was being asked to go on at treasure hunt for information.

That reminded him, though. Minako had been in a similar situation. She’d gotten information about the doorman, Theodore. It’d been similar, no age, race, height, or weight listed. It was like they were supposed to be presented as cryptic beings or something. Did...did that kid have something like that in his box too, then?

“Ugh…” He pushed the box away and stood up. Maybe he would go out for a bit. A jog could help him clear his mind.

--

Minato had been jogging for less than five minutes when someone came up next to him and joined him in the jog. He didn’t want to turn and look at who it was, he just hoped it wasn’t someone bad. He’d jogged with others before without knowing who it was and it ended badly, so… Well, maybe he would take a glance.

He peeked over and realized the person wasn’t trying to jog with him. In fact, it seemed more like they were trying to keep up with a dog. Yes, that’s what he noticed first, a white Shiba Inu trotting along as fast he could. What a cute little guy he was. Whoever was walking him had to be a nice--

Oh, it was Shinjiro. He’d only met him once, really, and didn’t seem the type to have a dog. Then again, surprises happened all the time, didn’t they? Well, he seemed to be enjoying the walk, at least, seeing as he was smiling. He was almost less scary when he was smiling, too…

Should he...try to start a conversation?

“Nice day out, isn’t it?” That worked, right?

Shinjiro looked over at him, his smile becoming a frown. “Huh, guess it is.”

“That’s a cute dog,” Minato needed to try something else it seemed, “what’s his name?”

“Koromaru.”

Koromaru barked happily upon hearing his name, stopping for a moment and turning around. Before Shinjiro could try and shoo him into walking forward again, he began running around the man. Minato couldn’t help but want to laugh when he watched Shinjiro fall to the ground.

“You little mutt…” Shinjiro groaned as he started unwrapping the leash from his legs. “Why do you do that whenever I say your name…?”

“He must really like when someone calls him.” Minato bent down next to him and couldn’t help but let a small smile sit on his face. It was better than laughing at him, right?

Shinjiro looked at him with a frown and sighed. “That doesn’t mean he needs to trip me up all the time--”

He stopped speaking when Koromaru moved to his face and licked him right on the nose. Before he could even try speaking again Koromaru decided to continue his assault of dog kisses to Shinjiro’s face. Minato watched Shinjiro tightly clamp his mouth shut. He couldn’t tell if he was upset or not.

“...Do you not like the dog slobber?” Minato felt he needed to find out.

Shinjiro finally pushed Koromaru away from his face and he turned to look at Minato. “No, why do you ask?”

He watched Koromaru lick at Shinjiro’s hand before speaking. “Your mouth…”

“Trying to talk when a dog’s licking to you leads to a dog tongue in your mouth. It’s not fun.” Shinjiro said this as if he’d learned from experience.

“Yikes.”

Shinjiro sighed, shaking his head. “Tell me about it. Ken still hasn’t learned…”

“Who?”

Shinjiro blinked a few times. He’d said the later part quietly, so Minato wasn’t really surprised, but still. Minato was good at listening, it was probably his biggest skill besides agreeing with people even if he didn’t believe what he was saying. Not that the second skill was considered a skill by most… But it could be useful given there was a situation to use it in.

“Alright, there we go…” He seemed to have ignored Minato’s question completely in the end as he stood up.

“Did you hear my question?”

“...I did, and I don’t want to answer it.” Shinjiro looked at him with a frown.

“Why not?”

“I don’t need to give answers to a stranger.”

“Excuse me?” Minato couldn’t blame him for that answer, but it was an innocent question.

“You heard me.”

They stared at each other. Neither seemed to want to budge on their position, but, well… Minato had all day. He could just follow after Shinjiro if he had to. Just like a little lost puppy (fitting seeing as Shinjiro was walking a dog).

“Shinjiro!” Oh wow, Theodore? He’d had a feeling there was something with him and Shinjiro, but maybe now he’d get to learn what that something was.

“Ugh,” Shinjiro sighed and turned to look at him, “what do you want?”

“Ken told me you’ve been avoiding him! You can’t avoid your charge!”

“Oh,” Minato blinked a few times, “he’s your kid, then?”

Shinjiro grimaced a bit, grabbing Theodore by the collar and dragging him to the side. Minato watched them speak for a while and came to a conclusion. Shinjiro was less than pleased that Theodore had spilled the beans at to who Ken was. It didn’t seem Theodore was all that affected, though.

In fact, he approached Minato with a smile on his face. “Excuse me, would it be alright if I borrowed Shinjiro? You seemed to be talking, but I have a few things to discuss with him.”

Minato gave him a thumbs up and nodded. “Go for it, man.”

Theodore smiled at him. “Thank you.” And soon enough he was dragging Shinjiro away, the situation from earlier now reversed.

“Huh, that was weird…”

--

Minato had been jogging alone for a while when a man caught his eye. There was something about him that made him want to take a step back. There was just an aura about him that came off as gross, and he didn’t like it. The way he looked didn’t help much at all, either.

There was something about his face that threw him off. Usually big jaws didn’t bother him, but this man’s was big to an almost comical amount. It didn’t help that he shoved it out proudly, no, not proudly. He stuck it out more like he was the most important person in the area, or like he was the king of some castle... It really annoyed Minato.

He moved a bit away from him as he kept up his jog. He didn’t want to get involved with anyone like that. No thank you, honestly. He had better things to do, anyway. Like getting home before it got too dark. He was too good at attracting creeps when it got dark out.

Turning on his heel, he started off towards the building again. He just needed to focus on making it home. It was already starting to get kind of dark and not many people were in the area. That was never a good sign, and he knew it. That meant he was in a bad part of town, at least that's what it usually meant. Ugh, he really needed to hurry it up.

That was his plan, at least, until he heard a gunshot.

He paused for only a moment before running into the nearest alleyway and behind a trashcan. Holding his breath, he held a hand over his mouth and nose. He needed to be still, as if he were dead. He needed to be more quiet than a mouse. Oh god, what had that been?

He peeked from behind it and watched a man walking down the street. He could just tell he was shirtless and seemed to have a gun at his side. This man had been the one to shoot a gun, then? Who or what had he been shooting at…?

Watching the man disappear from sight, he waited a few more moments. He didn’t hear footsteps anymore, was it safe? He peeked out from around the trashcan and strained his neck. He still didn’t see the man… He peeked from around the alleyway and...Yeah, he was gone. Totally gone.

He moved back to his hiding position for a moment, it was better to be safe, right? If the guy was waiting around in case someone saw or heard him, Minato needed to wait. He counted down from thirty, eyes closed. That should be enough, right? The man was sure to be gone now…

Minato stood up, his legs shaking. He needed to go back the way he’d heard the shot and see if there was anything he could do. Maybe whatever or whoever was shot was still okay? That was the best he could hope for, that it wasn’t enough to kill them. He wasn’t sure he could handle seeing a dead body…

Making his way back down the street, he could feel himself shaking. If he saw a dead body, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do. Well, he would do his best to call the police, if he didn’t faint. Yeah, he would focus on calling the police if he found someone dead. That’s what he had to do, even if he went to do it on autopilot. No fainting is what he told himself, he would absolutely not faint.

Soon enough he made it back to where he turned around. What he saw? That man that gave him a weird feeling on the ground. He approached slowly, shaking. When he got a better look at him he let out a scream. There was a hole in the man’s head, he’d been shot.

He backed up, shaking hard, as he pulled out his phone. He needed to call...He needed to…

“Hello?” A woman’s voice came through. “What’s up, Minato?”

He’d called Minako without thinking about it. No, that’s not what he wanted. This would mess her up too, he couldn’t let her know what was going on. He needed to hurry up and cover up why he was calling her. He could do this.

“I-I was wondering if you wanted something from the store…” He cleared his throat. “I was on a walk, s-so…”

“Minato, you sound scared.” He could hear the worry in her voice. “Is something going on?”

“No.”

“Minato, what’s going on? Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”

“Don’t…!” He yelled that out way too loudly, he know he had. “P-please don’t. I’m fine.”

“Don’t give me that! I’m going to find you, whether you like it or not!” And before he could say anything he’d hung up.

“Shit…!”

He started trying to dial the number for emergency services, but his hands were shaking and his head was spinning. He had to do this before fainting, he had to be quick about this and call the police...

The last thing he heard before fainting was a woman calling out to him, asking him what was going on.

--

When he woke up, his head was in a woman’s lap. It was soft, but his head was still spinning. He’d been out for a quite a while, it seemed, as he felt he was sitting by a crime scene. There were police cars everywhere, and an ambulance.

“What…?” He looked up and a blonde woman smiled down at him. He could tell it was a fake one to try and calm him down.

“I heard you screaming and came to see what was happening.” She nodded a bit. “You fainted as I approached.”

“I see…” He tried to sit up, but she pushed him down.

“You still seem weak, rest for now.”

He frowned a bit, groaning. She was right, he was still weak, but he couldn’t do this. He needed to look strong for Minako, so she wouldn’t waste all her time on him when he showed up. He just needed to sit up…

“I won’t just lay on a stranger’s lap.” That would work, right?”

“Aigis.”

“Huh?”

“I am Aigis, I’m no longer a stranger, yes?” She tilted her head to the side.

“You don’t know my name…” He looked away.

“What is it, then?”

“...Minato Arisato.”

“Then we are no longer strangers.” She smiled at him.

Not long after that, paramedics came towards them and he realized he was probably going to be taken to the hospital. If not that, then the police station for questioning. There was no way he was going to be able to explain this… Shit, this was all going to hell.

Soon enough he was sat up and checked for injuries. It took no time for them to realize there wasn’t an issue. That was what he’d expected. He didn’t fall that far when he fainted, he’d already been on his knees, after all. Well, he guessed it was possible it could’ve been worse…

After that, police officers began to approach, and, well...

“Satonaka-san? Akihiko?” Were they really police officers or was he hallucinating.

“Oh, it’s you!” Chie blinked a few times. “Whoa!”

Akihiko sighed a bit, seemingly not as caught off guard. “I thought I recognized that hair…”

“...Not many have blue hair, I guess.”

Akihiko and Chie gave small laughs before their faces went back to being serious. He hadn’t expected any different. They weren’t that far from a dead body, after all. That wasn’t a situation that led to a lot of laughs in normal company.

“I’m sorry to say this,” Akihiko began, “but I’m going to have to ask both of you to come with us so we can get your testimonies about this.”

“I understand…” He did his best to stand up at that, he needed to get going with them, right?

Aigis followed after him, arms ready to catch him. “Careful.”

“I’m fine…” He stumbled forward a bit as Akihiko and Aigis tried to steady him. “Just a little unsettled.”

“We promise to try and keep this as short and...non-traumatizing as possible.” Chie was trying to help, and honestly? Minato almost had to laugh at the use of non-traumatizing.

“Thank you.” Was all he said, though.

“This way, then.” Akihiko gestured for them to follow after him and he nodded as Aigis slung his arm over her shoulder.

“I will make sure he doesn’t collapse.”

“Uh…” He blinked a few times. “Are you sure I can’t do this on my own?”

She looked right at him. “Yes.”

He frowned, looking away. There was no use arguing when he was this out of it. It seemed like it, at the very least. Aigis seemed to be serious about doing this, at the very least. This, this was...just the worst, if he was being honest.

“Ugh.”

Chapter Text

“Yu-kun! Did you hear about that murder?” When Tohru said this, Yu wasn’t sure what to think.

“What do you mean? There was another murder?” Why was this the first thing they were talking about in the morning?

“Yeah, apparently a teacher at the Shujin Academy place was shot yesterday.” Tohru nodded a bit. “It was apparently in broad daylight, too.”

“Did the person who did it get caught?”

“Nope. Apparently there was only one witness who even saw the culprit!” Tohru whistled a bit. “Kinda crazy, huh?”

Yu wanted to agree, but there was another thought on his mind. “...How do you even know all of this?”

“I’m a detective! I’m good at finding out about a lot of things, you know!” He smiled at him and laughed a bit.

“...I guess you are, but you never seemed to be good at your job.” He didn’t want to be rude, but, well, it was the truth.

“Oh come on, I’ve gotten better!”

“Just barely, Adachi-san.”

They stood there in silence for a moment before Yu moved to the kitchen. He would just start on breakfast so he could get off to his job. That’s right, he’d totally gotten the job at the crepe shop! He’d apparently impressed the owner not only in the interview, but when he helped out Ann too. He loved it when his good deeds led to great things for more multiple people… Especially when he was one of said people.

Too bad the murder made him a little less enthused. He was excited to have a job nearby, yeah, but… It just felt wrong to be super excited if a person was shot in killed, too. He felt he should be at least a little somber about it.

“Oh, that smells good!” Tohru made his way into the kitchen. “What’re you cooking?”

“Breakfast.” He thought that was obvious.

“That’s not what I meant.”

Yu laughed a bit and smiled at him. Oops, well, he could still save this. “It’s a surprise, Adachi-san. Besides, you’re a detective, right? You should be able to figure it out.”

Tohru frowned a bit. “Oh come on…”

“What?” Yu tilted his head to the side. “I want to see you figure it out.”

“I don’t know food that well, though!”

“Oops.”

“Don’t say oops! Just tell me what it is.” Tohru frowned at Yu, he seemed to really want to know what was going on.

“No thanks.” He shook his head.

They stood in silence again as Yu focused on cooking quickly. He just had to be fast about this so he could make it to work. There was no way he could afford to be late on his first day, after all. That would really end badly, he just knew it. That’d happened to him too often before.

“There.” He soon enough he’d finished up breakfast and he soon enough served it up on two plates.

“Please eat quickly, Adachi-san. I want to wash the dishes before I head to work.”

Tohru frowned at him, but took his plate. “Thanks for the meal!”

“Mmhmm, thanks for the meal…” And Yu quickly dug in, finishing quickly and washing his plate, waiting for Tohru to bring his to him.

Eventually he did, and Yu washed it as quickly as he could. Once making sure it was spotless, he ran for the doorway and shoved his shoes on his feet as fast as he could. Without even pausing he was out the door and making his way for the crepe shop. First day of work, here he came!

Soon enough he was outside and running towards the shop. This was going to go great, he just knew it! He was good at cooking and baking, after all, so this should go well. He’d just need to be taught the ropes and he’d be good to go. Hell, he could just take orders for today if he had to. Anything for some money.

“Narukami-kun! Thank you for coming so quickly!”

“Not an issue.” He smiled at his boss. “Let’s do this!”

--

“Hello, what can I get you?” Yu smiled at the next customer. He’d gotten put on cashier duty and he was doing pretty well. He hadn’t scared anyone, at least.

“Two crepes, please. One strawberry, and…” He blinked when he realized he knew this woman. It was Mitsuru Kirijo. “Well, what would you suggest for a shy woman?”

He wanted to say something, maybe ask a bit more about Fuuka, but...He needed to be careful about this. He didn’t want to upset her too much, that would not look good for him and he couldn't risk that. There were some things he could do.

“I’m guessing it’s not for you, then, ma’am? Maybe it's for a friend... Did you think to ask her what she liked?” He tilted his head to the side.

“Not a friend, but...This is supposed to be a surprise, so I didn’t ask. She just said she liked the crepes here…” Mitsuru frowned, crossing her arms and looking at her feet.

“So, for a special someone or a crush?” Yu smiled, that was cute. He was going to have to try to do his best, then.

“Ugh, yes, but can you not talk about that? Please just help me…” She was blushing now, looking away.

“Alright, well… Caramel is fairly popular, as if chocolate.” He nodded a bit. That would work, right.

“Then make it three crepes, one of each of those and a strawberry!” Looked like Mitsuru was really trying to impress, huh?

“Right away ma’am.” He smiled at her and soon enough her order was underway he he was grabbing a few more orders. He kept an eye on her, though.

She looked nervous and out of the place. No one else around was dressed in such a fine outfit, it looked like it cost a lot. Others noticed it, too, since a lot of people were watching her and whispering. The poor woman looked ready to bolt as soon as she could.

“Here they are, ma’am.” He smiled at her as she came and grabbed the crepes.

“Thank you very much.” She gave him a small smile and nod.

“Of course, ma’am. Tell Yamagishi-san I say hi.” Oh shit, he didn’t mean to say that.

She turned to look at him, a frown on her face. She looked more than just upset, she also looked...kind of angry. Very angry, actually. He hadn’t meant to let that slip and now she was probably going to kill him for it, great.

“How did you know?”

“I-I just guessed, since I’d seen you with her and you were looking for her awhile back!” He took a step back, doing his best to stay calm.

“So you remember all that, even with current events...” She calmed down a bit, letting out a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so upset.”

“It’s fine, I didn’t mean to say anything about Yamagishi-san, really!” He shook his head a bit and smiled.

“I see...well, I should go before these get cold.” She nodded a bit and started walking away.

“Have fun, sharing crepes is always the best!” He yelled this after her and saw her startle. He was pretty sure she was still embarrassed, how funny.

--

Yu smiled when Ann came up to the store and smiled at him. Well, he did before the smile fell away. She looked shaken up about something, and it looked like her smile was plastered on for some reason. He couldn’t help but be worried. He couldn’t ask about it, though. She seemed to have a friend with her, and asking just wouldn’t work.

“Hello mister!” She gave a small, forced laugh. “Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you too, but you really don't need to call me mister…” He smiled at him and laughed a bit. “So, then, what would you two like today?”

“A double-stuffed chocolate crepe, please! I was telling Makoto-chan about how good they were and we decided to split one.” She giggled a bit.

Oh, that was right. This was Makoto, he’d met her the day he moved in. She’d given him some good information, how had he forgotten about her? He felt it was just rude to forget about someone like that (especially when he remembered Mitsuru and Fuuka so well)… Maybe he could fix this, though.

“Nice to see you again, Niijima-san.”

“Oh, Narukami-san.” Makoto smiled at him and gave a small giggle. “It’s nice to see you again as well.”

“Well, one double stuffed chocolate crepe it is.” He smiled at them as he punched it in. “That’ll be…”

The girls split the bill and stood to the side as Yu made sure it got started and took a few more orders. This job was already going really well, and, if he was being honest, he almost wanted to brag at Tohru when he got home. He had a good job and wasn’t stuck living with his partner’s nephew in the city…

He really tried not to be too annoyed about Tohru staying with him, but it was hard. He’d been planning on living alone on a budget, so having someone else there would make it hard. He didn’t want to get him in trouble, but maybe he should just call his uncle and tell him about it. Then he’d know what was lost so he could at least help look for it.

Yeah, maybe he would call him up later that day, then. Didn’t seem like a bad idea, at least. He would just check in, ask how Nanako was doing, and end with asking about it. That was sure to work, right? He had to think so, at least…

He let out a sigh. Looked like the double-stuffed chocolate crepe was done, at least. Yeah, he needed to focus on work for now, and worry about this later. For now, he had a crepe to deliver to some girls.

“Girls! It’s ready!”

Ann ran over, her emotions still seemingly out of control. She still had a smile plastered on her face, though. “Thanks!”

“Not a problem. “I hope you two enjoy it.” He smiled at her and she giggled.

“We will, thanks again, for everything!” He had a feeling she meant more than just the crepe today.

“Of course.”

--

When Yu saw Yukiko walk up, he couldn’t help but try and guess at what she’d want. Maybe something sweet? Strawberries or chocolate or blueberries? That seemed like it would fit her at the very least. He was waiting for her to speak, and…

“Oh, uh, what do you have that has a lot of meat? I’d like two of whatever has the most, please.” Yukiko smiled at him as she spoke.

That...wasn’t what he’d been expecting, at all. Yukiko didn’t seem the type to be big on meat.

“Oh, sure...didn’t see you as the type to eat a lot of meat, though.” He hoped that didn’t seem rude, he didn’t mean to if it did…

Yukiko laughed a bit and shook her head. “Oh no, these aren’t for me! Chie’s caught up at the station, so I thought I’d buy her something to munch on there.”

Yu smiled a bit, though he heard station and couldn’t help but think she knew something about the murder. “How sweet!”

“You think so?” She blinked at him a few times. “I wanted to make her something, but nothing was coming out right. I figured I couldn’t risk her getting sick on the job, so I decided to just buy something small.”

“That’s still really sweet.” He smiled at her. “Making sure she has something to eat while avoiding any food sickness...How nice.”

She giggled a bit and moved some hair behind her ear. “Thank you, Narukami-kun! Knowing Chie, she would probably agree with you.”

“Sounds like she’s a keeper.” He smiled a bit and laughed.

“She really is!” Yukiko seemed to light up whenever she spoke about her, and it was cute. Yu loved seeing it.

“...Do you mind if I ask a question about your relationship?”

Yukiko blinked. “Huh? No, go ahead!”

“Are you two dating, married?” He was just really curious about it.

“Oh, we’re married! I recently became Yukiko Satonaka.” She giggled a bit, as if she loved the sound of it. That was really cute, he loved happy couples like this.

“Well, I’ll get you your crepes, then. It’s on me.” Not his smartest move, but he just couldn’t help it.

“Oh, thank you!” She smiled at him and giggled a bit.

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled a bit and nodded. “Just stand to the side and I’ll get the crepes to you soon.”

“Thank you so much, Narukami-kun. If I can ever pay you back--”

“No, no! It’s on me.” He smiled at her and she giggled as she moved to the side. He loved doing good deeds like this. He...could go a day without food, right? This would end fine…

--

Yu got off work, and after saying goodbye to his coworkers and boss pulled out his phone. He needed to call his uncle and talk to him about everything that was going on. Maybe he’d have a suggestion as to how to deal with Tohru free-loading and barely looking for what he lost… Because he was having issues with this.

“Hello?” Ryotaro answered fairly quickly, sounding somewhat tired. “Don’t tell me you got homesick already.”

“Uncle, sorry if I woke you, but no. I’m not homesick.” He shook his head, even if he couldn’t be seen.

“Oh?” He sounded a little more awake now. “What is it?”

“Well, to start I wanted to ask how Nanako is doing?” He was curious about his little cousin. “She was getting pretty big when I left.”

“Yeah, she is. She’s making a lot of friends at school.” Dojima sounded interested now. He’d started actually paying more attention to his daughter thanks to Yu’s influence...He liked hearing that it seemed to be the case still.

“That’s good!” He was really happy to hear that.

“Yeah, she’s always telling stories about them, too. It excites her an awful lot, you know?” He chuckled a bit and Yu laughed himself.

“I can understand why. I’m glad she can tell you about them, though.”

“I’m glad too…” He heard Ryotaro pause. “Oh, by the way, Nanako was insisting you visit sometimes. She’s been cooking more and wants you to try it.”

Yu laughed a bit. “I’d be happy to come back sometime!”

“Good to hear, I was afraid I’d have to come and drag you back.”

“Don’t worry, no needing to do that…” He laughed a bit and paused. Okay, it was now or never. “Say, uncle...What did you send Adachi-san with?”

“Huh?” His uncle sounded confused. “What do you mean?”

“Adachi-san said you told him to bring me something, but he lost it and was afraid to contact you because he spent all his money…” Tohru hadn’t been lying, had he?

“I never sent him there. He said he was going on vacation.” Ryotaro sighed a bit. “Was he lying to both of us?”

“I guess so…” Yu frowned, that was too bad. He’d wanted to trust him.

“That leads to one more question…” Ryotaro sounded like he was deep in thought now.

“What’s that, uncle?”

“Why did he lie?”

Chapter Text

Ren's head was reeling. Kamoshida was dead…? He’d been shot in broad daylight? What kind of things did people do in the city?! It seemed weird that someone got away with it so easily… Someone had to have seen something, right? He couldn’t see it being any other case. It'd be too weird if not one person had seen it happening.

What if he was blamed? He was already known around school as the kid on probation for attacking a man, it wouldn’t be hard. He could see it now, even if the law didn’t come after him, people at school would whisper and scream about it… He really didn’t know if he could handle that.

“Ugh.” He shook his head, trying to ignore the thought.

“Are you alright?” He jumped a bit, having forgotten about Yusuke, well, being his roommate.

“Oh, uh, fine...Just still freaked out by the news.” He gave a shaky smile and Yusuke just stared blankly at him.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Oh, well, that wasn’t what Ren was expecting. Most would have shrugged, maybe told him to suck it up and ignored him. It wasn’t much, but Yusuke casual question really meant quite a lot to Ren. Enough so that he almost started to cry...Almost being the key word.

“I don’t want to bother you, you seem pretty busy with painting these days anyway.” He gave a small smile and Yusuke blinked.

“Ah, yes, well… I’ve been trying to find the perfect piece for--er, that doesn’t matter.” Yusuke shook his head.

“What were you about to say, Kitagawa-kun…?”

“Please, don’t worry about it.”

Ren frowned, but he felt he wasn’t going to get anymore information. Yusuke seemed to keep to himself a lot when it came to painting, after all. There wasn’t really much he could do to try and push him into talking more… He just really wanted to.

“I’ll leave you be now, then.” He gave a small smile and made his way for his room. He would just talk to Morgana about this instead.

“So, a murder happened and it was a guy that was beloved by many and hated by a similar amount…” Morgana was sitting on his bed, already ready to talk about this.

“Yeah, so there’s a lot of people who might’ve done it, but…” He frowned, shaking his head. “Most were high schoolers and wouldn’t be able to get a gun so easily.”

“I’ve heard some adults don’t like him either, though! Just in passing, but…” Morgana huffed a bit and laid on the bed. “We don’t have any leads.”

“Wait, are we trying to solve this murder case?” He rose an eyebrow. “I just want to make sure no one blames me…”

“This has to be tied to the mystery of this place, though! The second teacher from Shujin killed, this time in broad daylight?” Morgana frowned (at least, Ren thought it was a frown) up at him. “There’s no way they aren’t linked!”

“...There was the note saying Kamoshida at the first crime too, huh?” Morgana might have a point.

“Yeah, and it happened here in the apartment. Aren’t you seeing the connection?” Morgana looked up at him expectantly.

“...Someone’s targeting Shujin teachers who live here?”

“No! I mean, ugh, yeah, but that’s not what I mean!” Morgana shook his head. “I mean there’s something bad going on at this apartment.”

“Are you sure you don’t just think that because you want to find out more about yourself?” Ren tilted his head to the side.

“I’m sure! There’s something going on!” Morgana wasn’t going to give up on this, and Ren had a feeling he’d be dragged along in this.

“Okay, okay! No need to get so fired up, we’ll look into this. Maybe go compare notes with those Arisatos later.” Whatever it took to calm Morgana down, huh?

“Good! We should find whoever has the other box, too, though.” Morgana settled down on the bed again and yawned. “After a small nap…”

“...Whatever you say, Morgana.” He laughed a bit and pat his head, sitting next to him. Time to plan his next course of action.

--

When Yusuke knocked on his door, he had a bad feeling. Yusuke never bothered him when he was in his room, he could only guess it was an emergency if he was. He stood up and cleared his throat, okay, he could handle whatever it was. He moved to the door and opened it, peeking out.

“Do you need something Kitagawa-kun?”

“Oh, I thought I heard you talking to someone?” Yusuke tried to peek in, but Ren did his best to block him.

“It was a skype call with a friend, don’t worry about it.”

Yusuke frowned at him, but nodded. Looked like he believed that, at the very least? Well, now he needed to make sure Yusuke didn’t get a glance in and see he didn't even have a laptop. He could do this, right? He just needed to find a way to get him out of the area...Well, he’d been given a small food allowance by Sojiro…

“Want to go grab something for dinner?” He watched Yusuke carefully.

He blinked a few times. “Huh? Oh, uh…”

“It’ll be my treat.” He smiled at him, hoping to just get him out for a while. Even if he’d have to leave Morgana behind.

“Well, I can’t say no to free food…” Yusuke looked away, seemingly embarrassed.

“Great, let me grab my bag and we can go!” He closed the door quickly after that, not waiting for a response. Okay, just grab his bag and slip out of the room as quickly as he could, that was his plan.

Yusuke wouldn’t see anything and it would be perfect. He’d...just have to pick a place that wouldn’t take much money from him. He only had a little left for the next few days after all, and he felt Sojiro wouldn’t be happy if he asked for more money… Then again, he was going out with a “friend” so maybe he would?

“Not the issue right now.” He shook his head, doing his best to not think about it. For now he’d try to enjoy himself.

He slipped out of the room and it looked like Yusuke had moved to the living room to wait for him. Good, he wouldn’t be able to see nearly as much from there. He made his way over to him and gave a small smile, shifting his bag a bit.

“Any request for what we get to eat?”

Yusuke blinked, as if surprised by the question. “Oh no, not really. Anything is fine, really.”

“You sure about that?” He tilted his head to the side.

Yusuke smiled at him and nodded. “Ah, yes.”

“Then let’s go…” He smiled at him and laughed a bit. “Hope you like burgers?”

“Burgers are fine by me.” Yusuke nodded, his eyes lighting up a bit.

Looked like someone liked the idea of burgers, then. That was good, too, because Big Bang Burger was really the cheapest place he could think of. He might be able to eat a few more nights if they just went there.

“Let’s get going, then.” Ren nodded and his smile grew just a bit.

Yusuke, seemingly excited nodded. “Ah, yes, let’s…” He seemed to think for a moment. “Can we make it there on foot? I...don’t have money for train fare.”

“...I’ll cover that too, don’t worry about it.” Why was he doing this? He was going to spend almost all the money today.

Yusuke blinked a few times. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” He smiled at him, was he not used to this? Well, he would do it.

“Thank you very much, should we be going, then?” Yusuke tilted his head to the side.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Even if his wallet would be crying after this…

He just hoped it’d be worth it.

--

Ren couldn’t help but think Yusuke was really cute when he was eating. He seemed to into it, his eyes sparkling as he ate… Ren was going to have to feed him more often. Wait, no. What was he thinking about? He wouldn’t have the money for that unless he got a job and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to… The dreams of a part-time job had already started to diminish, after all.

Most people wouldn’t want to hire someone like him, which he learned at his first interview. Oh well, he would...try to focus on something else instead. Like his own food. Fast food wasn’t his favorite, but it filled him up and that was the important part. He just needed to not be hungry when he needed to study.

Too bad it was too loud here to study, it was a wasted opportunity… It was too bad, too. The year had just started, yeah, but it was never to early to get ready for exams, right? He didn’t think so, at the very least.

...Was he thinking about this to try and forget about the murder? Yeah, that was exactly what he was doing. It was just bothering him so much, it was...upsetting to know it’d happened in broad daylight. What if something like that happened again? He wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle that.

“Are you still upset about the murder?” Yusuke tilted his head to the side as he kept  munching on his fries.

“Oh, yeah, a little…” He took a small bite out of his burger and sighed.

“...He was a teacher at your school, right?” Yusuke frowned. “I feel I would be the same way if it had been an instructor at Kosei…”

“Ah yeah, I think the fact it was the second one, and in broad daylight, made it worse…” He frowned and nodded just a bit.

“It was near sundown, I thought?” Yusuke frowned, but shook his head. “Either way, it seems like a bad idea to travel alone right now.”

“Agreed.” Maybe he would ask Sojiro for some more food money. He could say it was so he could have someone eat with him and he would feel safer. He’d probably give him some more then, right?

“Crazy to think how things are going now, hm?” He sighed, shaking his head as he kept eating.

Ren decided to just nod and do his best to stop thinking about it. He would watch Yusuke eat again, it was pretty cute anyway, right? Yeah, it’d be a good distraction, at the very least. He didn’t mind that much, honestly. Watching someone could be pretty okay.

He hummed a bit and started eating while he watched him. Yusuke seemed to be really enjoying it, and, honestly? He was happy to see that. He wasn’t able to talk to him much, so being able to eat together like this was great. He felt he was learning something about Yusuke just by watching him here.

It seemed like he didn’t eat often, at least not a lot. He also looked kind of tired, some bags under his eyes. Did he spend a lot of time up painting, like the first night Ren got here? He was good at doing so quietly, if that was the case. So he didn’t eat much and he didn’t sleep much. Seemed really unhealthy…

Was there anything he could do about it? Maybe he could try and take him to dinner more often, at least. He wasn’t sure he could do much about the whole, well, staying up all night thing. He would feel kinda bad if he tried to drag him away from his passion, after all.

“Are you alright?” He rose an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side.

Ren blinked, and shook his head. “Ah yeah, don’t worry about it.”

Yusuke frowned, but nodded. He seemed to understand that, and didn’t push it. Ren did notice that he was watching him carefully, though. What, did he not believe him or something? He really was okay, he meant that. He was just thinking about some things, was that a big deal? He really didn’t think so…

Ugh, you know what? He would just try to finish eating soon so they could get home before it was too dark.

--

Walking back to the apartments from the train station proved to be stressing. They had just started to walk back and the sky was already dark. They’d taken longer than Ren had planned for, it seemed. He just hoped he wouldn’t have the feeling of being followed again. That had been terrifying.

“It’s kind of creepy out here at night, huh?” He was sure he’d be fine with time and less murders, but right now? Terrifying.

“Huh, I suppose so, yes…” Yusuke frowned a bit and moved a bit closer to him. “Is it really safe to be walking out here right now…?”

“We don’t really have much of a choice, right? We have to get home…” Ren kicked at the ground and frowned. This was going to be hard.

“Ah yes, that’s true.” He nodded a bit and sighed a little. Ren couldn’t blame him, this was pretty terrifying.

“We could, uh…” He cleared his throat. Was he really going to try and ask this…? “Maybe…”

Yusuke stopped and turned to look at him, making Ren stop as well. “What?”

Okay, it was now or never. Come on, Ren, don’t be a baby about this. “We could hold hands.”

Yusuke, not at all affected by the suggestion, nodded. “Sure.”

“Alright…” Ren awkwardly grabbed his hand a smiled a bit. He was nervous about this, but fuck it. It would make him feel better about all this, so it was alright. In fact, thinking about it like that helped it become, well, not a big deal.

Yusuke gave him a small smile. “We should start walking again.”

Ren blinked a few times, and nodded a bit. “Oh yeah, let’s do that.”

The two started to walk again, in silence. Ren glanced over at Yusuke and noticed a small smile on his face. That was really nice, if he was being honest. Yusuke looked super nice when he was smiling… He wondered if he could see more of it sometime.

Thinking about things like this really helped Ren calm down. He would keep doing  it on their way back, and it would be alright. It would probably feel a lot less long too if he did that, too… Oh, that sounded nice. He hated being scared just walking home.

“I was thinking, we could maybe get dinner together more often?” He hadn’t talked to Sojiro yet, but, well…

Yusuke blinked a few times. “Oh, yes. That would be nice, but…”

“If you’re thinking about paying, don’t worry about it. I can cover it.” He smiled at him. Company was worth him spending some money, if he was being honest.

Yusuke’s eyes lit up once again and Ren spotted a small smile. “Thank you!”

“Yeah, no problem, really.” Ren shook his head, a small smile on his face.

They walked along a little longer and Ren started to almost forget that they were holding hands. It was nice, but kind of felt almost natural, so to speak? He didn’t really know how to explain it, buthe'd be willing to do it again. He wouldn’t mind keeping it up for a while, either. Well, as long as Yusuke was alright with it as well.

Soon enough, they made it back and their hands disconnected as Ren moved to get the door… Only for the doorman to have it open, a smile on his face when they walked in.

“Oh, uh, thanks.” He smiled at him as he walked past. The staff here still scared him, just a bit.

“You boys were out late.” Margaret smiled at them from behind her desk. “It’s not safe to do that right now, you know?”

“It’s probably not safe to be out in general, honestly.” Ren shrugged and she laughed a bit.

“Well, just--”

Before she could finish whatever she had to say, the sound of a gunshot rang out and all hell broke loose.

Chapter Text

Minako and Minato weren’t sure what they were doing that morning, but it was important. The night before had been hell on earth. Minako had just started getting her brother feeling better after seeing a dead body, and someone was shot right on their floor. Luckily enough, he didn’t die, but it was still a lot.

Minako thought it would be best to try and avoid anything involving that, but, well... When the victim’s kid showed up at their door and asked for their help it was kind of hard.

Ken Amada seemed like a good kid, but afraid to visit his guardian on his own. Minako didn’t understand, but he really wanted help, so she couldn’t say no. It didn’t help that Minato was super willing to help, too. She couldn’t leave him alone right now, after all.

So here they were, on the way to the hospital, following after Ken. Minako kept an eye on the other two, a frown on her face. Minato was staring at the ground, hands in his pockets and Ken was looking forward, gripping his school bag tightly.

That was right, it was a school day and they were heading to the hospital early, huh? Ken wanted to see his guardian before going to school… Well, at least they were almost there. All the train rides in between had been an awful lot…

“Here we are…” Ken swallowed hard and looked back at them. “Sorry for asking for this out of the blue…”

“It’s fine!” Minako gave him a smile. “You said you were in a hurry and no one else was available, right?”

He nodded a bit and looked at his feet. “Yeah, The few others I tried were asleep or busy with work.”

“Well, we’re happy to go with you, so don’t worry about it.” Minato shrugged a bit, hands still in his pockets.

Ken gave a shaky smile. “T-thanks, I, uh. Let’s go.”

They followed after him again, standing back as Ken got information about where they would find Shinjiro, and following after him to the room.

When they entered the room, Minako couldn’t help but notice that Shinjiro was asleep. She was pretty sure he was just asleep, at least. From what she’d gathered listening to people it wasn’t bad enough that he was in critical condition or anything. He was only supposed to stay for a few days…

“Shinjiro-san…” Ken quickly moved to the bedside and placed a hand on Shinjiro’s.

“I-I heard he’ll be okay soon. He’s probably just resting.” Minako was afraid that the poor thing was worried.

“He doesn’t seem to be in a coma, at least.” Minato frowned and moved to the other side of the bed.

“Minato…!”

“No, it’s fine.” Ken shook his head, clinging to Shinjiro’s hand. “He’s just saying what we were all thinking about.”

Minako frowned and moved to sit in one of the chairs. She wasn’t sure what she could do about this. All she could think of was trying to be strong, cheery. If she didn’t do that, who would? She needed to be the rock for the others in this room, no matter how little she knew them…

“Shinjiro-san, please get better soon….” She looked back over to Ken and frowned. His shoulders were tense.

“Amada-kun…”

“You said last night that I shouldn’t worry, right? S-so you better get better soon…” Ken was holding back tears, if his tone was anything to go by.

They all stood in silence for a moment before Ken let go of his guardian’s hand and turned around. He seemed to be doing his best to stay as composed as he could. After a few more moments of silence, he looked between the twins.

“I’m worried about him, and don’t really want him to be alone today, so, uh…” He swallowed hard. “Could you guys stay with him?”

Minako frowned. “I have work, but--”

“I can stay.” Minato nodded.

“Minato! This won’t be good for you.” She didn’t want him staying here all day.

“I’ll just stay here until you’re off work, we can trade off.” Minato looked at her, giving her a small smile. She knew he was just trying to calm her down.

“Minato…”

“O-oh, I could come back after school.”

Both twins looked at Ken and shook their heads in unison.

“Oh no, you should focus on studying.”

“We can keep you updated on any changes, you know!”

Ken blinked a few times before nodding. “Okay...Thank you.”

Minato moved around the bed to stand next to Ken, ruffling his hair. Minako had to say it was kind of funny, seeing as they were pretty similar in height, actually. She bet Ken would end up taller than Minato, though. “Don’t worry about it.”

Ken seemed to let a few tears fall then, but he wiped them away quickly. Minako had to guess that he didn’t want anyone to see them… She had to say she understood the feeling. She still wanted to hide her own a lot, even after breaking down in her brother’s arms… Enough so that she had the urge to go hug the poor thing.

“Sorry, I’ll...Thank you.” He shook his head again and took a deep breath. “I should get going, though. I can’t be late, not today.”

She stood then, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and smiling at him. “Well, I need to head home so I can get ready for work! We can head back together, at least part of the way!”

Ken blinked a few times before nodding and smiling a bit. “Yeah, that sounds nice to me.”

“Good, because I kind of wasn’t going to give you a choice!”

Ken blinked a few times. “Uh…”

“Sorry, my sister is just like that.” Minato shrugged and gave Ken a small slap on the back. “Go on now, you have school, right? Shinjiro-san will be safe with me.”

Ken, still seemingly confused, nodded. “Uh, okay then…?”

--

Minato was still trying to keep a hold of himself. After everything that had happened in the past few days, it was kind of hard, but he was going to do his best. He was watching Shinjiro for Ken, after all. He couldn’t freak out anytime soon when this was the case. It was for Ken, for a kid, he needed to try and be strong about this.

He’d woken up a while after Ken and Minako had left, but didn’t seem to have anything to say to him. Minato was fine with that, though. He was a quiet guy himself, and the silence was always a good thing for him. It was kind of calming to him in a way, sitting in silence, only their breathing as background noise. He  just hoped Shinjiro felt the same way.

He let his eyes close for a moment, trying to just relax, when the door opened. He opened one eye, a frown on his face. He was expecting to see a nurse or doctor, here to check up on Shinjiro, but it was Akihiko. They had seemed to like each other, yes? Or, they’d seemed close when Minato had seen them talk.

“Shinji, I heard about what happened….” He watched Akihiko clench his fist and grind his teeth. “...When I wasn’t there, of course…”

“Not like you could’ve done much, Aki.” Shinjiro rolled his eyes. “Besides maybe get shot instead.”

“I wouldn't have been shot, Shinji. I’m good at avoiding that, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Doesn’t mean it wouldn't have happened.”

Akihiko’s fists clenched again. “Still, you got hurt and I couldn’t even try to help.”

“You were helping other people by trying to solve a murder, it seriously isn’t that big a deal.” He shook his head.

“Shinji…!”

Minato cleared his throat now, feeling this wasn’t going to end well if he stayed quiet. What could he say, though? He needed to think of something before Akihiko asked why he was there and Shinjiro could only reply with something like a shrug… Yeah, he’d kind of forgotten to tell Shinjiro why he was there. So sue him.

“Shinjiro-san, your son, he is your son, right? Your son asked Minako and I to keep an eye on you today.” He looked to Akihiko. “Is everything alright here…?”

Akihiko seemed to tense just a bit. “Ugh…”

“It’s fine, I’ve had worse…” Shinjiro glared at Akihiko and Minato before closing his eyes. “Neither of you need to worry. That kid doesn’t need to either.”

“Do you mean Amada-kun?” He frowned a bit.

“Of course that’s what he means.” Akihiko sighed and shook his head. “Shinji, people can worry about you!”

“Not if it gets in the way of you doing important things, Aki. You should know that.” Shinjiro frowned at him.

Neither seemed to be budging an inch, and Minato felt it was going to end badly. Was there something he could do about this? That was the real question, and he didn’t know if he had an answer. He wasn’t the best at dealing with arguments and the like, after all. That was more Minako’s forte, if he was being honest.

“Come on now…” He stood up and moved to stand in front of Akihiko. “Fighting won’t be good for either of you.”

Akihiko stared down at him and frowned at him, shaking his head. The look in his eyes seemed to tell Minato that he knew he was right, but didn’t want to admit it. Minato didn’t care, though. He would stand here until he listened to him. Even if it led to some sort of injury.

Akihiko, however, seemed to let his shoulders slump just a bit. Maybe he wasn’t looking for a fight, then? That was good to know. Minato wouldn’t be afraid to try and convince him to not do something. Maybe he wasn’t as hot headed as he thought.

“Shocking, Aki. You’re not being as hotheaded as usual.” Or maybe Minato was wrong, then?

“Don’t even start right now, Shinji!” Akihiko took a step forward and Minato did his best to hold him back.

“Come on, no time for fighting…” Minato frowned a bit as he felt he was being pushed forward.

“He needs to not mouth off when he’s injured!” Akihiko grit his teeth again.

“It’s the best time, you don’t attack me nearly as much…” Shinjiro shrugged a bit.

“You know why…” Akihiko shook his head and started to grip Minato’s shoulders, a bit too hard. “Dammit, Shinji, I’m worried about you!”

Shinjiro looked away, seemingly having nothing to say. Minato couldn’t say he blamed him, though. This reminded him of when Minako would press him on things… Maybe it was just the way siblings (and friends as close as siblings) acted sometimes? Huh, that was interesting. He thought it was just his sister… Pharos and Ryoji always seemed to get along, after all.

“...I’m going to leave now.” Akihiko shook his head and let go of Minato. “I’ll make sure Ken and Goro are alright.”

Shinjiro frowned, but all that he said was “Thanks…”

Minato sighed a bit as Akihiko left, slamming the door behind him. This wasn’t going well, and honestly? He didn’t know what he was going to do. Only time would tell, he guessed? That was about all he could think, in the end.

He moved back to his seat and sat down as he massaged his shoulders, watching Shinjiro. He didn’t seem to want to say anything else, though. In fact, it looked like he was trying to sleep again. Minato couldn’t blame him, really. After all that, he’d want to sleep too. If he wasn’t keeping an eye on Shinjiro he might have tried to sleep some too.

He closed his eyes and grit his teeth together. “Hurry up, Minako…”

--

Minako had been able to tell from the moment she walked back into the hospital room that something was up with Minato. Too bad she’d agreed to watch Shinjiro, so it wasn’t like she could take him home. No, she was sitting in the corner of the room, staring at the wall.

She’d tried to strike up conversation, but Shinjiro just glared at her. He had no interest in her, that much was clearr. She wasn’t that surprised, if she was being honest, but still! Couldn’t he at least try and talk to her? She was trying to be polite, and did really wanted to learn more, even if he was scary…

She was just about to try again when the door opened. Peeking her head in was that woman who’d been with Minato when she went to pick him up from the police station, Aigis. She was visiting Shinjiro then?

“Shinjiro-san?” She blinked when she saw Minako. “Ah, you’re here as well…? A friend of his, or lover?”

“No way is she my lover.” Shinjiro shook his head.

“My apologizes, I forgot you were taken by Theodore-san.”

“That’s not…” Shinjiro sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, why are you here?”

“I wanted to offer my assistance once you are released from the hospital.” She nodded surely. “My sisters will be visiting soon, and I’m sure they’d be willing to help.”

“...Doesn’t your twin hate me or something? No thanks.”

“Oh, but Metis offered to move in with me temporarily to help.” Aigis frowned at him.

“...She just wants to be around you more, you do know that, right?”

“Is that so?” Aigis tilted her head to the side. Minako had a feeling she was a bit dense, then?

“Yeah, that’s so.” Shinjiro shook his head. “You’re so…”

Aigis put a finger to her lip and tilted her head to the side. “I’m so what?”

“...I can’t even describe it.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You’re so out there, I don’t know what to say.”

Aigis frowned and crossed her arms. “If you’re insulting me, Shinjiro-san…”

“That’s for you decide.” Shinjiro shrugged a bit and Minako couldn’t help but feel he was being a douche on purpose. Why, she really didn’t know, but… She just wanted him to stop it already.

“You’re kind of being a huge jerk!” She didn’t know why that came out, but it did.

“I have to agree, you are being a huge jerk.” Aigis nodded and turned to look at Shinjiro, a frown on her face.

“Oh, so now you’re going to butt in, huh?” Shinjiro frowned at Minako, but she did her best to not shrink back. She was going to be strong about this!

“Yeah! Why are you being so nasty about things?” She crossed her arms. “Are you trying to push people away or something?”

Shinjiro frowned at her, glaring at him. It didn’t seem like he was going to say anything. Minako couldn’t help but feel that that meant she’d been right, then. She was pretty sure that was the case, at least. She would say it was until proven wrong, at the very least! That was just how she did things, anyway!

Aigis seemed to look between them a few times before clearing her throat and moving to sit on the edge of the bed. She looked at Minako, staring at her for a long while. She couldn’t help but feel the stare was telling her she’d done enough… She sat back again and shut her mouth. She would let Aigis take it from here, then… Even if she wanted to say more.

Aigis put a hand on Shinjiro’s chest and she smiled at him. She seemed like she was ready to take a gentler approach to this. Maybe Minako should take some noted, she was a little firm when someone else was being a jerk, after all. Well, whatever. She could do this, just watch and learn something interesting.

“Shinjiro-san, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I insist on helping out some.” She nodded a bit. “Just in small ways. Cleaning and cooking.”

“Not cooking.” He was quick to say that, huh?

“Alright, no cooking.” Aigis nodded a bit. “But we will help with other things, so you can rest more and get better.”

“I really don’t need your help, though…” Shinjiro shook his head.

She watched Aigis push her hand into his chest a bit firmer and smile. Looked like she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Well, that was good to know. Gentle voice but a firm hand! She would keep that in mind, for sure. With how Minato was, there was no way she wouldn't be able to try it out.

“Fine…” Shinjiro pushed her hand off his chest and looked away. “You’re such a brat, Aigis. You’ve hung around Elizabeth too much.”

“Well, doesn’t one “hang around” their girlfriend a lot? Isn’t that normal?” Aigis seemed curious when she tilted her head to the side.

“...Just don’t let her influence you too much.” Shinjiro shook his head and sighed.

Aigis smiled at him and nodded. “That won’t be hard to do.”

“You say that, but I’m not so sure…”

“It will be fine, I promise.”

Minako sighed, shaking her head. This was all so weird to her. What kind of group had she wandered into by moving into Velvet Apartments? She wasn’t really sure, and it was almost annoying. Why had she never found a group like this before?! She loved weirdos like her, and she just now got to meet some?

“No fair…”

Chapter Text

Yu wasn’t sure why, but when he heard someone in the building was shot, he decided he needed to take them some flowers. Even when he followed the bread crumbs and found out it was that kind of scary Shinjiro guy he felt he should take some flowers. Just a little pick-me-up for someone stuck in the hospital, if that made sense. It'd helped Nanako the one time she'd been really sick, so maybe it'd help again.

He hummed as he walked along. He didn’t realize how easy it was to eavesdrop and find out where he was. He felt kind of bad doing that, but, well… He felt if he asked outright something would go really wrong. That had happened to him in the past, at the very least.

“Oh well, I’ll just say a little bird told me if he asks how I found him…” Yu nodded to himself as he walked along. That would work, right?

He was thinking about that until he made it to the hospital. He hadn’t thought of anything better, so, well… He was going to go with it. He could be stoic and tough cookie, so he wouldn’t easily spill the truth. Unless his conscience got the better of him, which it probably would. He would just try to ignore that fact for now, though.

That’s right, he needed to make it to his room and hand him the flowers! That wouldn’t hurt, right? Just say it was a get well soon present and leave it at that. Maybe Shinjiro wouldn’t be interested in asking about it past that. That would be nice, just a nice chat that was Yu telling him to feel better soon and to rest himself. What a perfect way to have it all go down... Too bad there was almost no chance his fantasy was going to be right.

It didn’t hurt to dream, though. It actually helped in a lot of cases, from what he’d seen. In fact, it made some things easier for him, if he was being honest. He just had to hope someone else agreed with him on that. It was kind of lonely when no one seemed to share the same view on a lot of his ideologies. At least the ones most important to him.

Finally, he made it to the room. Time to stop thinking about it and go in, right? He was just about to knock when he realized the door was ajar and someone was sitting next to the bed. Was that...Goro?

He decided to peek in for a while before going in. Goro seemed to be deep in thought, after all. Maybe he was trying to think of what to say? From what Yu could see Shinjiro was asleep, so maybe he was waiting for him to wake up.

“Why are you always asleep when I come to visit?” Goro sounded hurt when he started to talk. “I need to ask you so much…”

Oh, Yu was going to be seeing a bittersweet scene, then? He almost felt bad for watching now! Maybe he should back up and leave them be for a while? He could always come back later--

“You need to be awake at some point, you know? I need to know who did this to you…” Yu noticed that Goro’s expression darkened quite a bit. “It’s not something I can easily forgive, not in the slightest.”

He didn’t know why, but everything felt more tense, now. More terrifying. Someone about Goro seemed almost off. He seemed angry, almost like he was ready to kill. He got caring about family, but this seemed to be almost too much. Should he step in now…?

“Don’t worry, though. I’ll find who did it, and they’ll be sorry.” There was a grimace on his face, and any cheeriness in his voice was gone. It sounded more raw, angry… “They’ll be very sorry.”

Yu took a step back, pale in the face. Okay, he couldn’t do this, not right now. He was terrified of Goro now, and it wasn’t fun. He didn’t like being terrified of a high schooler, especially when he had nothing to do with his anger. Shit, okay, he needed to back up, retreat. He would just come back later.

“I hope he’s gone when I come back…”

--

Yu decided a detour to the hospital cafeteria was an alright idea. He’d gotten breakfast (it was actually amazing) and taken his time eating it… So now Goro was probably gone, right? And maybe Shinjiro was awake, but still drowsy! He would be able to actually talk to him and tell him the basic get well soons if that was the case. Oh, he was almost too excited about that.

He made his way back to the right floor, a smile on his face. Alright, now to just say hello and tell him to-- Oh dammit, the door was slightly ajar again. Who was in there this time? Was it someone Yu wouldn’t mind walking into or would it be someone else who was terrifying?

He peeked in again and he knew that red hair. It was Mitsuru Kirijo, standing next to the bed, back straight. She seemed to be uncomfortable, with no interest in being in a hospital. He couldn’t blame her, he remembered when Nanako had gotten really sick again… The hospital wasn’t fun.

“Aragaki, I know you said you won’t take my assistance, but do you really have much of a choice right now?” She sounded worried, arms crossed over her chest.

“I don’t want to work for you, Kirijo, we’ve been over this.”

Mitsuru shook her head. “That’s not what we’re talking about. You won’t be able to work nearly as much for a while. I’m just offering to help you with necessities.”

“I don’t need your help.” Shinjiro really didn’t sound happy.

“...And how will you keep everything paid for? You may be able to supply for yourself and Amada, but I have it on good authority you help cover Akechi’s expenses as well.”

Oh shit, whatever was going on, things were getting tense. Yu almost felt like he’d stumbled upon the filming of some sort of television show, if he was being honest. With tension that was so thick it could be cut with a knife… There was no way this wouldn’t belong on some dramatic television show.

He watched as Mitsuru leaned over the bed, face disappearing from sight. He was pretty sure she’d had a grimace on her face when she bent over.

“I don’t need your help.”

“At least let me help with the medical expenses, Aragaki.”

“What’ll you want in return?” Shinjiro really didn’t trust her, huh?

“Nothing! We went to highschool together, Aragaki. Not everything I’m doing is for some sort of personal gain!” Mitsuru sounded more than just a bit peeved. It was kind of scary to hear, actually.

“...Forgive me if I don’t believe you.” There was a lot of venom behind those words, as if Shinjiro was throwing something she’d said before back at her.

"...You didn't used to be like this, Aragaki. You used to trust me... Why don't you trust me anymore?"

Yu felt that maybe he should go in there and say something. He felt there was too much tension and that it could go bad. He didn’t want to see a fight break out in a hospital room. Especially not when one of them was a patient. He could see the headlines now, he really needed to stop this--

He screamed and jumped back when the door opened. Oh, Mitsuru was just leaving… Why had he freaked out so much when the door opened? He was really that jumpy thanks to their argument and the stuff with Goro earlier? Wow, today was just not his day, like at all... Maybe it was a mistake to come here.

“Oh, it’s you.” Mitsuru still seemed upset, but was hiding it fairly well. “Why are you here?”

Yu looked at the flowers and awkwardly held them in front of himself. “I heard about what happened and thought I’d bring him flowers.”

She sighed, shaking her head. “Good luck getting him to take those.”

“He’s not a fan of flowers, then?” He tilted his head to the side.

“I wouldn’t say that. More he’s not a fan of people…” She glanced back at the room and massaged her temples. “Aragaki is a headache…”

“Do you two not get along, then?” That’s what he was getting from this.

Mitsuru blinked a few times and looked at him with a frown. “We may argue sometimes, but we’re decent enough friends.”

“Are you sure about that?” He wasn’t sure he saw it.

“He acts like it’s not the case, but we are.” Mitsuru shrugged, doing her best to act casual. She wasn’t doing the best at that.

“I see, well…” Yu gave her a smile, acting as if he bought it. “That’s good to know, and I’ll give it a try anyway.”

“Good luck.”

--

Yu and Shinjiro were staring at each other in silence. When the uninjured man walked in, he hadn’t been expecting to see a bunch of flowers, but that’s what he saw. Maybe Shinjiro was easier to convince then Mitsuru let on, then? This should be easy!

“These are for you--”

“I don’t want them.”

Well, maybe not. He could work with this, though. There were already a lot of flowers, so if he pointed that out… Maybe then he wouldn’t be able to tell him no! Yeah, that made sense to him, at the very least. He just had to be nice about it, didn’t want to be rude about this, after all.

“Others gave you flowers, why can’t I?” Yeah, that worked.

Shinjiro, however, didn’t seem phased. “They’re more convincing than you.”

“But I want to give you some sort of get-well soon present.” Yu had even looked into some flower language for this.

“You barely know me.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t care!” That’s how he saw it, at the very least. “How can I get you to take these?”

Shinjiro shook his head. “You can’t--”

The door opened and they both looked towards it. Standing there was Theodore, quite a few flowers in his arms. Well, at least now if Yu’s weren’t accepted, these probably wouldn’t either. He would feel just a little better about this, if he was being honest.

“Shinjiro--”

Theodore paused and looked to Yu with a smile. “Are those for him?”

“Yeah.”

Theodore moved to him and took the flowers, adding them to his own. Yu was...confused to say the least. He wanted to ask for them back, but it seemed like Theodore had been expecting to be asked to take them. Was...he like the errand boy for others or something? Was it normal for him?

“Shinjiro, these are some more flowers from some of the tenants.” Theodore smiled at him.

“...Thanks. Just put them with the rest.”

Everything clicked into place then. All of these flowers were probably from a variety of people and they had Theodore bring them. Shinjiro probably had trouble saying no to him, didn’t he? Oh, that was kind of cute, but now there was a question on his mind.

“Why don’t you tell him no?” He wanted to see if he was right.

Shinjiro looked at him with a frown and sighed. “He reminds me of my dog. His hair is about the same color as his fur, you know?”

“Oh, he reminds you of Koromaru, then…?”

Theodore seemed to take some sort of offense to that, frowning at Shinjiro. “Is that really how you see me?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you kiss your dog, then?” Theodore leaned over Shinjiro and Yu felt like he was about to see something really cute.

“Theo, not now…”

“Answer my question.” Theodore seemed a little less spacey right now. Was this normal for the two of them, then?

“Can you not do this when there’s someone else in the room?” Yu wasn’t sure, but he swore he saw a blush on Shinjiro’s face.

“Would you?” Theodore just raised an eyebrow, a smile on his face.

“No, I wouldn’t. Will you stop now?”

This was almost too funny to Yu. He’d never expected to see Shinjiro flustered, but he was pretty sure this counted. Who knew that someone like Theodore would be the person who could do it. This was important and powerful knowledge to hold, he was pretty sure.

“Would you kiss me?”

Shinjiro grit his teeth. “You’re really going to do this, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?” Theodore tilted his head to the side.

They stared at each other for a few minutes before Shinjiro looked away. “Your sister is rubbing off on you way too much... I would kiss you, now stop.”

Theodore grabbed Shinjiro by the chin, leaving a small peck on his lips before standing up straight. “Then I can’t just remind you of Koromaru!”

“There’s better ways to argue that, you know?”

“Are there?” Theodore tilted his head to the side.

“I…” Shinjiro sighed, shaking his head and turning to look at Yu. “Listen, as far as I’m concerned, we should pretend that didn’t happen.”

“It was cute, though!” Yu meant it, too.

Theodore leaned over again, hugging Shinjiro. “Did you hear that? He said we’re cute.”

“...Goddammit.”

Chapter Text

Ren wasn’t sure why the Student Council President was standing outside his class when it was break time, but he felt it was important. He wasn’t the only one who seemed to think that, as both Ann and another kid (was his name….Yuuki Mishima?) took interest as well. In fact, they all ended up sharing a look before making their way over to her.

“Makoto-chan…” Ann was the first to speak and Ren noted that she was talking to her with some familiarity, maybe even friendliness.

“Oh, I was actually just here to talk to Ann, but you two live in the same apartment building as us, right?” Makoto blinked a few times, accidentally ignoring Ann.

“Oh, yeah, we do.” Yuuki nodded a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

Ren couldn’t help but note that he looked a lot better than the first few days he’d been here. Yuuki didn’t seem to have any wounds, at least. They seemed to have started to heal up, at the very least. It seemed to have gotten better after Kamoshida was found dead… Was he really that bad to Yuuki? Well, after what happened with Shiho it wasn’t that surprising that there were other victims.

“Well then, would you all be willing to help me with something?” She smiled at them. “Amada-kun’s guardian is being released from the hospital today and I thought we could do a few things to make it easier on him.”

“Oh!” Ann clapped her hands together and giggled. “That sounds like a great idea! But what will we do?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you about that. I’ve gotten a friend of mine getting some curry ready, so they’ll have some food for a while.” She nodded a bit and smiled a bit. “I’m thinking we could grab them a few others things, too…?”

“Oh, I could talk to someone about cute little knitted animals maybe?” Ann put a finger to her lips and thought for a moment. “Maybe I can grab them some sort of sweets too?”

“I can go grab some movies so there’s some entertainment…!” Yuuki didn’t seem to know what he was saying, but really wanted to help. “M-maybe some books too in case he doesn’t like movies…?”

“Both of those sounds like great ideas.” Makoto smiled and nodded a bit. “Really, anything that we could put into a small care package works.”

“I could go grab some dog treats and stuff.” Ren felt he needed to start participating. “They have a dog, right? Getting some stuff for him might help out too.”

Makoto looked to him and nodded. “That would be great, thank you. I have a few things I’m going to pick up as well…”

She seemed to think for a moment. “How about we all meet at the entrance, then? By the front desk?”

“Sure. Any time limit?” Ren tilted his head to the side.

Makoto thought for a moment. “...Within the hour, how about that?"

“Sounds good to me!” Ann smiled and nodded. “Well, sounds like we have a plan after school, huh?”

“Yeah…” Yuuki thought for a moment. “I should ask someone for some help, so if you’ll excuse me…”

“Oh, I should go talk to someone too!” Ann took off and Yuuki started for the next classroom right after. Looked like Ren was the only one who didn’t need to talk to anyone…

“Wait, but…!” Makoto sighed, a hand outstretched. “You guys need to make sure Amada-kun doesn’t find out…”

“I’ll talk to them next break, don’t worry.” He smiled at her and nodded.

Makoto blinked a few times but smiled at him. “Oh, thank you. Let’s do our best to put together a great care package.”

“Yeah.”

--

Ren was really bad at picking out dog treats. That was what he decided when he stood in the aisle of dog food and treats. What if Koromaru had some sort of special dietary issues and certain treats weren’t a good idea? Was there a way he could tell just standing here?

No, there wasn’t. So he was going to have to just guess and hope he wasn’t wrong. Maybe he’d grab a few other things, just to be sure he wasn’t useless. A few bones for him to chew on, a squeak toy… Maybe a collar too? The one he’d seen on Koromaru kind of looked worn out, so it couldn’t hurt…

“Oh!” He turned when he heard a woman’s voice. Standing there was the elevator attendant from his apartment. If he was right in his assumption, this was Elizabeth?

“Hello.” He nodded a bit and turned back to what he was doing.

“Are you ignoring Elizabeth?!” Oh no, what was Caroline’s voice.

“It seems like it.” And there was Justine.

He didn’t want to say anything else, he needed to just focus. He had a collar, treats, a few toys and bones. Anything else or should he just split--

He let out a yelp when Caroline walked over to him and kicked him in the shin, something that seemed to be her trademark action at this point. “What was that for?”

“Don’t ignore us!”

He frowned and looked to Elizabeth, hoping she would do something. All she did, however, was laugh. She seemed to find this all to be just about the funniest thing she’d ever seen. Was him being injured by a little girl really that funny? He was sure it looked funny from the outside, but he hadn’t done anything wrong! Couldn’t she at least pretend to scold her?

“Caroline, Margaret doesn’t like when we do things like that.” Thank god for Justine, right? At least she seemed to care.

“Oh, but it’s funny, Justine! He was being quite rude, ignoring us.”

“Margaret says violence isn’t the answer.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “She only thinks that when it’s not her, did you know that?”

“No.” Justine shook her head.

“Well, it is!” Elizabeth pat her head and turned to look at Ren. “Funny seeing you here! Do you have a dog?”

He blinked a few times. “Oh, no. You know the guy who got shot? We’re making a care package for him and his family. These are for his dog.”

“I see!” Elizabeth clapped her hands together and smiled. “How nice!”

“What about you, do you have a dog?”

“Oh no, my girlfriend’s sisters are visiting.” She shook her head. “One’s kind of yippy, like a chihuahua...chinchilla? Small creature.”

“...Don’t tell me you’re getting her a collar because of that.” He frowned a bit, ignoring her apparent issue with words.

“Oh, that’s the plan exactly!” She smiled at him and giggled a bit. “She’s sure to get quite angry about it.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”

“But it’s hilarious to see, really!” She pouted at him as she held a few collars in her hands. “You just haven’t seen it.”

“Angry people usually don’t seem that funny to me. They cause me issues more than anything…” He wasn’t going to budge on this.

“Sounds like you just don’t know how to have fun, hm?” Elizabeth frowned at him and tsked a bit. “We should change that!”

“What do you mean change that?”

“You run from my help and now you can’t see the fun in this! I should teach you how to have fun!” She smiled again, chuckling a bit. It made Ren nervous, to say the least. There was just something about her that bothered him.

She grabbed him by the arm and he swallowed hard. “I really need to go check out, actually.”

“Oh, but if you just play with me for a bit, I’ll pay!” She smiled at him and he felt he wasn’t getting out of this.

It became even worse when the twins moved to stand next to him on either side. He couldn’t really escape when he was being held by the arm and these demon twins were next to him. Maybe he could go backwards? Was that going to be possible…?

“Sister, there you are!” Well, there went that plan. Someone was standing behind him now. When glanced back, it looked like a little girl, holding a big book. Weird… Didn't Minato...?

“Lavenza! We’re going to show this gentleman how to have fun.” Elizabeth smiled at her.

Lavenza frowned. “Oh no, Elizabeth...is this like when you bully Theo?”

They stared at each other for a while and Ren almost didn’t want to hear an answer. Maybe going into all of this blind was a good idea. At least then he wouldn’t have to dread the idea of being bullied by these girls and Elizabeth. The very thought of it was terrifying, to say the least.

“I guess that is it!” Oh dammit, now he was terrified and he had no way out of this.

Lavenza frowned. “Elizabeth, no!”

--

After being the rope in a game of tug of war between Elizabeth and Lavenza, Ren was ready to collapse. The only good part? He hadn’t spend a single penny, seeing as Elizabeth counted that as “fun enough” and paid for it all. Too bad that made it to where he was almost late to the meeting spot.

“Oh, there you are!” Makoto waved at him, a small smile on her face.

He noticed she was holding a basket. It held sweets, some little knit animals, books, movies, and a few other items. Mostly pain medication and the like. Looked like he’d add the dog presents into that and they’d be good to go, then? Well, they’d need to get the curry too…

He looked at the group and saw a few new faces. Ann and Yuuki were there, as he expected, but so were Ryuji and that Haru girl. When had they been added into the mix? Maybe those were the people Ann and Yuuki talked to and got help from or something? That was about all he could guess.

“Oh, uh, hello.” Haru seemed to notice his staring, and gave him a shaky smile.

“Oh, by the way! This is Haru! She hooked me up with the guy who makes those cute knit animals!” Ann smiled, throwing an arm around Haru’s shoulders.

“Nice going.” Ren smiled at her and she looked at her feet.

“It’s not really much, though…”

“They’re super cute, though! I’m sure they’ll love them!” Ann laughed a bit, pinching Haru’s cheek.

Yuuki cleared his throat. “I-I think you all know Sakamoto?”

“Yeah, we do.” Ann nodded.

“Kind of a troublemaker at school, right?” Makoto rose an eyebrow.

“Um, I actually don’t know… I don’t know many people at school, actually.” Haru sighed a bit, hands clasped in front of her.

“Oh, well, we’ll have to change that!” Ann smiled at her and giggled just a bit. “I can introduce you to a couple of people, at least? I...don’t have that many friends, actually…”

“Er, we can cross that bridge after this.” Makoto gave a small laugh as she unpacked Ren’s bag into the basket. “We have to make sure this looks nice.”

“Huh? Looks fine to me.” Ryuji’s hands were in his pockets and he didn’t seem to see anything wrong with it. Ren had to agree.

“We want it to look nice, though. It needs to look like we care.” She frowned at him, shaking her head.

“That’s a good point. If it looks thrown together in a few seconds, it’ll seem like we did it more out of necessity.” Haru nodded surely.

“Kinda gotta agree there…” Yuuki rubbed the back of his head.

“Yep…” Ann looked at Ryuji with a sigh.

“Huh?! H-hey! Don’t look at me like that!” Ryuji shook his head. “I didn’t realize it was that important!”

“It’s fine, really…” Makoto sighed, a frown on her face. “Oh, this is already so hectic…”

“It should be fine, though.” Ren nodded a bit and rubbed the back of his head. “We just need to make it up to--”

“Kurusu-kun? Niijima-san?” Oh shit, that was Ken, wasn’t it?

Makoto shoved the basket at Yuuki and pushed him behind Ryuji before moving to stand next to Ren, a smile on her face. She seemed ready to act like they weren’t here with a care basket, huh? Man, she seemed to be good at it, too. Maybe she could be an actor someday?

“Are you two busy?” Ken frowned. “Sorry, didn’t mean to intrude…”

“Oh no, it’s fine, Amada-kun,” Makoto shook her head, “but, er, what about Aragaki-san…?”

“He’s right there.” He pointed behind himself with his thumb, his expression somewhat blank. “I went with Theodore-san to get him.”

Ren looked over and saw that it looked like Shinjiro was in a wheelchair, though not willingly. It looked like he was being held into the chair by the other man, who was smiling like nothing was happening. He didn’t know why, but it was almost a funny sight to see. So, that was Ken’s guardian when defenseless, then?

“Theodore's the doorman, right?”

“Yeah, he’s also dating Shinjiro-san.” Ken sighed, shaking his head. “Being around them sometimes is too much. That’s why I came over here.”

“Well, if you’re all here…” Makoto walked over to where Ryuji was, moving to push him out of the way and take the basket from Yuuki.

“What’s that?” Ken furrowed his brows.

“This is a care package, to help you guys out while Aragaki-san recovers.” Makoto held it out to him with a smile. “It has things for Koromaru, some pain medication, disposable plates and silverware, sweets...Just little things like that.”

Ken blinked a few times before shaking his head. “No, thank you. But I don’t think we can take it.”

“But I insist.” She frowned as she pushed it towards him again. “We were all worried about you and pitched in, you know.”

“Niijima-san, I know you’re the Student Council President, but you don’t need to do this.” Ken pushed it back.

“This has nothing to do with that! I just want to help!” She pushed it forward again, right into Ken’s hands as she let it go. “So take it!”

Ken blinked a few times, holding the basket. He looked more than a little scared, if Ren was being honest. He almost felt bad for him, he didn’t want to be on the other side of that. Makoto was a force to be reckoned with, from what he’d seen…

“U-uh, thank you, I guess.” Seemed like Ken realized he couldn’t get her to keep it, then?

“Of course.” Makoto smiled at him and giggled a bit, a complete 180 in mood. “I’ll also bring by some curry later, so you won’t have to worry about cooking for at least a couple meals.”

Ken glanced sheepishly at Ren before looking back to Makoto and nodding. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you seem to understand--”

“Just know Shinjiro-san might not be as willing to accept things from you.” Ken cut her off, shaking his head. “He’s stubborn.”

She huffed a bit and crossed her arms. “Oh, don’t worry. I can get anyone to take something if I have to.”

“And that’s why you’re scary…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Chapter Text

When Minako stood in front of him, Minato had a bad feeling. The look in her eyes told him she wanted to do something, and that was never a good thing. Well, okay, it was sometimes a good thing, but right now? Probably not a good thing.

“We need to figure out what’s going on with the murders and assaults!” Well, there it was.

“Is that really a good idea?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard all three victims have lived in the building!” Minako put her hands on her hips. “What if they attack you... or me? Wouldn’t it be better to try and handle this now?”

“We aren’t detectives, Minako.” He shook his head.

She moved forward, slapping her hands onto his shoulders, a frown on her face. “Minato! This could be life or death!”

“Yeah, but it’s not something we should get involved in…” He reached out his hands and moved Minako’s off his shoulders. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“But these boxes…” Minako moved over to where they were keeping them on a shelf. They still weren’t fully unpacked, so to anyone else, they’d just look like more luggage. More luggage that made them seem a little lazy. “We had to have gotten them for a reason!”

Minato thought back to the boy at the apartment door the other day, led there by Elizabeth. Apparently he had a box too, right? That would make three of the four… But what could they use them for? After they all got together, would something become clear to them or something?

“Maybe we should give those to the police. They could probably use the information.” He didn’t think that was a bad idea, at least.

“Oh no!” Minako shook her head. “We’re going to look into this!”

“...I don’t want to, though.” He frowned at her.

Minako frowned at him. “T-then I’ll do it myself!”

It was Minato’s turn to frown at her. “You’ll just get hurt.”

“Then help me!” Minako reached out and grabbed his hand. “Please!”

He sighed, there wasn’t going to be anyway for him to get out of this, was there? Minako was good at getting him to help her out, after all. It was some sort of skill of hers, he was pretty sure. That or it was the curse of bending to your little sibling’s will? It was probably both, actually. That seemed to make sense, at least.

“Minato, earth to Minato!” She waved a hand in front of his face. “You gonna help me out?”

He sighed, and nodded. “Don’t really have much of a choice, right?”

“Yes!” She laughed a bit and hugged him. “I knew I could count on you.”

“You always can…” He pat her back and sighed a bit, a smile on his face. “You damn dork.”

She stick her tongue out. “Hey, I resent that!”

“Sorry, sorry…” He pat her head and shook his own. “Let’s just plan our next move.”

“We need to try and figure out where the other boxes could be to start.” She hummed a bit, thinking. “How can we do that, though?”

“Oh, did I not tell you I have a lead on that?” Oops, he’d kind of forgotten.

“A lead?” She blinked a few times. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I didn’t think about it…” He shrugged. “But there was a kid. Black frizzy hair and glasses, apparently he had a box like this too.”

“That so?” Minako thought for a moment. “Great! I have the perfect idea!”

“Oh?” He rose an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“You hunt down that kid and I’ll look into finding the other box holder!” She gave him a thumbs up, happy as could be.

“Minako…” He frowned. “Will that really work?”

“Oh yeah, I’m good at this kind of stuff. I just have to be casual about it, find some sort of lead and go with it.”

“You think so?”

“Unlike you I’m good at asking casual questions, you know?” She laughed a bit. “Don’t worry, I totally have this under control.”

“If you say so.”

--

Minako did not have this under control. She had totally just lied to her brother, but well, she didn’t want him to have to do all the work. She needed to at least try and figure something out, right? Maybe she could start by casually asking about weird stuff in the complex would help? Who could she ask, though...?

Oh! That was Aigis, she might know something! She was dating Elizabeth, right? So it seemed like a good place to start (even if the girl walking with her seemed a bit off putting). Just a few casual questions, try and glean a little information. As a bonus, she wasn't as scary as her girlfriend so... Yeah, she was doing this.

“Hello, Aigis!” She waved, running up to her with a smile. “You’re Aigis, right?”

The other girl frowned at her. “Who’re you?”

“Oh, you’re the sister of Minato-san, correct?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Yeah, that’s me! Minako Arisato,” she looked at the other one, “nice to meet you!”

“...I’m Metis.” She looked away then, a frown on her face.

“Please excuse my sister, she’s a bit awkward around new people…” Aigis looked at Metis, a small smile on her face.

“I understand that! Minato’s awkward around new people too.” Minako giggled a bit, nodding.

“Siblings are interesting sometimes, yes?” Aigis laughed a bit herself, shaking her head.

“Sister, don’t talk about me when I’m right here…!” Metis frowned at her, arms crossed.

“Sorry, Metis, I wasn’t saying it with malicious, though…” She pat her head and laughed a bit.

“You know, Aigis, you’re surrounded by a lot of interesting people!” This was going to work…

“Where did that come from?” Or not, dammit Metis…

“Oh, uh, I just think you seem interesting! And I’ve seen her interact with a few others who are also kinda interesting.” She smiled, doing her best to stay casual about this. She could do this.

“You think so?” Aigis laughed a bit, a hand on Metis’ shoulder as if telling her to not snap again.

“Yeah! I mean, so many weird people….” Okay, where did she go from here. “Like Elizabeth!”

“Elizabeth?” Aigis thought for a moment. “She is quite odd.”

“I mean, is anyone weirder than her?” She kind of knew what she was doing, maybe. Kind of.

Aigis blinked a few times, but didn’t seem that confused. Metis, however was glaring at her now. Maybe she could tell there was a sort of...less than genuine  meaning in her question. Dammit, of course someone would see through it. If only Aigis had been alone…

“Oh, well I’m not sure…” Aigis looked around before pointing at a man with a grey bowl cut. “What about him?”

“Huh?” Minako rose an eyebrow. “Do you know him…?”

“No, not past one conversation, but he looks strange.”

“Who actually thinks a bowl cut is a good hair style…?” Metis shook her head.

“There’s probably quite a few people, actually, but…” Minako sighed and looked over at him again. “I’ll try to talk to him.”

“Alright.” Aigis smiled and nodded just a bit. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, I’m sure I’ll need it.”

She walked over to him, a smile on her face. She could do this, it should be alright… She could do this, he was a little odd looking, but it would be okay. He didn’t look odd in a bad way, at the very least! He looked kind, if anything. A kind weirdo, never a bad thing!

“Do you need something?” He seemed to see her coming up and was ready to talk, oh, well alright then.

“Hello!” She waved at him and smiled. “You seem like the kind of guy to get into a lot of...fun, huh?” Was that too much?

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded, a smile on his face. He didn’t seem to think it was too much, then. That was good.

“Man, I can only guess that kind of things you get into!” She smiled at him, he still seemed to think she was just curious, good.

“One time...wait, have we met?”

Minako blinked a few times. Oh yeah, she’d been talking to Yukari about her friend’s issues and he’d needed to get by. “Maybe once?”

He nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

“Yeah, but…” She did her best not to frown. “You were about to say something, right?”

“Oh yeah, one time...it was actually super recent, but one time these weird twins gave me a box.” He nodded, seeming sure of himself.

Minako’s eyes lit up at that. “Oh? Really? What was in it?”

He watched her carefully. “Will you believe me if I tell you?”

“Of course!” She smiled and nodded a bit.

“...Papers, papers about people living in this apartment…” He seemed to be thinking for a while. “It was weird.”

“I have a box like that, too!” She smiled and pointed at herself a smile on her face.

“Really?”

“Yep! I’m Minako Arisato, by the way!” She was grinning now. “Maybe we can help each other out, hm?”

He gave a small nod. “Yu Narukami, and yeah, maybe we can.”

--

Minato was having just a little trouble finding this kid. The way he looked was actually pretty...normal, plain in a lot of ways. The frizzy hair was about the only thing Minato didn’t see much on teens, but even that wasn’t much to go based off of. How was he supposed to find him…?

He’d said he’d come back later, but now he didn’t have much choice but to look for him. Minako was in one of her moods, and he wasn’t the type to stop her. No, he had an issue where he kind of enabled her if his first nos fell on deaf ears. It was usually more fun that way, after all.

“How am I supposed to find this kid…?” He sighed and shook his head. This was going to be bad.

He walked along, a frown on his face. His best bet was going to be asking Margaret about this, huh? She was still super off putting to him, but there wasn’t much he could do. She would be the best chance he had. He wished that wasn’t the case, but it was.

“Excuse me…” He walked up to her and frowned a bit. “Could I ask you a few questions?”

Margaret smiled at him and nodded. “I can do my best to help.”

“Have you seen a young boy, about sixteen, with frizzy black hair? Glasses and kinda hunched when he walks…”

“The hunched over walking could be you too, no?” She chuckled a bit, her chin now resting on her hand. “But as for the rest…”

“Yes?” He rose an eyebrow.

“It matches the description of a high schooler living here.” She smiled at him, a chilly smile with no warmth to be found.

“Can you give me any more information?” That wasn’t going to be helpful. He at least needed a floor.

“I’m sorry, but that’s something I can’t do.” She shook her head. “I must keep some things secret, don’t you think?”

He frowned, but nodded. He understood what she was saying, even if it made things harder for him. At least that meant the information of people living here was safe with Margaret, right? Not much one could do only knowing they lived in the building, after all.

“I’ll leave you be then, thank you for the help.”

She chuckled a bit and nodded. “It’s not a problem, really. I’m here to help.”

He mumbled a yes and turned to leave, only to see someone walking in. Speak of the devil, it was that kid again. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say Margaret had somehow manipulated this all to happen. There was no way that was the case, right? She was just a kind of odd woman who seemed off thanks to her eyes, not a demon or something. Yeah, just weird eyes... Not a demon...

“Could that be who you were looking for?” She sounded amused, a chuckle escaping her lips. “Maybe you should speak to him.”

“Oh, uh…” He looked over at her and nodded. “Yeah, thank you.”

“Of course.” Everytime she spoke she seemed less and less human to Minato. He was really having an issue telling himself she wasn't a demon.

He just walked away, up to the boy. He placed a hand on his shoulder and watched him jump a bit. Oh dear, he was still kind of jumpy, wasn’t he? He hoped being asked about the box again out of the blue wouldn’t scare him, then. He was just really curious about it, after all.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He put his hand back in his pocket and frowned.

“It’s fine, really.” The boy shook his head and looked at him again, eyes going wide in recognition. “Wait, you’re…?”

“Minato Arisato, nice to see you again.” He nodded a bit. “I didn’t want to bother you, since you said you’d come again on your own, but my sister is getting curious.”

“What about?” He frowned at Minato.

“The boxes, she wants to figure out why they were given to us.” He shrugged a bit. “Apparently she’s looking for whoever or whatever could have the fourth box, so…”

“I see…” The boy messed with his hair and frowned. “I guess you want me to come along, then?”

“Not until I ask your name.” He shook his head. “I’ll look creepy either way, but I feel asking your name first makes it less so.”

“Oh, uh, Ren Amamiya.”

“Good to know, Kurusu-kun.” He gave a small smile and nodded a bit. “You should go grab the box and meet me at my apartment, alright?”

Ren’s eyes seemed to light up just a bit, as if happy to have someone to help him with this, and nodded. “Yeah.”

--

When Minato walked in with a teenager in tow, Minako knew things were going to go well! She’d gotten Yu to grab his box and the two were sitting on the living room floor, three boxes in front of them. There was the fourth box, in the boy’s hands. Oh, this was going great. More information, here they came!

“Hey there! Nice to meet you. I’m Minako, you know Minato already, so, well…” She laughed and shook her head. “No need for me to introduce him, huh?”

“I don’t know him...” Yu frowned.

“Then I’m Minato Arisato, the older twin.” She frowned at him and he smiled right back. “You are?”

“Yu Narukami, nice to meet you.” He smiled and peeked at the teen. “Your turn, then.”

He looked a little uncomfortable, but he cleared his throat. “I’m Ren Amamiya, nice to meet you both.”

Minako smiled and was about to say something, when a cat jumped out of Ren’s bag. Oh, that wasn’t good, Minato was super allergic. That alone wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t always shove his face in their fur when he saw one, though.

“And I am Morgana.” Wait, what the fuck? Did the cat just talk?

“What?!”

“That’s just not normal…” Minato shook his head.

“How cool, a talking cat!” Yu smiled.

Three kinds of people, eh? That seemed to be the case with all of the adults in the room, at the very least. Though Minako wasn’t sure Minato’s reaction was intense enough for a talking cat of all things! Not to mention Yu thinking this was cool, for some reason? Where was the confusion?!

“Minato! Aren’t you at least a little freaked out by all of this?” She was pretty sure he should be.

“I had to speak to that Margaret lady today, nothing else will phase me.” He shook his head and sighed a bit.

“Oh come on, she’s not that scary you big baby!”

“She is, though. Miss "Shinjiro is soooo scary" shouldn't talk.”

“Excuse me!” Morgana hopped up onto the couch and frowned at them. “I’m still trying to talk here!”

“Sorry kitty…” Minako coughed a bit and looked away. Minako would let Minato get away with the comment about her finding Shinjiro scary for now.

“Oh, and I’m not a cat!” He glared at Yu and Minako. “I’m a human, cursed to be a cat and I’m sure these boxes hold the truth.”

Minako frowned. “What do you mean by the truth…?”

“The truth behind this building! There’s something going on with it, you know?” Morgana seemed to be serious about this.

“It does seem kind of weird, huh?” Minato frowned and looked to the side. “I mean, Margaret, Elizabeth, Theodore…”

“I’d say that Marie girl, too.” Yu nodded.

Ren fixed his glasses. “Don’t forget the weird twins.”

“Oh, and I saw a girl with a big book.” Minako nodded. “She looked related too…”

“Probably! Silver hair and golden eyes…” Morgana nodded surely. “Clear signs they’re related to it, but that Marie girl has to be too! She’s been adopted into their family.”

“Oh, adoption is always nice!” Minako clapped her hands together and giggled.

“That’s not the point of this conversation!” Morgana snapped at Minako, only to shrink back when she reached for his scruff. “W-we have more important things to focus on right now!”

Minato had sat next to his sister by then. “You mean the stuff in the boxes?”

“Yeah! We need to figure out why this is important and why you were sent these…” Morgana seemed to settle onto the couch.

“I find it it weird I have information about Theo, but there’s really not much about him listed…” Minako frowned. “It raises more questions than anything.”

“Same with the stuff I got on Elizabeth.” Minato sighed just thinking about it. “How troublesome…”

“I think I have information about the twins and the girl with the book…” Ren rubbed the back of his neck. “There was a lot of stuff missing on it.”

Yu crossed his arms. “I could say the same about Margaret and Marie…”

“It’s like the person who sent these want us to learn more about them!” Morgana sighed a bit. “Maybe that’s why they delivered them, too…”

“Maybe it’s supposed to be some sort of game, and they know about it?” Minako felt they needed to try and brainstorm at the very least, couldn't let the cat--cursed human have all the fun.

“Or it could be linked to the murders.” Yu suggested this with a frown. “Could they be behind it?”

“Theo is close to Shinjiro-san, right?” Minato frowned. “Why would he attack, or allow his sisters to attack, someone close to him? That doesn’t seem to make sense.”

“Maybe he agreed to it to throw anyone off their trail?” Ren suggested this with a small frown.

“No way, if they want us to know, they wouldn’t try and throw us off!” Minako shook her head. “This makes no sense.”

She heard Morgana groan. “This is gonna take a while…”

Chapter Text

Yu realized as soon as he left the Arisato’s apartment that they learned nothing. They had made almost no leads on why they had the boxes, actually. All they’d decided was to leave the boxes there, just because those two didn’t have a roommate that wasn't in the loop. That was probably a good thing, seeing as Tohru might get nosy. He wasn't sure about Ren's roommate, but still. Better safe than sorry.

Tohru...He needed to talk to him. He’d been lying about delivering something for his uncle and lied to his uncle about taking a vacation. Why was he really here? What was he doing, and why was he mooching off Yu? There were so many questions and he couldn’t help but ask. He’d told himself he wouldn’t but dammit, he needed to. He was too curious and kind of angry about this.

Well, then he needed to head back to his apartment and talk to him. He just had to do his best to not be super steamed about this. He needed to at least seem calm when he talked to him. If he got too angry Tohru might keep lying to him. Being firm but calm was going to be his best bet.

He made it to his door and sighed, shaking his head. It was now or never. He was going to have to do this, as hard as it was going to be.

“Adachi-san, are you in?” He opened the door and looked around, doing his best to sound casual.

“Oh, Narukami-kun!” He popped his head out of the living room, a smile on his face. “I was wondering when you’d get back. What were you up to?”

“Actually, Adachi-san, I’d like to be the one to question you.” Yu smiled at him, hoping it didn’t look like an angry smile.

Tohru laughed. “Well, I don’t see what kind of questions you could be asking.”

“Why did you lie to me and my uncle?”

They stood in silence, staring at each other. Tohru looked like this was the last thing he expected, and he didn’t seem happy. Well, Yu had expected that, but he didn’t think it would be so fast. Tohru usually seemed to be so calm… It was almost like a mask Tohru was wearing was being broken by that little question.

In fact, soon enough he was smiling again and laughing. “Oh sorry! I was embarrassed to tell you a spent all my vacation money…”

“Is that so?” So he’d been telling his uncle the truth, then? Or he was good at keeping up with his lies…

Well, he’d trust Tohru. That was always good, why not trust someone when you could? Distrusting any and everyone just led to a lot of paranoia and pain, after all.

“Yeah, that is so!” Tohru laughed a bit, smiling still.

“Good to know, but you can just tell me that in the future, alright?” He smiled back. “I’m happy to help you out!”

“Good to know, thanks, Narukami-kun!” Tohru laughed a bit and Yu nodded. This was going to all be alright, but, well…

“I think I’m going to go out again. A lot seems to be happening today.” He sighed. He needed to go think on this all some more. Why didn’t he want Tohru to see the box…?

“Oh, alright!” He laughed a bit and waved. “Have fun, then.”

“Will do.”

He gave a small thumbs up and a smile before turning to go to the door. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think he saw Tohru grinning as he turned. That couldn’t be the case, though, right?

Right?

--

Yu walked along, doing his best to clear his head. He’d been out for how long now? He wasn’t sure, but he’d left the apartments a while ago… Maybe he should go to a cafe or something. It might help him clear his mind more… That seemed like the best idea, at the very least.

He could eat dinner and not worry about Tohru making him over think again… Hell, he could take him something home so he didn’t bother him. That was the only thing he could think of, honestly. Otherwise things would get messy, really quickly.

“Yeah, a cafe seems nice…” And with that he walked in, doing his best to stay calm.

He walked into the building and took a seat quickly. It looked like, wait, was that Mitsuru? He was pretty sure that was her, at least. He’d know that red hair almost anywhere, after all. Not many had a color as vibrant as that. She seemed to be sitting with a man, glasses on his face, however.

“Thank you for meeting me here, Okumura-san.” He couldn’t see her face, but she sounded tense.

“Ah, yes…” The man fixed his glasses, a frown on his face. “Did you need something?”

“I wanted to speak to you about your daughter and her...marriage.”

The man’s frown deepened a bit. “Kirijo-san, I don’t believe that’s for you to worry about.”

Mitsuru sighed, shaking her head. “I know, but I was once in a similar position as her.”

“Yes, you were, and I heard you went through with the marriage.”

“Yes, but…” Mitsuru tense. “The marriage was recently annulled, as, well...we both found the marriage wasn’t for us.”

“I don’t see what this has to do with Haru and her marriage.” He shook his head, frowning.

“...Are you sure this marriage will benefit both her and the man she’s to marry?” Mitsuru sounded tense again. “I saw her the other day, she doesn’t seem nearly as at peace with this arrangement as I did at her age.”

“Haru agreed to this of her own will.” Okumura shook his head. “She would speak to me if she didn’t want it.”

“...She seems to care for you, Okumura-san. She wants you to be happy, even at the risk of her own happiness.”

Okumura started her down, and Yu was pretty sure she was returning the stare with an icy glare. Neither seemed as if they wanted to budge, even an inch. Yu felt this was going to end badly if he left it alone, but… Jumping in would be just as bad, right? Mitsuru seemed to have it under control at least.

“And what would you suggest me do, Kirijo-san?”

“Stop trying for the political world, or do it on your own merits. Your daughter doesn’t want this marriage…” She sighed. “I wouldn’t be able to tell my father this, if he was alive. So I felt someone should speak to you on behalf of your daughter.”

Okumura sneered a bit and he looked away. “You know nothing of this.”

Mitsuru stood up, and if one wasn’t watching the exchange, it would look almost too graceful. Yu could see the tense shoulders, the stiff back… She looked pissed and he could only see her from behind. That was really bad.

“I see. Have a nice day, Okumura-san.” And with a quick turn, she started for the door. Yu did his best to act like he hadn’t been watching.

He didn't want to see what Mitsuru would do if she knew he’d been listening in and watching. He felt that all it could lead to was death or something like that. And with the murders? Yeah, he didn’t want to risk it.

He should just order some food and not worry about it anymore. He got way too involved in way too many things already, right? He needed to try and focus in at least a little more. That was the best he could do, at this point… Or he’d get way too busy and stressed for his own good.

“Hello?” He peeked up again when he heard Okumura on the phone. “Yes, there’s a problem…”

What was he talking to? What problem was he having? Wait, no! No, he couldn’t do this. He told himself he would stay out of it and he needed to keep that up. He at least needed to try and keep this up for at least a day, right? Giving up right now would be so dumb!

“Yes, it was that Kirijo woman, yes…” Oh, he was on the phone about Mitsuru.

Yu really told himself not to get involved, but this was so hard. He really wanted to hear more of this. He felt he could learn more if he just kept listening right now. Was that alright, though? He would break what he just promised himself, but, come on… This was too juicy, man!

“You promise you can handle it for me?” Oh that sounded bad. “Yes, I will uphold my end of...yes… No, that didn’t work...”

This was bad, should he talk to Mitsuru about this? He felt that might be the best case… She might get mad that he was listening in, but she needed to know. What if they were talking about something like an attack on her life? He couldn’t sit by and let that happen, no way.

He stood up, forgetting about even getting food, and made for the door. Maybe if he was fast enough he could catch her. There was no way she got far, unless she’d been in a car, but even then! She seemed the type to use limos and such, so it’d be easy to hunt her down even then. Plus they lived in the same building, right?

Oh, he could find her, totally, but… Well, the sooner the better, that was just how he saw it. For all he knew there was a sniper watching her right now, ready to take her out! He couldn’t let that happen! That would be the worst thing to ever happen.

“I gotta find her, asap!” And off he ran.

--

Yu couldn’t find Mitsuru, and he felt panicked. What if he was too late?! What if she was hurt or something? Oh man, he felt like he was messing up big time and he didn’t know how to fix this. What could he do to fix this? There had to be something, right?

Maybe he should head to the Apartments, there’d been a death and an attack there recently, after all. Plus he said something didn’t work. Were the deaths to scare her? If not those, he was sure Shinjiro being attacked was it… She'd said they were friends, after all.

He needed to note this for later too. He could talk to the Arisatos and Ren about this, maybe. What if there was a chance that this was a lead? That could help them a lot, you know? The more leads, the better. If Okumura was linked to it...well, they needed to figure out what to do after that.

Oh man, so many things to do. Where did he start? Mitsuru seemed to be the most important thing right now, but if he couldn’t find her, would it be okay to contact the others first? Maybe they could help him find her! Four sets of eyes were better than one, after all. Well, as long as they knew who Mitsuru was. Oh--

“Hey, it’s you!” He turned when he heard Yosuke’s voice. Oh, was he here too? He hadn’t expected that.

“It’s me, yeah.” He gave a shaky smile and did his best to act like he wasn’t freaking out.

Yosuke stared at him, a frown on his face. “Uh, you doing alright?”

Oh shit, Yosuke saw through him. Maybe he was smarter than he looked, or his poker face was actually cracking… That wasn’t right, though. It never cracked! He was so good with his poker face… He could, uh, he could win a poker tournament!

Yeah, that was it. So Yosuke shouldn’t be able to see through him that easily. Right? There was no way, maybe he could play it off as Yosuke imagining it? That seemed like it could work, if he could be calm, cool, and collected about this.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” He smiled and nodded a bit. Nailed it.

“No way, there’s something off about you.”

Or maybe he totally flopped? Seemed like he totally flopped. God dammit.

“No, I’m really fine, thank you, though.” He smiled again and shook his head. Why wouldn’t Yosuke just buy it?

Yosuke sighed and shook his head, there was no way he believed him right? What else could he do? There had to be some way he could convince him he was totally fine, right? There was still a chance, no matter how slim it was…!

Yosuke smiled at him. “Alright, alright, I’ll believe you. On one condition.”

“What?” He blinked. “I mean, sure, what condition?”

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you? If not, come grab a bite with me! If you don’t stress at all during dinner I’ll believe you…” He paused. “If you do, you tell me what’s going on.”

Oh damn, it was like Yosuke could tell he was rushing around. This was the perfect way to get him to break if he didn’t agree… Well shit, he’d have to agree and hope Mitsuru would be okay if he wanted Yosuke off his back. Okay, that was a bit harsh, but...yeah, he wanted him off his back.

“Fine, I’ll do it.” He nodded a bit and smiled. “I haven't eaten, so it should be fun.”

Now, could he scare Yosuke off in any way…? Maybe if he acted like he didn’t understand personal space? Most people seemed to be put off by that, honestly. Even  the friendliest, most well meaning were put off, in fact. So yeah, he would try that…

“So, where do you want--” Yosuke let out a small yelp when Yu was suddenly at his side, arm slung across his shoulders. “Uh…”

Yu rose an eyebrow, acting as casual as could be. “Is something wrong?”

He noted Yosuke going red. “Uh, do you have to stand that close?”

“I’m not that close, am I?” He could play this off like he didn’t know what was going on.

“...Wait.” Yosuke blinked a few times. “Are...are you coming onto me?”

Not what he was expecting, but he could roll with it. “Yes.”

Yosuke was about as red as a tomato now, could he not tell when something was a joke? Oh, maybe Yu was too good at being deadpan when it came to jokes like that? It seemed to make sense, with how Yosuke was acting.

“I was just joking.” Shouldn’t drag this out too long, then.

Yosuke gave a nervous laugh and shook his head. “Y-you should’ve said that sooner, man! I thought you were serious.”

Yu thought for a moment. “I could be, if you want me to.”

“Yeah--" Yosuke blinked. "Wait, what?!”

“I think you’re a nice guy, if you want me to come onto you, I could.” He thought what he was saying was obvious.

Yosuke seemed to think for a few moments before sighing. “I--Let me think about it dammit! You can’t spring this stuff on a guy!”

Yu gave him a thumbs up. “You got it.”

“Why are you being so casual about it now?!”

Yu blinked a few times. “...You’re such a mystery, you know that?”

“I’m the mystery?!”

Chapter Text

Ren wasn’t sure why someone was knocking on his bedroom door, but it scared him. It made him feel like he’d messed up on probation somehow. Maybe those boxes were a test and the other three had turned him in? But then, why would Morgana trust them too? Was he a robot and in on it?

This was all ridiculous to think about, but Ren really didn’t want to stand up and go to the door. Could he just pretend he was still asleep, would the person go away? He’d rather not risk pissing off the police if it was them, but… This was all too much for him right now. He just needed some more time to rest himself.

“Amamiya-kun, are you awake?” Oh, it was Yusuke, how had he forgotten about his roommate?

“Sorry, just got up. Give me a second.” He stood up and threw on his glasses. He didn’t want to have to squint or something.

He opened the door and Yusuke was standing there, looking like he was ready to go out. Was there a reason he was standing there…? He didn’t understand, if he was being honest about this. Was there something going on and he’d forgotten about it…? He really hoped not. He’d feel bad about that, honestly. He just really hated forgetting things.

He didn’t want to seem rude or anything, after all. He just wanted to try and seem like a nice guy, at the very least. Forgetting something when he was told about it would make that a lot harder, if he was being honest. And with his roommate? That would just be bad.

Yusuke smiled at him a bit, seemingly a little embarrassed about something. “Um, my Sensei wanted to meet you…”

Ren blinked a few times, but nodded. “Sure. I’d love to meet him. Should I get dressed?”

“Oh no, he’ll understand that I just woke you.” Yusuke shook his head. “Sensei is very kind, he won’t mind!”

“If you say so…” He nodded and opened the door a bit more, stepping out. “Is he here?”

“Yes, he’s visiting from his own home. He was the one to set up my living here, so he wanted to make sure it was going alright.” Yusuke smiled a bit, as if in admiration of the man.

“I see...I wonder if he heard about me and that’s why he came by…” Ren messed with his bangs and frowned a bit.

“Oh, well, he seemed curious, not worried.” Yusuke blinked a few times, as if not understanding. Ren couldn’t help but think that was almost cute. Also kind of scary, because one should probably realize how worrying living with someone with a criminal record could be.

“That’s good to know, thanks.” He smiled at him and laughed a bit.

He followed after Yusuke then, smiling just a little. It seemed Yusuke trusted him, despite the rumors that surely floated around the building. Maybe he was just oblivious to them? Ren could see it be either or at this point, if he was being honest.

He saw an older man standing in the living room. His outfit was more on the traditional side, not the kind of thing you would expect your average, everyday person to wear. It seemed to fit him and his low ponytail, though, in its own strange way. Ren almost felt like he was meeting someone he should greet with a bow over the now usual handshake he used.

“Oh, so you’re Yusuke’s roommate, then?” The man smiled at him. “I’m Ichiryusai Madarame, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah, Ren Amamiya, it’s nice to meet you too, sir.” He nodded in greeting, doing his best to not look like a nervous wreck.

“Amamiya-kun, have you heard of Sensei?” Yusuke looked over at Ren, an eyebrow raised.

He rubbed the back of his head. “Can’t say I have. If I did the name didn’t stick with me.”

Yusuke frowned a bit and opened his mouth to say something, only for Madarame to hold up a hand and laugh. “Now, now, Yusuke! Not everyone is in touch with the art world!”

“Sorry, I’m not in touch with a lot of things…” Ren looked at his feet. “But I’m willing to learn, if that means anything.”

That made Yusuke’s eyes light up again and he grabbed Ren by the hands. “I would love to teach you! There’s so many amazing art pieces that Sensei has done!”

“I-is that so?” He gave a small smile.

“Oh Yusuke, no need to talk up an old man like me!” Madarame laughed a bit and shook his head. “I do appreciate it, but you should let the art do the talking.”

Yusuke blinked a few times and looked at his feet, letting go of Ren. “Ah yes, my apologies, Sensei.”

Madarame laughed a bit and shook his head. “I know you’re passionate about this, Yusuke! That’s the kind of passion you need to hold onto.”

“Thank you Sensei!” Yusuke nodded, seemingly eating up every word spoken.

“Well then,” Madarame turned to look at Ren, “Amamiya-kun, I hope you’ll be kind to Yusuke from here on out.”

“I’ve tried to be kind, but yeah, I can do that even more now…” He smiled a bit, hoping that didn’t come off as too sassy or anything. He didn’t mean for it to sound sassy.

He wasn’t sure, but he swore he saw Madarame’s smile fall for a second before returning. “That’s good to hear! Now, could you leave me to speak to Yusuke? I need to speak to him about my next exhibition.”

Ren swore he saw Yusuke almost flinch, but he nodded. He didn’t want to upset Madarame more. Anyone could easily call in a fake crime for him if he pissed them off, after all. He hoped Madarame wasn’t the type, but better to be safe than sorry. He would just ask Yusuke about this later.

“I’ll just go back to my room, then. Talk to you later, Kitagawa-kun.” He waved to the other teen before starting back.

Yusuke gave a small nod. “Yes, speak to you later.”

He felt bad as he walked away, but there was no stopping now.. He’d said he’d leave and he was halfway there. Going back now would just seem like a dick move or something at this point. He couldn’t come off like that, not right now. There was just too much at risk for him and his future.

Sorry, Yusuke…

--

Ren wasn’t expecting to see Sojiro at the door when he opened it later that day, but there he was. His arms were crossed and he didn’t seem happy to be there, which confused Ren, but hey. Maybe he had to come check on Ren due to the probation thing? That seemed to make sense, at least.

“Need something?” He tilted his head to the side, a small frown on his face.

“Ah, good, you’re here…” He sighed a bit, shaking his head. “Look, I don’t want to ask someone like you, but I’m desperate. I need to go run a few emergency errands and no one else is answering…”

“Do you need me to go with you or something?”

“No, you idiot…!” He groaned, rubbing his temples. “Look, I need you to go sit in the living room of my apartment. You can do whatever you want, read or watch TV or whatever, but keep an ear out. If you hear any loud sounds, call me right away.”

Ren blinked a few times. That wasn’t what he’d expected, but oh well. It sounded like a simple enough job. Maybe he and Morgana could discuss what to do about all the attacks and such? He felt Sojiro wanted him to make sure that girl in his apartment wasn’t hurt in some way, after all…

“Sure, let me just go grab a book, alright?” He hoped that would be alright.

Sojiro sighed, but nodded. “Just be fast about it, got it?”

“Got it.” He ran back, grabbing a few books and his bag. “Morgana, get in here.”

“Huh?” Morgana peeked with one eye, the other closed. “What do you want?”

“We’re going to go sit in another apartment, I don’t get a choice and thought we could use the time to talk things over.” He nodded surely and Morgana yawned.

“Alright, alright…” He jumped in the bag and yawned again. “Sounds good to me.”

“Mmhmm…” He closed the bag and made his way out to the front again, smiling at Sojiro. “Ready to go.”

“Follow me, then.” Sojiro nodded a bit and moved next door, opening it. “In you go.”

“Got it…” He did it and looked back at him. “Anything you want me to do about the apartment?”

“Lock the door, don’t you dare open it for anyone. I have a key so I won’t be knocking. Make sure to keep the curtains drawn and the fire escape closed too.” Sojiro seemed to be more strict about this than Ren would expect. Maybe paranoia could be hard to deal with for a lot of people, then, huh?

“Got it.” He nodded. “I’ll make sure everything is shut and locked tight. Nothing will be getting in.”

Sojiro sighed. “Don’t act like this is a super hard task or anything, but...thanks. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” And off he went, leaving Ren to deal with this alone.

“Well, first things first…” He shut the door and locked it before moving to the living room. It looked like the curtains were already drawn, and the fire escape shut, so.. That was easy enough.

He sat on the couch and opened the bag, Morgana popping out with a gasp. “It’s so stuffy in there!”

“Shhh, I think someone else lives here.” He didn’t want to alert her to a talking cat, after all. “We need to be quiet, anyway, so I can keep an ear out.”

Morgana frowned, but nodded. “Alright, but we need to talk about this like you said… What’s with all the murders and attacks?”

“Not sure, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Sojiro-san wants me to stay here while he’s out because of it…”

“But at night? I can only think of one that happened after dark…” Morgana frowned.

“That was the most recent one, though.” Ren pointed this out with a sigh. “It’s going to be fresh in Sojiro-san’s mind.”

“Is that really enough to make it such a big deal, though? I mean...The others were still pretty recent.” Morgana had a point there.

Ren frowned, thinking about it. “You have a point. What could it be then--”

Suddenly a crash rang out. Ren wasn’t sure, but if the layout was anything like his apartment, it was coming from the kitchen. There was someone in the dark kitchen, and he was sitting on the couch. Sojiro said to call him, but… He never got his number. Shit, that wasn’t good, why hadn't he gotten his number? Without it, well, he’d have to deal with this on his own!

He jumped up, running for the kitchen, Morgana hot on his tail. He peeked in, throwing on the light and standing there was an orange haired girl. She was shaking, staring at the broken plate on the ground. If Ren was being honest, he thought she looked more scared that the light was on than that she’d dropped the plate.

This was that Futaba girl, right? He’d seen her that one day after school and his first day here, but that was it. Seeing her up close, no one besides the two of them (and Morgana) around was odd… It was almost like he wasn’t sure he should be near her. He was almost afraid he’d hurt her if he got too close. As if he was watching an animal in her natural habitat.

“Are you alright?”

“...!” She jumped a bit, fear clear on her face. “Y-You…!”

“Whoa there, no need to be so scared, I’m not going to hurt you…” That was about the last thing he wanted to do.

“W-who…? W-where’s Sojiro?” She was holding her hands close to her chest, lower lip quivering.

“He asked me to keep an eye on the apartment while he was gone… He told me to call if I heard a noise, but I don’t have his number so I came to check it out myself.” He watched her carefully, could he take another step forward…?

“B-by the landline…” She was still shaking, backing up. So he couldn’t get closer to her, got it.

“Okay, I’ll go call him. Don’t touch the broken plate, you’ll hurt yourself…” And he turned to leave, peeking back to see Morgana approach Futaba.

For someone who said he wasn’t a cat, he was good at acting like one. He moved up to her, purring and rubbing against her leg. That seemed to calm her down, as she started to pet his head and stare at him. Good, Morgana had this under control, at the very least… All Ren could do was call Sojiro.

“I hope he won’t be pissed I didn’t call him right away.”

--

After the scolding of a lifetime from Sojiro, Ren just wanted to go lay down. If the groan from Morgana told him anything, he felt the same way. Well, at least that’s what they were going to do, right? It was late, so there wasn’t much else to do.

“Sis, what are you doing?” He paused for a second. Was that Makoto?

He glanced down the hall and there was Makoto, standing with a woman. Her hair was longer and lighter, but her face was similar, if not more mature. Judging by the use of “sis,” Ren guessed that she was her older sister. He hadn’t realized she had a sister… Then again, he didn’t realize a lot of things.

Makoto looked worried and seemed to be in her pajamas. Her sister, however, seemed to be dressed for a job of some sort. They were in front of an apartment door and Ren had to guess that was their apartment.

“Makoto…” The woman turned back to look at her with a sigh. “I have a lot of work to do. I’m heading out for a bit.”

“This late?” Makoto sounded more than upset. “Sis--”

“You should go sleep, Makoto. You have a lot of things to do tomorrow.” She pat her sister’s head and started down the hall, towards Ren. Oh shit.

He looked back to his door and reached into his pocket-- Oh shit. Had he really forgotten his key?! Would Yusuke be awake and aware enough to come open it for him? If not he was going to be stuck out here all night. No way was he going back to Sojiro’s. The man was angry enough at him as it was.

He heard the tap of heels against the floor as he dug into his other pocket. Maybe he’d just placed it in the wrong pocket, or even in his bag! There were a lot of possibilities, he just hoped one of them turned out to be true. The tap of heels getting closer, however, made it hard for him to focus on looking. Please don’t let the woman speak to him…

“Is this your apartment?” Dammit, the woman was speaking to him.

“I’m sorry, you are…?” He looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

She held out a hand. “Sae Niijima. Who are you, and is this your apartment?” She wasn’t giving up on that, huh?

“I’m Ren Amamiya…” He took the hand and shook it. “Yeah, I might’ve forgotten my key, though…”

“I see…” She seemed to be studying him. Either she’d heard about what he’d done, or she thought he was lying. Maybe it was both.

“Yeah. I could always knock and see if my roommate would let me in, though.” He shrugged. “Kind of scary being out here with no way in, though…”

“Oh? Why is it scary?” Sae rose an eyebrow, watching him carefully.

“Wasn’t there a murder here recently?” He rose an eyebrow. “Plus another man was shot…”

Sae, while still tense, seemed to allow her shoulders to ease some. Maybe that was the answer she was looking for, then? He hoped he was seeming less and less threatening the more she and he watched each other and talked. Otherwise, well, things might get messy.

“Well, then.” He knocked on the door and prayed Yusuke would hear it and get it right away. The sooner he got inside, the better.

He could feel Sae’s eyes on him, staring into the back of his head. This wasn’t good, he felt like he’d be dead if looks could kill. Why was she so interested in what he was doing? He’d heard her say she was going to work, shouldn’t she just go and leave him be, then? He wished she would on ahead and forget about him already, at the very least…

“Doesn’t seem like your roommate is answering.” Sae sounded less than pleasant as she said that.

“He’s the artsy type, actually. He might be busy with a painting…” He knocked again. “Maybe he’ll hear this time.”

They stood there in silence again, but Ren was sure he heard footsteps. Oh please, please Yusuke. Open the damn door and save him from this. That was about all Ren could think of, seeing as Sae terrified him. He’d just met her and he was scared, this had to be a record of some sort.

“Hello?” Yusuke opened the door, looking tired. Someone had been painting through their exhaustion, eh?

“Sorry, Kitagawa-kun, I forgot my key…” He sighed a bit, doing his best to ignore Sae’s stare.

“Oh.” He shook his head and smiled. “It’s not a problem, I was awake anyway…”

“I kinda guessed that from the bags under your eyes…” He laughed a bit and did his best to not glance at Sae. That would just make her think he was suspicious, he was sure of it.

“Oh, is it that obvious…?” Yusuke frowned, before turning to look at Sae. “Do you need something, Miss?”

Sae shook her head with a small sigh. “No, no. I was just making sure he made it in safely. Not good for teenagers to be out right now, what with everything going on.”

“Yeah...Thanks.” Ren nodded a bit and moved into the apartment, pushing Yusuke in. The artist seemed more than confused, but Ren couldn’t explain until they were alone. “Have a nice night, ma’am.”

Sae gave him a small, tight smile. “Yes, you have a nice night as well.” And with that she started down the hall, the tap of her heels against the floor.

“Oh thank god…” He sighed in relief as he shut the door. “That was terrifying.”

Yusuke frowned, moving his hair out of his face. “What was that all about?”

Ren blinked a few times. Oh yeah. “I left my key and that woman was looking at me like I was behind the murders and assault that happened recently.”

“I see…” Yusuke studied Ren. “Your face is the kind anyone would want to paint, yes, but besides that you’re fairly unassuming…”

Ren wasn’t sure if he was insulted, embarrassed, or both. The pounding of his heart didn’t really help him tell, either. “U-um…”

“Well then, good night.”

Oh what the hell, Yusuke?

Chapter Text

When Minako walked into Minato’s room the next morning, he was worried. She had a shine in her eye, and he was sure she was going to want to investigate this murder thing even more--

“Let’s go get our ears pierced.”

Minato blinked a few times, frowning at her. “No thanks, I don’t want to be known as that gloomy man with earrings.”

“Oh come on, you won’t!” She shook her head. “If anything we’ll be known as the twins who got matching piercings!” More like the cheery twin and the gloomy one with earrings.

Minato was still frowning as he looked her over. “What’s with you? You never wanted your ears pierced before.”

Minako gave a small, almost nervous giggle. “Well, yeah, but I’ve seen a lot of pretty earrings, like when I talked to Yukari-san the other day. I couldn’t help but notice how nice they looked on my way home. And I ran into an actual idol, Risette, and hers were nice…”

“Why does it sound like you’re bullshitting me?” He rose an eyebrow.

She sighed, shaking her head. “I just think you’d look really great with studs, okay? But I didn’t want to make you do it alone.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” She rose an eyebrow.

“It’s hard to tell with you. You always kind of seem to be joking to me.” He shrugged a bit. Someone was being a smartass.

“Oh come on! No I don’t!” She walked over to him and slapped his arm. “Just come get an ear piercing with me.”

“Give me one good reason. By the end of the hour, if you give me one good reason, I’ll do it.” He looked her in the eye and frowned. Minato knew there was no way she could do that.

And yet she smiled and nodded. “Just you wait! I’ll be back soon and you won’t be able to say no!”

“I don’t believe you, but alright.” He shrugged, looking at a non-existent watch. “Time is ticking, Minako.”

She pouted at him, but instead of saying anything, she ran out the door. He had to think this wasn’t going to go well. He just hoped his sister didn’t end up harassing someone to find proof. Or take pictures of strangers, he felt she might do that. That was the kind of thing Minako would do, huh? His sister was weird, wasn't she?

“Maybe I should go stop her…” He thought about it for a moment, but decided against it. When she decided to do something, you couldn’t stop her. He learned that that was basically the gospel truth yesterday.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. Maybe he just needed to relax and wait for her to get back with whatever she found. It wasn’t going to get him to go pierce his ears, at the very least. Minako usually got him to do things, she wasn’t going to get him this time, though.

“She’s not going to get me this time, no way…” He shook his head. He was going to stay strong--

“Minato!” Minako came running in, holding her phone out. “Look!”

He peeked at the phone and frowned. There was a picture of Yukari, her ears visible. “Don’t tell me you took pictures of people with earrings.”

“I’m going to show you how cool you can look!” She stuck her tongue out and started swiping, pointing out who and where she’d found them all.

Most were people on the third, fourth, or fifth floor it seemed. And most were women, with only a few men thrown in. However, Minako giggled a bit, smiling at him. Looked like she was excited about the next picture, then? Was there a reason.

“This next one is totally going to convince you! He’s a nice, kinda older gentleman, living on the first floor! Apparently he’s had his ear pierced forever…” She flipped to the next picture and smiled. “I bet he was a pretty boy in his youth, kind of like you.”

Minato frowned as he looked at it. “You saying I’m not still pretty?”

“Just saying it’s not going to last forever, Minato." She shook her head. "Beauty is fading.”

He sighed a bit, but there was a small smile on his face. “You really want me to get my ears pierced with you, huh?”

“Yeah, I do! It could be a bonding experience.” She grinned at him.

Minato opened his mouth, only to let it close as he sighed. No way around this, huh? “Fine…”

“Woohoo! Me...like twenty this month and you? Uh…. zero?” Minako blinked a few times and tapped her chin.

“Yeah, yeah…” If they were only counting getting the other to do things, maybe.

Minako giggled a bit and stood up. “Come on then, let’s go get our ears pierced!”

“...I’m so going to regret this later.”

--

Minato really wanted to touch his ears now that the deed had been done and Minako was grinning at him. She seemed way too happy about the fact she’d gotten him to do this, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

“Look at us! Matching and everything!” She giggled a bit, elbowing him in the stomach.

“That’s because you’re cheap and insisted we both get stars.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

“Hey! You get a job and then you can complain.”

“You won’t let me get a job, though.”

“You wear down too quickly!”

“No I don’t.” He frowned at her.

“You work way too late, then don’t sleep and get tired…” She looked him dead in the eye as she spoke. “Then you work even more and get sick. Then you try to keep working--”

“Okay, okay, I get it. I get it…”

“If you can find a low-stress job you can do from home, it’ll be alright, you know?” She smiled at him, as if sensing the annoyance he had with the fact she was right.

He smiled back at her and smiled. “Thanks, Minako…”

“For now, though!” She grabbed him by the arm, a smile on her face. “We should go show off our matching earrings!”

“...I’m still mad you didn’t let me get studs.”

“Oh be quiet, those cat earrings we got for after they heal are made for you.”

“Then the bears are made for you, your crush is always making bear puns after all.” He looked down at her, straight face.

Minako looked up at him, red as a tomato. “Shut up!”

“You let me tell you to get them, though.”

“So you’d get the cats, you dummy!”

“Oh?” He smiled at her. “Is that why you said these reminded you of Teddie? Aren’t they based off the mascot he plays at some superstore? Junes' Kuma...?”

“Oh my god, why are you like this?!” Minako was still red in the face, almost more red, actually. “Just shut up!”

“I don’t want to, though.” He did his best to act innocent.

“Minato, oh my god!” She covered her face and shook her head. “I can’t believe you!”

Minato blinked a few times. “Would you believe me if I told Teddie about this all?”

Minako jumped up a bit, her hands falling. “Don’t you dare! Don’t!”

“But I want to. I don’t see an issue with it.” He shrugged a bit and smiled. He was having too much fun with this idea.

“If you do that, I’ll show Akihiko the cat earrings and ask him if he thinks they’d fit you!” She stuck out her tongue.

Minato wasn’t sure, but he felt the heat rising to his cheeks meant he was blushing. Dammit, this wasn’t going to be good, if Minako noticed she’d turn the tides of this teasing. She was almost too good at doing that sometimes, Minato felt it was kind of unfair. He needed to be better at something than her, right?

Most...most wouldn’t think so, though. Apparently she was better than him in every way according to most… Maybe they were right, then? He couldn’t think of anything he was better at than Minako, that seemed impossible at times like these…

“Oh Minato!” Minako, seemingly having noticed how he was looking and smiled. “Let’s go buy some earbuds. I know how much music helps you, and over the ear headphones won’t work right now.”

Minato let a hand raise to one of his ears and he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

She smiled at him and laughed a bit. “It’s going to be okay!”

They started towards a store and Minato was able to smile just a bit. Minako was good at cheering him up. Maybe that was good, his sister was one of the few who didn’t think she was better in every way, which was always nice. If the person he compared himself too didn’t think like that… It was going to be okay.

“Oh, by the way!” She turned and smiled at him. “This is an early birthday gift.”

“Oh, that’s lame.”

“No it’s not!” She laughed and shook her head. “You’re going to get a present anyway! I just don’t want to have to buy you two things around Christmas. You can call this an early present for me too, okay?”

He shrugged a bit. “I thought it was fun to get a birthday and Christmas present on the same day.”

“You’re just way too used to being born on Christmas, you dork.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“You will too, when you’re as old as me.”

Minako kicked his leg and stuck out her tongue. “You’re such a dummy!”

“We’re twins, though. If you are, I am too.”

She rolled her eyes. “No! We’re fraternal twins, not identical.”

“Close enough, though, right?” He smiled at him, giving just a small chuckle.

“Nope. Not at all!” She shook her head and laughed just a bit. “Don’t act like it is, okay?”

“You’re so...I don’t even know…” He sighed, shaking his head.

“Lovable? Charismatic? Funny?” She smiled at him.

“More like bratty.”

“Hey!”

Chapter Text

Yu didn’t know what to think when he saw a small girl dashing down the stairs, a laptop in her hands. She seemed to be trying to avoid everyone as she made her way for the door, even ignoring Theodore and going out the other, unguarded door. What was with that?

He didn’t know why, but he decided it was the best idea to follow after her. He did his best to act casual, giving a small nod and smile to Margaret and Theodore as he passed. He wasn’t going to let this girl slip away by being an idiot and getting stopped. He needed to at least act casual, had to keep telling himself that...

He followed after her, noticing that she took any and every chance to follow a route with little to no people walking along. Someone didn’t like being around others much, then? That seemed to be what the case was, at the very least. He didn’t have a better guess than that…

He followed after her, watching her duck into the same cafe that Yu had seen Mitsuru talking to that man in the other day (how fitting that's where she was going). Well, he could go in there and act like he was just looking for a bite to eat. He wouldn’t run out right away this time, he’d have no reason to. At least he hoped that was the case.

He took a seat at a booth near her and did his best to seem more interested in deciding on what to order. The girl was sitting there, laptop open as she started to type away. She seemed focused on whatever it was.

Before Yu could think more about it, another woman walked in. He knew this person, though. The hair in the braid, the white shirt… That was Fuuka wasn’t it? She seemed to be holding a laptop in her arms as well, though she seemed more sure of herself than the orange haired girl.

“Futaba Sakura-chan?” She walked to said girl, a frown on her face.

“O-oh, uh…” The girl blinked a few times before nodding.

Fuuka smiled at her, holding out a hand. “I’m Fuuka Yamagishi, it’s nice to meet you.”

Futaba stared at her hand before looking away. “Y-yeah.”

Sliding into the seat across from her, she sighed. “Thank you for meeting me, Futaba-chan.”

“W-whatever…” Futaba went back to focusing on her computer.

“I caught you looking into files that a teenager like you probably shouldn’t be seeing…” Fuuka was frowning again. “It could get you in trouble.”

“...I-I was…” Futaba shook her head. “I was trying to…”

“Take you time…” Fuuka placed a hand out and gave her a small smile. “I can see you’re having trouble right now, it’s fine.”

Futaba seemed to pull into herself just a bit more and Yu couldn’t help but be worried. She seemed to be trying to figure out how to word something, multiple possibilities swimming through her head. He really did wish he could be of more help with this. If he were to reveal he was listening, though, it wouldn’t end well. He could feel it.

“H-have you heard of Wakaba Isshiki?”

Fuuka blinked a few times. “Isshiki…? I believe I remember hearing of her a few years ago. A researched who committed suicide…”

“S-she was my mom…” It sounded like Futaba was about to cry. “S-she…”

Fuuka stood then, moving to stand next to Futaba and forgetting about her laptop. “Futaba-chan, don’t force yourself…”

Yu watched Futaba start wiping at her eyes. “I-I need to talk about it, b-but…”

“Do you want to go somewhere less busy?” Fuuka’s voice was soft, careful. It seemed like she didn’t want to set poor Futaba off with anything she said.

Futaba nodded a few times, closing her laptop. He watched as she stood and Fuuka placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and lead her out. He had to frown when he realized that Fuuka left her laptop lying there on the table. Should he say anything or just wait and see if she comes back?

He decided to just wait when a bald man walked right up to the booth and reached for the laptop. Oh, he could just tell that this guy had nothing to do with Fuuka and he needed to get in the way of this right now, man gave off some nasty vibes. He jumped up and grabbed the laptop, bumping into the man just a bit.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” The man hissed this out as Yu took a step back, laptop in hand.

“Grabbing my neighbor’s laptop. She forgot it so I’m going to be taking it to her.” He nodded with fake cheeriness, a small smile on his face. He didn’t see an issue with that.

The man, however, seemed upset. “So you hit into someone when you do such things?”

“Oh, sorry, that wasn’t on purpose or anything.” He shook his head, a small smile on his face.

“Yet you seemed so interested in the laptop that you did it?”

“Yes, because I want to make sure she gets it instead of, well, a stranger.” He shrugged a bit and turned on his heels. “Goodbye, then.”

The man grit his teeth. “Don’t just walk away from me!”

Yu ignored him and just walked away. He wasn’t going to deal with this anymore, he felt hanging around any longer was going to end badly. He didn’t want to have this end badly, after all.

--

Yu walked along, laptop under his arm. He still hadn’t found Fuuka, she and Futaba had disappeared too quickly. He kind of wished he knew where she lived so he could just take it there and give it to her… Maybe he could ask Margaret to deliver it to her? He was sure she could, if nothing else…

But did he want to give it to her? After the bald guy earlier he wasn’t sure he wanted to give this to anyone, honestly. What if it never made it back to Fuuka? He just knew that it wasn’t going to be good if it didn’t. He needed to try and do something about this, use his good old improvisation skills to figure out what to do.

“Alright, I need to figure out what to do…” He frowned, shaking his head. “Where could Yamagishi-san be?”

“Is that the laptop I think it is?” He paused when a brown haired woman approached him, a frown on her face. “That is!”

“Excuse me?” He rose an eyebrow as the woman looked him up and down.

“That’s Fuuka-chan’s laptop! What’re you doing with it?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.

“You know Yamagishi-san? She left this at a diner I was at! I was going to leave it be, but some weird bald guy tried to grab it.” He held out a hand. “I’m Yu Narukami, you are?”

“Yamagishi…? I thought…” The woman shook her head. “I’m Yukari Takeba, I’ve known Fuuka-chan since high school.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, so I can take that to her…”

“Can you tell me an interesting fact about her?” He rose an eyebrow.

Yukari thought for a moment. “She just got married to my ex, does that count?”

“Oh, sorry to hear about that.” He held out the laptop.

Yukari sighed and shrugged as she took the laptop. “Not a big deal, really. We split on good terms, you know?”

“That’s good at least.” He gave her a small smile and she gave an awkward laugh.

“I’d still rather not talk about it anymore, though.” Yukari shook her head. “Oh, uh, no offense to you, or anything.”

“I understand, really!” Yu smiled and nodded a bit, laughing as he did so. “Still, she married your ex…”

Yukari went a bit pink. “I thought I said I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“You don’t have to, I’m talking about it.” Yu, what in the hell did that mean?

“That’s not how logic works usually, you know.” Yukari looked at him, the look on her face anything but impressed.

“Usually is the keyword in that statement.” He gave a thumbs up.

Yukari grimaced, shaking her head a bit. “You’re something else, if I’m being honest with you.”

“Thank you!”

“That...might not be the best thing.” Yukari rubbed her temples and frowned. “This is such a headache…”

“I can change the topic…” Wait a second. He knew Yukari, didn’t he? He’d seen her talking to Minako! How had he not realized that earlier.

“Oh?” Yukari rose an eyebrow. “I almost want to say no, but please do.”

“I was walking by you and that lady Minako the other day, and, well… You have a friend having girl problems?” He tilted his head to the side.

She blinked a few times before nodding. “Oh, yeah, my friend’s...girlfriend? Ex? I dunno what to call her… She apparently disappeared from the hospital recently.”

“Oh man, so she’s no longer with us?”

“Maybe? She isn’t confirmed to be dead or anything. There’s actually a hunt of her or her body going on right now.” She frowned and crossed her arms. “I think my friend is still looking for her.”

“Did he ask you to help, then?” Yu rose an eyebrow.

“Actually, no…” She frowned. “He just wanted to be able to talk to someone about it, is all. I have been looking into it on my own, though.”

“Does he know?”

“He’d tell me it’s his battle to fight and that I should focus on other things.” She looked more than a little annoyed. “Stupei sometimes…”

“Is his name Stupei, then?”

Yukari blinked a few times. “O-oh no! That’s just a little nickname I have for him. Kinda started in high school and never stopped…”

Yu frowned. “Seems like a kind of mean nickname.”

“I only call him it when I’m mad or he’s being stupid.” Yukari shrugged. That was an interesting way to look at it, he guessed.

“I see, but, well… Now I’m curious.” Yu watched her carefully. “What’s his real name?”

“I’m not going to tell you that!”

“I could ask around until I figure it out. If you tell me I can act like I heard it from someone else. If I ask around about a Stupei they’re sure to link it to you.”

Yukari frowned, but seemed to give in. “Junpei Iori. Don’t be a weirdo and approach him about this, okay?”

“Can do!” He gave another thumbs up and Yukari sighed.

“Why does your reply make me more worried than anything…?”

Yu shrugged a bit. “All I know is you really, truly, can trust me!”

“I’ll take your word for it, but remember, you didn’t hear any of this from me.” She poked him square in the chest, a frown on her face. "Got it?"

He nodded. “I didn’t hear anything from you, Takeba-san.” He smiled.

“...I really hope you don’t let my name slip.”

He laughed a bit and shook his head. She was super worried about this, and he didn’t think he understood why. He was pretty good at withholding names, at the very least! “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ll try not to.”

--

Yu wasn’t sure why, but he was pretty sure the man in the gaudy looking baseball uniform was Junpei. The little information Yukari gave him was enough to make him think it had to be him. His hair was kind of messy under the baseball cap on his head and there was a beard on his face… Yeah, looked like a guy who'd have the nickname Stupei to him.

“Excuse me!” He ran over to him, hand up in the air. “Are you Junpei Iori?”

The man turned to look at him, blinking a few times. “Oh, yeah, I am. You heard of me?”

“Yeah, I have.” He smiled a bit.

“Well, where from? Because I’m not famous or anything like that.” Junpei rose an eyebrow.

Oh shit, Yu hadn’t thought about it like that when he confirmed. He really should’ve been more careful with what he said, and now it was too late to take it back. He needed to try and think of a way to make this work out. He could do this, right?

“I’d heard about someone who’s pretty good at baseball and it looks like it’s you?” Yu shrugged. “And I heard the name Junpei Iori when I overheard that, so I thought it made sense.”

Junpei blinked a few times before nodding, a hand on his chin. “Alright, yeah, yeah… That could make sense…”

Oh thank god, he bought it. Yu had been afraid it sounded like he was lying. Well, it probably did, but it went over Junpei’s head. Thank god about that, right? If Junpei had been just a little more careful, who knew? He might have to give Yukari away. And he just felt that would lead to bad things for both of them, mostly for him.

“I did it, Takeba-san…”

“Takeba?” Junpei rose an eyebrow. “You know Yuka-tan?”

Yu blinked, shit, he’d been heard. “I don’t know anyone named Yuka-tan!”

“Dude, Yuka-tan is just a nickname.” Junpei frowned a bit. “You know Yukari Takeba?”

“Yeah, we’ve talked once or twice, I guess…” He shrugged a bit and rubbed the back of his head. It wasn’t a lie, right?

Junpei whistled before a smile came to his face. “Look at Yuka-tan, making more friends! Not that that’s actually that surprising, seeing as she’s pretty popular…”

“She’s popular?” Yu tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

“Oh yeah, she’s been popular since at least high school. She was kinda one of the big three during high school…” Junpei sighed. Yu had to guess those big three didn’t include him.

“Big three?” He decided to try and find out more, then.

“Yeah, Yuka-tan was popular because she was the best archer at school, Mitsuru-san was a fencing genius and student council president, and Akihiko-san was a boxing star… They all had fanclubs.” Junpei sighed, shaking his head. “Have to admit I was a little jealous.”

“Are you not anymore?” Yu rose an eyebrow.

“Not as much, I guess? I picked up on baseball and it’s fine by me just supporting the kids through my coaching.” He shrugged a bit and sighed. “Then again, Yuka-tan is an actress and model, Mitsuru-san runs an entire company, and Akihiko-san still has a boxing career going and a fanclub…”

“Sounds like you’re still a little jealous to me…” How awkward.

“I’m not, dammit! I’m happy for them, I just…” Junpei sighed. “The prettier people get the better stuff in the world sometimes, I guess.”

“Iori-san…” Yu put a hand on his shoulder and nodded. “I understand how you feel.”

Junpei looked at him, unimpressed. “Oh no. Don’t even.”

Yu frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You’re one of those pretty people, you know that right?”

“I don’t think I am,” Yu shook his head, “I’m pretty plain, actually.”

“Your haircut’s plain, not the rest of you.” Junpei shook his head.

“Are you flirting with me, Iori-san?” Yu rose an eyebrow.

“No way! I have--er--had my Chidorita, and if not her, Yuka-tan! She’s used to my flirting…” He seemed a bit sad now (sad and like the last thing he said was to try and cover something up), but, well… Maybe Yu could try and cheer him up a bit.

“Are you and Takeba-san close?”

Junpei blinked a few times. “Oh, uh, I guess? She and I don’t always get along, but…”

“But?” He rose an eyebrow.

“She’s good at listening, you know? She’s also not that bad at giving advice…” He smiled just a bit and sighed.

“That’s good.” Yu smiled a bit and placed his hand back on his shoulder.

“Sounds like you can always count on her, right?”

Junpei seemed to think for a few moments, rubbing his head with a sigh. “Guess so...Yeah.”

Yu smiled a bit and took a step back then. “Good, good. Maybe you should do your best to remember that, then?”

Junpei snorted. “Like I could ever forget. Yuka-tan wouldn’t let me.”

“Good to hear…” Yu laughed a bit and turned to walk away. “Well, I’ll see you later.”

Junpei laughed a bit and waved too. “Yeah, see you around.”

Chapter Text

Ren sat up with a start in the early hours of the morning. He’d just realized something. He’d met Minako and Minato earlier than he thought. How had he forgotten about them? Maybe it was because he met them as what was basically a crime scene? Maybe because he didn’t know they’d be important later on…? Or it could be a case of just not trusting adults that'd he rather forget all of them sometimes...?

“I don’t know, but I need to avoid memory lapses in the future…” He sighed a bit, shaking his head.

“You forget something?” Morgana stood up and tilted his little head to the side.

“Yeah, I just met the Arisatos a lot earlier than I thought I did…” He fell back onto his bed and frowned. “How did I miss that…?”

“I don’t know, but you need to be more careful about that!” Morgana shook his head. “Not remembering things about people will lead to making the situation worse! Like what if you know someone’s an eveil person, but forget it and spill crucial information?!”

“I won’t be that bad, I swear! A lot of stuff just happened when I met them!” He shook his head. “You can’t blame me.”

“I can blame you, but fine!” Morgana stuck his tongue out. “You better go find some information on all this, then.”

“Are you serious?” Ren frowned, but sat up with a sigh. “Fine, fine…”

Maybe he could find out more from Shinjiro? He was shot, sure, but he was back in the building too. Maybe he could just talk to him and see what he could learn. Shinjiro probably saw who attacked him, right? If not it’d be a dead end, but he didn’t see an issue in trying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right? He felt that was something Minako or Yu would say, at the very least.

He threw on some clothes and let out a breath. He could do this, but he wasn’t bringing Morgana along. He felt that would just lead to more nagging at this point and he was too tired for that. He would take notes of what he did instead, so the cat couldn’t say anything about him forgetting. He’d show him the notes, even, just to keep him off his back for a while. He understood why he was upset, but still…

“Stay here, if you need something go meow at Yusuke.” He turned to look at him. “Don’t follow me, got it?”

Morgana frowned, but nodded a bit. “I don’t see why you’re so against me going with you, but fine.”

“I don’t want you to find a flaw in how I’m doing what I’m doing.” He frowned and shook his head.

“Wha--I’d never!”

Ren shrugged. “I’m sure you wouldn’t on purpose, but still. Just stay here, Morgana.”

Morgana sighed, but laid back down. “Fine, just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Got it.” He smiled a bit and nodded, walking for the door of his bedroom. This was going to be alright… He could do this.

He walked past the living room, Yusuke focused on his art. He would say bye, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t even react. Yusuke seemed to focus on his art enough that he didn’t even try to talk to him anymore when he was painting. It looked like he was in the middle of some big piece, too. It would just be rude to try and get his attention, wouldn’t it? He’d just leave and hope Yusuke didn’t ask him about it later.

He walked out the door and sighed, pulling on his shoes. Now then, he needed to figure out where Shinjiro lived. He kind of spaced that part of it, hadn’t he? He didn’t have Ken’s number or anything, so he couldn’t ask that way. Maybe he could ask one of his classmates who lived on this floor? They might know and he could lie he needed to give Ken something, right? Or hell, just say he wanted to make sure the family was doing alright. He'd met plenty of people who'd do that sort of thing in hometown, after all.

“Oh!” He paused when he heard a familiar voice. “Amamiya-kun, correct?”

He turned and there was Goro, a smile on his face. When had he walked up behind him? Maybe Ren did need Morgana, so he didn’t get snuck up on like that again… He made a mental note to at least try and be more careful about that. When you were investigating things like this you had to be careful, right? That made sense to him, at the very least.

“Hello Akechi-kun, do you need something?” He rose an eyebrow in question.

“I do, actually! A senpai of mine invited me to lunch and told me to invite a friend, problem is…” Goro sighed. “I don’t have many friends... Who aren’t busy.”

Ren felt that was at least a little lie, but he nodded. “So, you’re asking me to go with you?”

He scratched the side of his face. “Well, if you don’t mind, of course!”

“I guess I can do that.” He shrugged a bit and smiled. He could ask Shinjiro about things after this.

“Thank you.” Goro laughed a bit and nodded a bit. “Well then, follow me. We’ll be meeting her in the lobby.”

He nodded a bit. “Sounds good to me.”

Goro turned and gestured for him to follow as he started down the hall. Ren shrugged and followed after him with a hum. Free lunch was going to be nice.

--

Ren couldn’t help but be nervous when he found out who he’d be dining with. Not only would be be dining with the second coming of the Detective Prince, but the first coming too. Turned out Goro’s senpai was Naoto Shirogane, a famous detective. A kid known as a delinquent having lunch with two detectives...That was scary.

The man with Naoto didn’t make it much better. Turned out he was her fiance, Kanji Tatsumi. He looked like more of a delinquent than Ren did, with bleached hair slicked back and a scar above his eye. He was frowning too, arms crossed as he watched Ren and Goro carefully. He felt this guy was going to bite him or something.

“I see you found a friend, Akechi-kun.” Naoto smiled at him and nodded a bit with a chuckle. “Good to see.”

“Thank you, Shirogane-san. I see your fiance is joining us?” He rose an eyebrow.

Naoto glanced at Kanji and nodded. “Yes, I felt we both needed a break from the case, so I wanted to treat you and a friend to lunch. I hope you don’t mind Kanji’s coming along.”

“Gotta make sure everything’s ready for the wedding, y’know?” Kanji rubbed the back of his head. “I was just gonna go over  it with her during lunch, if that’s okay.”

Goro gave a smile. “That’s fine by me, what about you, Amamiya-kun?”

“Oh, not a problem!” He waved a hand in front of him, giving an awkward smile.

“Nice, thanks for being so cool about it.” Kanji smiled a bit and laughed, an arm moving to rest across Naoto’s shoulders. “There’s just a lot to talk about…”

“Don’t worry too much, Kanji.” Naoto laughed a bit and pat his cheek. “I’m sure the wedding will be great.”

The four starting walking towards a restaurant and Ren decided to try and study the couple. Kanji looked scary, but seemed to actually be a softie. Out of the two of them, Naoto seemed to be more scary when they were in an average setting. When they were angry, who knew? It was hard to tell, honestly… And he didn’t want to see it happen, that would just be too much for his poor heart.

“So, I know you’ve been busy, but just lemme get your measurements again? I’ll never finish your tux if I don’t.” Kanji frowned, looking at his fiance.

Naoto coughed a bit, blushing. “I don’t think my size has changed at all…”

“I think you might’ve lost some weight, though.” Kanji shook his head. “I want to make sure it fits, dammit!”

Ren decided he didn’t want to see a couple bicker and cleared his throat. “Could I ask a question, Tatsumi-san?”

Kanji blinked a few times before looking at him and nodding. “Uh, sure, go ahead.”

“Are you making both of your tuxedos for the wedding?” If this guy was that good at sewing, he’d just have to be impressed.

“Hell no! Just Naoto’s. I’m just gonna rent one.” Kanji frowned and shook his head. “I don’t need a tux to keep.”

“But she does?” He rose an eyebrow.

“It’s normal for a bride to keep her fancy outfit, right?” Kanji frowned, rubbing the back of his head.

Ren opened his mouth, only to let it close. Okay, yeah, maybe he had a point there. Why hadn’t Ren thought of that? Maybe he’d just expected him to make both if he was working on one… Yeah, that was probably it. He just had to think of it like that, unless he wanted to get super embarrassed.

“So, besides the tux I’m worried about the cake. Shinjiro-san was shot, right?” He frowned a bit and rubbed a temple. “Maybe we should find a bakery to do it instead…”

Naoto frowned and shook her head. “Do we have money in the budget for that?”

“I’m not sure. I might have to cut corners if we do that. Maybe do the flower arrangements myself?” Kanji groaned, shaking his head.

“You’re already so busy making sure the rest is running smoothly, though.” Naoto frowned. “I can speak with Aragaki-san and see if he can still bake the cake.”

“I dunno, wouldn’t that be kinda selfish to do?”

Naoto shook her head. “He offered to do it, so I don’t think so…”

Goro laughed a bit and turned to look at Ren. “I think this is why Shirogane-san told me to bring a friend…”

Ren nodded a bit. “Seems like it, yeah.”

“At least we can chat while they go over wedding plans, hm?” He smiled, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, it’d be nice to talk to someone around my age…” He smiled a bit himself.

Goro’s smile widened a bit and he leaned a bit closer. “I have to agree with that…”

Ren blinked a few times before humming happily and walking with him. “Yeah.” This’d be niceindeed.

--

When Ren and the other three finally made it back to the apartments, Lavenza seemed to be waiting. She watched them carefully as they walked in, smiling at Ren, Naoto, and Kanji. When Goro came into sight, however, her smile fell into a frown. He wasn’t sure he understood why that happened. She seemed like a nice girl, so why the frown? Did she not like Goro or something?

“Akechi-kun, mail for you.” She handed him an envelope. “I believe it’s from your--”

“Thank you, Lavenza-chan.” He pat her head, cutting off whatever she was trying to say. “You’re so helpful, aren’t you?”

“Margaret says I’m more helpful than Elizabeth, Marie, and Caroline.” She nodded a bit. “But less-so than Justine. She said I’m about as helpful as Theo.”

“Oh, and how helpful is he?” Goro laughed a bit, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s dating your half-brother, isn’t he? You should know how helpful he is.” Lavenza gave a small, almost angry smile and Goro seemed to freeze a bit.

“Oh, they’re officially dating? Shinjiro didn’t tell me that!” He sounded at least a little upset.

“He might have been embarrassed.” Lavenza moved some hair behind her ear.

“You think so?”

“Yes, I do.” She nodded a bit and turned on her heel. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few more letters to deliver. Niijima-san, the prosecutor one, for example.”

She paused for a moment, watching for Goro’s reaction carefully. Was there a reason she was doing that? He wasn’t sure he understood, honestly. Goro seemed like a nice enough guy, after all. Was he maybe imagining that she was waiting for a reaction? He was kind of paranoid at times (okay, all the time), so it was possible.

“I see, how interesting!” Goro laughed a bit and pat her head again. “You should get on that, then, huh?”

She nodded and gave a small curtsy to the four. “Goodbye, have a nice day.”

Before Ren could even say anything, she was gone, heading into the elevator as Elizabeth pressed a button. Ren had to guess it was the one for the third floor. Depending on how fast he was, maybe he could catch a glimpse of her on his way back to his apartment. There was something up with that kid…

“What an odd little girl…” Naoto sighed, shaking her head. “Though most of the staff here is odd, don't you think?”

“Can you think of anyone who isn’t?” Ren couldn’t, if he was being honest.

“...Marie-san is less odd than the rest of them. Does that count?” Naoto frowned a bit, shrugging.

“I think it would.” Kanji added with his own shrug.

“Alright, good to know.” Ren would keep that in mind. They were all weird, but this Marie girl was the least weird. He didn’t know how much that meant, but hey, good information to have. “One more question…”

Kanji blinked a few times and nodded. “Go for it.”

“Are they all related?”

Naoto thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes, most are blood related, but Marie is adopted. The place is owned by their grandfather… I don’t think anyone who works here isn’t related to him in some way.”

“Huh…” Ren frowned. “Weird…”

“You’re preaching to the choir kid.” Kanji sighed, shaking his head.

“Well, I don’t think it’s that bad!” Goro smiled a bit and gave a nervous laugh. “They seem friendly enough.”

“Yeah, you say that and next thing we know they’ll end up being the ones behind the murders…” Kanji sighed and Naoto elbowed him gently.

“Don’t say things like that, Kanji.”

He sighed and held up his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry, sorry…”

Ren sighed, smiling just a bit to hide his discomfort at Kanji's joke. “Well, then… I should head back to my apartment. See you all around.”

“Oh, see you around then!” Goro smiled and waved at him with a small laugh.

Ren waved and started for the stairs. Time to try and learn more about Lavenza, then… This could be a good lead.

Chapter Text

When Minato walked into the living room, he almost wanted to sigh at the mess of hair. Was Minako doing that thing again? Where she cut her hair so they could pretend to be each other? She’d done it a lot as a kid, and it never worked. Probably because they looked pretty damn different, seeing as they weren't identical twins. The hair color usually gave them away first.

“What’re you doing?” He walked out and saw she was holding scissors. Yep, it was something like that.

“I thought it’d be fun to cut my hair to look more like yours. I’ve always wanted to try being emo.” She stuck her tongue out.

“Wouldn’t changing your bangs help with that more?” He rose an eyebrow.

Minako opened her mouth, only to let it close. Someone hadn’t thought this through at all, huh? That was Minako sometimes, instincts first. The opposite of Minato in a lot of ways, but, well… He wouldn’t change her for the world. That was useful in a lot of cases when he’d overthink things, after all. Just like him thinking it out would save her bacon sometimes.

He walked over to her and pat her head. “I like it, though. You look good, no matter how long your hair is.”

“Thanks!” She giggled again and Minato froze. She almost looked like she did when they were young.

“You’re always be my adorable little sister, huh?” He smiled and ruffled her hair, earning a small yelp.

“Come on, Minato! Stop calling me little!” She punched him in the arm and stood up. “You know I’m not that little.”

“You’re short, though?” He rose an eyebrow, patting her head again.

“Stop!” She stuck her tongue out and moved away. “You suck so much.”

“No I don’t.”

“Your exes would say you do.”

Minato stuck his tongue out. “Don’t be gross, Minako.”

“I’m not being gross.” She shook her head and seemed to start thinking. “Hmm…”

“Hm?” He rose an eyebrow. “I know that look. What’re you planning on doing?”

She grinned at him. “I don’t have much use for my hair clips right now…”

“You still have enough hair to hold it back…” He looked away with a frown. He knew where this was going.

“Yeah, but you have more hair than me…” She gave him a smile that reminded him of a mischievous cat.

“Don’t you dare…”

Before he could even think of adding more to that statement, she produced her hair clip from her pocket. Oh god no, he knew exactly what was coming next when his sister pounced at him. He did his best to hold her back, but he wasn’t tall enough to hold her back like he wanted. Soon enough, her clip was in his hair, his bangs pushed back.

“Wow, you don’t look nearly as emo as usual.” She whistled a bit and smiled at him. “You look adorable.”

He reached for the pin. “No I don’t--”

Minako grabbed his hand and shook his head. “Nope, don’t you dare! I want you to wear that all day.”

“...How come?” He frowned at her.

“I cut my hair and it took forever to grow it out! I feel kinda silly now. You wearing that’ll help, you know!” She gave him a toothy smile. “Please?”

He let his hand fall and sighed, nodding just a bit. “Alright, I’ll wear it today, but just today. Starting tomorrow you wear it again. It might make you feel better about the new haircut.”

Minako giggled a bit and nodded a bit, a smile on his face. “Yes! Thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah…” He pat her head again and thought for a moment. “Can I just stay inside all day--”

“No, no way! I promised Elizabeth I’d babysit today, so I have to go out. If I have to, so do you.” And there went the hands to the hips and the pout on her face. Why was he so bad at dealing with his twin again? Probably this.

“Fine, I’ll go out for a bit too. But you better tell me when you’re out of the public eye.” He poked her in the cheek.

“Got it, got it!” She laughed a bit and nodded. “Well, I gotta go. You better get ready and leave soon.”

With that, she headed for the door and was gone. Minato looked at the ground and sighed. He’d make sure they cleaned up this hair when he got back, then. He knew she would be angry if he hung around for too long.

After getting dressed, he made his way to the door and sighed. He’d just have to hope he found someone he never talked to and would never talk to again for today. If he ran into someone like Akihiko or Teddie he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle the questions about why he was wearing the hairpin. He wanted Minako to be able to explain this all, she usually liked explaining what happened to her, after all.

Oh man, the worst would be Pharos or Ryoji, though. How would he explain this to his cousins? He really couldn’t think of a way to explain it to them that wouldn’t be every single detail. Pharos would guess them if he was vague, and Ryoji would insist he tell him more… So yeah, his family would be the worst to find, he was pretty sure. No thanks, honestly.

“Please don’t let me run into either of them…” And out the door he went.

--

Minako made it down the the ground floor and saw Marie standing there, arms crossed. She was told by Elizabeth that someone would be helping her out, but Marie? She felt that this wasn’t going to end well…

“You helping...huh, you don’t have the ponytail anymore.” Marie pointed at her.

“I-I decided to cut it. My hair’s good at growing back quickly.” She ruffled the back of her hair and frowned.

“Oh, I see... So you’re gonna be helping? Who else?” Marie rose an eyebrow.

“W-who else? Elizabeth asked me to watch her younger sisters, but she only told me about one other person…” Had Elizabeth been withholding information from her? Oh dammit.

“She said there’d be three babysitters. One for each kid.”

“...Well, did she tell you who was babysitting?” Elizabeth at least had to have done that, right?”

“She didn’t tell me about you, so no.” She shook her head, a frown on her face.

“Oh man...this isn’t gonna be fun.” Who else could it be? She hoped it wasn’t someone who scared her or gave her the creeps, honestly. The twins looked like they’d be enough for that.

“You’re telling me. At least you’re getting paid for your time.” Marie pouted a bit. “I just have to do it.”

“Well, uh, my condolences?” She didn’t know what else to say, honestly.

“Whatever…”

Soon enough, the elevator opened and one Rise Kujikawa walked out, three young girls at her sides. Looked like an idol was the other babysitter. Wait, what? A famous idol was going to be babysitting with Minako and Marie? Minako couldn’t help but feel just a little starstruck about that… It was going to be something for the memory book, if nothing else.

“Oh, am I helping you two out?” Rise moved some hair behind her ear and smiled awkwardly. “Feels like just yesterday there were issues with a box.”

“Ugh!” Minako shook her head. “Don’t remind me about that. The dirt still isn’t fully out of that skirt…”

“It was kind of funny.” Marie shrugged a bit.

Rise gave an awkward laugh. “Yeah, kinda have to agree there…”

“You guys are almost as bad as my brother!”

Marie sighed and shook her head. “Anyway, how’re we gonna do this?

“Well, there’s three of us and three kids, right?” Rise frowned a bit. “We could always...keep an eye on all of them, but assign one to each of us as the main responsibility?”

“Oh, if that’s the case, I’d like to say with you, Miss Kujikawa.” The oldest of the girls smiled up at her. “Marie let me listen to some of your music and--”

“Lavenza! Shut up!” Marie was bright red as soon as the girl started talking.

“You’re a fan of my music?” Rise rose an eyebrow before smiling a bit. “I-I’m glad you like it!”

“S-shutupstupididolqueen!” Marie mumbled it out in one breath before covering her face.

“Awww, she’s embarrassed!” Minako giggled before looking to the creepy twins. “While she calms down, I’ll uh...figure out who’ll be my main responsibility.”

She looked between the girls a few times. It was hard to tell anything about them from just that, but the longer she took, the more she saw. The girl with the buns seemed to be angry and a bit more impatient about this. The one with the braid was calm, looking at her with a blank expression. In a weird way, braid reminded her of her brother...Just a little bit.

“You’re so cute!” She couldn’t help but coo as she picked her up. “You remind me of Minato! What’s your name?”

“Justine, it’s nice to meet you.” She kept calm even when this happened. Wow, she really did remind her of Minato. Also kind of Margaret, but she’d push that thought to the side.

“Nice to meet you too! I’m Minako.” She smiled at her and giggled. “We’re gonna get along, I’m sure.”

“Looks like it’s you and me, Caroline.” Marie sighed and moved over to the other girl, patting her head.

Caroline pouted a bit. “So the usual?”

“If you wanna put it like that, yeah.”

“Hey now! I mean, we’re all going to be hanging out!” Minako smiled at her. “Marie-san just has to make sure you don’t run away or anything!”

“I’m not gonna run away!” Caroline stuck her tongue out at Minako and crossed her arms. “Your hair looks bad!”

Minako blushed a bit and put a hand to the back of her hair. She hadn’t had a mirror, so had Minato been lying to her? She could see him doing that to make her feel better about it. Then again, it was a little girl telling her that… She’d cut it to be similar to Minato’s and he looked good… Even if that meant it looked like she had her haircut from when she was seven.

“It looks fine to me, though!” Rise frowned and walked over to her. “Who’s your stylist?”

“...I cut it myself?” She laughed awkwardly and shrugged.

Rise blinked a few times. “Oh! Wanted a change?”

“...Wanted to tease my brother but it backfired?” She shrugged again, blushing again. “He said I look I did when I was younger…”

“How cute!” Rise laughed, shaking her head.

“...I’m already counting down the days to when it grows back, honestly.”

Marie blinked a few times. “Was it worth cutting for some teasing, then?”

“Listen, I didn’t think about it like that.” She shook her head. “It was a thought early in the morning and decided to go for it.”

“W-well, I’m sure it won’t take long to grow back…?” Rise offered this, though she seemed to be grasping at straws.

“It shouldn’t take too long to at least get to where it was in high school…?” She shrugged and sighed a bit. “Oh man, this was a mistake…”

Justine pat her back awkwardly. “There, there…”

“Thanks, it’ll be alright, though.” She shook her head. “I mean, at least I got Minato to wear my hairpin…”

Marie blinked a few times. “I already feel bad for him.”

Rise nodded a bit. “I do too…”

--

Minato wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He was wandering around, hairpin still obvious as could be. He felt so weird when his hair wasn’t falling over or near his eye, honestly. He never told anyone that it was a safety blanket, but it kind of was. At least he still had his music player, right? Having to wear earbuds due to the piercings right now kind of sucked, but still.

He stopped after walking for a while. Standing nearby was a blonde girl who looked like she had some foreign blood in her veins, along with a black haired woman. It seemed like the girl was venting about something to the woman, and the woman was doing her  best to listen. Didn’t change the fact she looked at least a little angry about something.

“Excuse me…” He decided he should at least step in and see what was going on.

“Huh?” The girl, it turned out, was that Ann girl from the first day he moved in. “Arisato-san, do you need something?”

“You seem to be stressed about something and so does she. Are you two alright?” He rose an eyebrow.

The woman stood up and frowned. “Sister mentioned someone with a hair clip like that… But she said something about brown hair.” Someone was ignoring his question, huh? "Actually... I think I met the person, and she did have brown hair. And it was longer than that..."

“It’s my sister’s, she made me wear it today...Weird thing to say to a stranger, though.” He crossed his arms.

“Oh, this is Metis-san. She’s related to Aigis-san, they’re twins.” Ann seemed to decide she wasn’t going to let this situation get any more tense. “This is Arisato-san.”

“Nice to meet you.” He nodded ever-so slightly at Metis.

“...Nice to meet you too.” She turned back to Ann. “Do you have anything else to say?”

“Yeah, I do, actually.” Ann nodded and sat next to her. “You both heard about that murder, right? Kamoshida?”

Minato grimaced, but nodded. “Yeah, I heard about it.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I know he was a horrible man, in so many ways… He hurt so many people, including my best friend. But… I almost wish he hadn’t died.”

“That so?” Minato rose an eyebrow.

“That makes no sense, he can’t hurt anyone anymore, right?” Metis frowned. “Isn’t it better he’s dead…?”

“It’s great that he can’t hurt anyone else, don’t get me wrong!” Ann shook her head. “I just feel there’s fates worse than death. He deserved one of those.”

“Brutal, but understandable…” Metis nodded a bit and Minato couldn’t help but feel she’d have similar thinking. Hell, he probably would too.

Minato sat on the other side of her and nodded a bit. “Sounds like you went through a lot because of him. It’s only natural to feel like that.”

Ann blinked a few times before smiling and nodding. “Yeah, thanks.”

“You were saying you didn’t know if you could face your friend, right?” Metis leaned forward a bit and frowned at her.

“Yeah...I didn’t do anything to help Shiho when this was all happening. I visited her when she was comatose, but she’s awake now and I don’t know what to do…” She shook her head.

Minato frowned. He didn’t know how that felt exactly, but he was still going to at least try. He didn’t like talking about what’d happened to him before, but there wasn’t really much of a choice right now. He wanted to at least help Ann feel better about this, however he could. He just hoped it didn’t seem like he was making it all about him.

“You know, when I was younger my sister and I were in a car accident that killed our parents.” Ann and Metis looked over at him. “I woke up first, but she was still in a coma. I was afraid to talk to her when she woke up…”

“A-Arisato-san…”

“I know it’s not what you’re going through, but I was afraid. What if she was mad at me for being there and not mom and dad?” He looked at his hands. “When I went in there, though…”

Metis frowned. “What happened then?”

“She started crying and hugged me and begged me to not leave her. She was so happy to see someone she cared about…” He turned to look at Ann. “I’m sure your best friend would be overjoyed to see you.”

Ann started to tear up just a bit. “Nnn... I-I guess you’re right. I’m just so scared…”

“Then have someone go with you.” Metis rolled her eyes and slapped her back. “I mean, come on! If you want to see her and think it’s a good idea, just have someone go with you.”

“You think that’ll help?” Ann wiped at her eyes and looked to Metis.

She nodded. “My sisters would always give me strength to do things, it’s the same thing here.”

Ann smiled a bit and sniffled before nodding. “Yeah, that’s a good idea, thanks.”

She stood up and turned to flash a smile at them. “Thanks! I-I’m going to do my best, then.”

Minato gave a small smile and a thumbs up. “You can do this.”

“Don’t chicken out.” Metis wasn’t quite as nice about this, huh? She was very blunt, very truthful.

Ann frowned at Metis and shook her head. “I won’t, alright? I can do this…”

Ann waved at them then and she ran off, leaving Minato and Metis alone. They sat far apart, saying nothing for a few moments. Looked like they were both quiet, that or introverted. Maybe it was a mixture of both? Neither seemed to have anything to say in the moment. Minato felt maybe he should leave or something, but…

“Well, then.” Metis stood up and made her way for the stairs. “I’m done for now. Good bye.”

“Bye...” He gave a small wave and soon enough she was gone. What an odd woman…

--

When Minako walked into the apartment, she flopped right over onto the couch. Minato seemed to be cleaning up the hair and that was fine by her. She was way too tired to do it right now. Little kids were full of energy sometimes, she hadn’t realized. She never paid attention to how she was as a kid and Minato was a calm kid, after all…

“Tired…” She whined this out and noticed Minato’s shoulders tense. “Minato, you okay?”

“...I talked about some traumatic stuff.” He shook his head. “That paired with your hair and how you said tired…”

She slapped a hand over her mouth. She didn’t remember much from the crash, but… She did remember whining about the pain and tiredness. She didn’t realize that Minato had heard her, though. She sat up and shook her head. Dammit, she’d messed up big time. What could she do about this?

“Minato…”

He shook his head and stood up. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t mean to.”

She moved to stand next to him. “I didn’t realize the haircut was gonna lead to these issues…”

Minato sighed. “I didn’t either. I thought it was cute when you cut it. It reminded me of a good time before it happened…”

She leaned her head against his arm and frowned. “Minato, I’m so sorry…” Why had this have to happen?

It was like when they were younger. She’d see Minato and he reminded her of their mother. It made her want to cry and scream, enough she couldn't’ look at him. She was pretty sure he’d seen their dad in her before, too. Sometimes having each other made things more painful…

Minato pat her head and frowned a bit. “The best we can do is move forward, okay?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. We’re gonna be okay.”

He smiled now and threw the hair in the trash. “That’s the cheerful Minako I know.”

“And that’s the bratty Minato I know!” She laughed and poked his cheek.

“I give you a nice descriptor and I’m bratty?” He rose an eyebrow. “How mean.”

“Well you are, but in a lovable way! You’re also pretty smart!” She smiled at him and shrugged. “I’m bad at this compliment thing.”

Minato gave another small smile. “You have no problems when it comes to blondes. Bebe, that girlfriend you had in college, Teddie…”

She blushed a bit and slapped his arm. “Don’t even go there, you big dummy!”

“But I just went there.”

“You are so...so…”

Minato rose an eyebrow. “Smart? Funny? Bratty?”

“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m so done with you!”

“No you’re not. You never are.” He stuck his tongue out.

She stuck her tongue out right back and made her way back to the couch. “I’m taking a nap!”

“Babysitting really that hard?” He sounded really curious about that.

“Yes, oh my god. They never wanted to stop moving, I swear!” She shook her head. “Caroline was the worst. I think she had it out for me, though.”

“Why would she have it out for you?” Minato still sounded way too curious about this. Was he gonna use this against her?

“There were three girls, right? Three girls and three babysitters.” She sat up again, ready to explain. “We each decided to have a girl that was our main responsibility, right? Lavenza, the oldest, picked on her own and embarrassed the other babysitter who needed to pick, so I went ahead and went first.”

“Oh, I can already see where this is going.” He chuckled a bit and leaned against the couch. “Go on.”

“Well, I picked the calmer twin, Justine! She kinda reminded me of you and that Margaret lady and thus was less scary than Caroline.” She groaned, head in hands. “She was so pissed and said my hair looked bad. After that she wouldn’t stop running around. Marie couldn’t keep up on her own.”

Minato whistled a bit. “Sounds rough.”

“Oh, more than rough! It was like...hell on earth or something.” She shook her head. “If you go to hell when you die, you just have to chase bratty children around until the end of time with no breaks…”

“I feel there could be worse things, Minako.” He shook his head.

“Nope! It’s totally just that, trust me.”

Minato rose an eyebrow. “You an expert on hell, then?”

“Totally.” She sat back and sighed a bit. “Ugh, can’t you just let me make a joke for once?”

“I let you make jokes all the time, though.” He stuck his tongue out. “Just not right now.”

“You’re being a brat right now, you know that?” She crossed her arms.

“You’re the one who called me bratty.” He pointed this out with a chuckle.

“I mean...touche. Dammit…!” She shook her head and sighed.

“Don’t be so mad about that, come on.” He moved to ruffle her hair again. “I’m just messing with you.”

“And to think, I started out the day trying to mess with you…” She moved out of the way of his hand.

“Karma can be an ass sometimes, don’t you think?” Oh, she could just hear his amusement.