Chapter Text
Arisu wasn't entirely sure how Chishiya Shuntarō had become one of his best friends.
After the meteor, Arisu had felt so alone. Karube and Chota were gone and, after perhaps a week of acting concerned, his father and brother had started to drift away again. There was also something else, a nagging sense of loss, of missing someone or something. It hovered at the edge of his consciousness but seemed to float away like smoke whenever he reached for it.
Then he met Usagi. It was just a chance encounter by the hospital vending machine, but immediately Arisu had felt a jolt of recognition, the warm feeling of comfort that could only come from a close friend, and the nagging feeling lessened a little. Stuck in the hospital as they recovered, it wasn't long before they became close to inseparable, and soon others joined them.
Usagi had showed up for lunch one day with her roommate in tow, a tall girl with dreadlocks who introduced herself as Kuina. She was talkative and funny and gave Arisu that same feeling of fond recognition as Usagi, despite being a total stranger. After that she joined the pair most days, killing time until they could be discharged.
Chishiya, on the other hand, was never introduced to the group so much as he infiltrated it. They had first noticed the white haired man in the hospital garden where, as they walked and chatted amongst themselves, Arisu caught sight of a lone figure watching them from a bench a little way off. Once again, he felt that strange sense of familiarity but this time it was slightly different; whilst the fondness was still there to an extent, there were a number of other contradictory feelings- wariness, relief and something else that Arisu couldn't quite pinpoint.
Chishiya had become a regular fixture in their lives over the following week, never interacting with them but perpetually observing in the background. Finally, Kuina had decided enough was enough, and had stomped over to where he was sat a few tables over in the cafeteria. After a few minutes of intense conversation, she had marched back over to their table with Chishiya in tow.
"This is Chishiya," she announced, sitting back down. "He is apparently not a creep, just a socially inept weirdo who feels like he recognises us too."
It had taken a while for the group to warm up to Chishiya, although he and Kuina seemed to bond almost instantly, constantly bickering and winding one another up like siblings. Gradually, though, Arisu had found he was able to set his initial instinct of caution around Chishiya to one side as the man slowly opened up. He was clever, quick and funny, in his own dry, sarcastic way. Whilst Arisu still struggled to read him and he had a tendency towards privacy in his personal life, he was also drawn towards spending time with him.
Around a week after they were released from hospital, memories of the Borderlands had begun to creep back in. At first, they appeared to just be nightmares, inspired by the ordeal they had all survived. However, when they started to notice the same places and events across all their dreams and the memories started to creep into their days too, they were forced to consider that there may be something more to it.
Arisu vividly recalled the day he remembered Chishiya's betrayal at the Beach.
The four of them had been hanging out in Chishiya's apartment, their most frequent choice for their regular movie nights as he had the nicest place of the four of them by far. Arisu had been sat on the sofa, scrolling through options on Netflix, when Chishiya had perched next to him.
"Are you planning on choosing a movie, or are we going to watch the Netflix menu for the next two hours?" he had asked with a smirk, but when Arisu had met his eyes he was suddenly seeing that same expression in an entirely different setting. He remembered the feeling of the beating Niragi had given him, but also how that hurt had been almost drowned out by the sting of the betrayal as Chishiya smirked coldly down at him throughout the ordeal.
He had lurched to his feet without warning, knocking the bowl of popcorn to the floor, and stumbled towards the door, ignoring the concerned calls of his friends behind him. He hadn't looked back and hadn't stopped until he had reached the safety of his own apartment and locked the door behind him, at which point he had slid to the ground where he sat with his head buried, trying to process what he had seen, the hurt from the betrayal as fresh as if it had happened just then. His phone had hardly stopped ringing, with worried texts filling the rare gaps between calls. He had fired off quick, reassuring responses to Usagi and Kuina but ignored Chishiya, not yet ready to speak to him even as he continued to call late into the night, only stopping when, presumably, his shift had started.
When Arisu had finally opened his door to venture out of his apartment the following evening, there had been a note taped to it.
I assume you've remembered. I'm sorry. If you want to talk to me, you know where I am. I understand if not.
The next day, Arisu had remembered Chishiya taking the bullet for Usagi and his dying confession and, the day after that, he had returned to Chishiya's apartment.
Chishiya had seemed surprised to find Arisu outside his apartment, and even more so when he cut off his apology to wrap the smaller man in a crushing hug.
"I didn't think you would come," Chishiya had said quietly.
"It's okay. I forgive you," Arisu reassured him and tightened his hold, the image of Chishiya pale and soaked in his own blood flashing before his eyes once more as Chishiya's hands tentatively rose to rest against Arisu's back.
After that, the group fell swiftly back into their old routines and the incident at the Beach wasn't brought up again. Chishiya claimed to have changed and had given Arisu no reason to doubt what he said. The four of them watched movies and tried new restaurants and confided in one another and, whilst he still missed Karube and Chota, Arisu was happy.
***
Arisu bustled around his apartment, frantically tidying ready for his friends' arrival. They didn't often gather at his place, being the smallest and, often, the messiest, but he felt guilty about never hosting and so had offered it up this evening. At the time, it had seemed like a great idea. Now, with half an hour until they were due to arrive and seemingly every surface covered in stuff, he wasn't so sure.
A knock sounded from the door and he groaned in frustration. He really didn't have time to deal with whoever that was, probably his neighbour who never failed to find something that he had done wrong, and fully intended to ignore it until it sounded for a second and then a third time. Sighing, he marched to the door and flung it open, preparing an excuse to get rid of them as swiftly as possible only for it to die on his tongue at the sight of a familiar figure in white.
"You're early."
Chishiya raised his eyebrows. "Or, hello, as most people would say."
Arisu cringed slightly. "Sorry. You just caught me at a bad time. It's a bit of a mess in here at the moment."
"I'm sure it's not that bad." Chishiya peered round the door to take a look and Arisu flushed with embarrassment; Chishiya kept his apartment impeccably tidy and he knew he hated mess of all kinds. "I can help you with it, if you want."
"Really?" Arisu frowned.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
"You just... I don't know, you don't usually volunteer to help out like that. You're more the type to sit and watch and tell other people they missed a spot."
"Well, do you want help?"
Still slightly taken aback, Arisu stepped back from the door to let him in. "I mean, sure. If you're offering."
"I am." Chishiya ambled in and looked back at him. "So what can I do?"
At the time, Arisu didn't think about it much more than that and the rest of the evening proceeded as usual. However, he was reminded of it the following week, when they were gathered at Usagi's; a bottle of wine was dropped on the carpet and, while Usagi, Kuina and Arisu rushed to tackle the spill, Chishiya remained sat in his position on the sofa, lazily throwing out suggestions as to how they could prevent a stain. Once again, Arisu dismissed it, until the week after that Kuina asked Chishiya if he'd mind running out to collect their takeaway for her.
"Shiya, it's only round the corner. It'll take five minutes."
He groaned, throwing his head back dramatically against the sofa cushions. "It's miles away."
"It's literally down the road."
"Send Usagi. She likes exercise."
"A five minute walk is not exercise, Shiya!"
He pointedly ignored her, eyes fixed on a spot on the ceiling and she huffed in frustration.
"Arisu, seeing as Chishiya has decided to be an arse, would you mind going to collect the takeaway?"
"Oh, sure. No problem." Kuina smiled gratefully at him before glaring once more at Chishiya. "Just to check, where is it you actually ordered-"
"On second thoughts," Chishiya butted in, swinging his legs off the sofa. "A walk sounds lovely. I know where we're going, come on Arisu."
Kuina stared as he marched past her, and all Arisu could do was shrug helplessly before he followed, with no more clue as to what had prompted the sudden change of heart than Kuina had.
***
Although Chishiya's sudden, random bursts of helpfulness were definitely odd and out of character, Arisu was able to set his confusion to one side. After all, Chishiya was a fundamentally unusual person at the best of times, with countless quirks and habits that Arisu could barely comprehend even after all the time they'd spent together since the Borderlands. One more baffling tendency wasn't enough to put a dent in a friendship Arisu had really come to value over the past months. For every flaw or irritating mannerism, Arisu could see many good qualities to balance them out, from his wit to his calming presence, and he gradually grew accustomed to his sudden and sporadic offers of assistance.
At least, until a month later.
Arisu was in his apartment, staring despondently at his bank balance displayed on his laptop screen. He had known it would be a stretch to afford to rent his own apartment but, after all he had gone through in the Borderlands, he simply couldn't bring himself to move back in with his father's disparaging looks and the endless comparisons to his brother for a day longer than he had to. He'd found himself a job as soon as he was medically allowed to and enjoyed his work as a barista in a small coffee shop, but he had to admit that the pay left something to be desired. Now, a few months into his lease, he was forced to admit that he was starting to run out of money and options.
He ignored the knock at the door, and the one that followed. He wasn't expecting company and really wasn't in the mood for his neighbour's usual complaints. The knock came a third time and Arisu closed his eyes, leaning back against the sofa and running his hands through his already wild hair.
"Arisu?"
His eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet, almost knocking his laptop to the ground. His gaze landed on Chishiya leaning in the doorway, face unreadable.
"What the hell, Chishiya?" Arisu hissed, heart still pounding from shock.
Chishiya raised his hands in mock surrender. "I come in peace. I was just passing and thought I'd stop by. I brought food." He gestured to the bag of takeaway hanging from one wrist. Arisu chose to ignore that unusual behaviour, at least by Chishiya's standards, for now and focus on the part where he had just wandered into his flat uninvited.
"Shiya, I didn't answer the door. Most people take that as a signal that they're not welcome, not an invitation to break in."
"I didn't break in. The door was unlocked and I could see your light on," Chishiya said with a shrug, before frowning. "Why didn't you want to answer the door?"
"I thought you might be my neighbour. I didn't want to speak to them," Arisu replied carefully, avoiding mentioning the real issue. Chishiya raised an eyebrow.
"That hasn't stopped you before. What happened?"
He crossed the room to perch next to Arisu, placing the takeaway on the table and awkwardly reaching a hand out towards him. A few inches away from making contact he hesitated, obviously unsure, before settling on placing it on his arm.
Arisu stared at him. Was Chishiya attempting to be comforting? His friend was many things, but empathetic certainly wasn't one them. His usual approach to emotional distress was either to ignore it or stare judgementally, so why was he-
"Arisu?" He was jerked from his thoughts at Chishiya's prompt, and flicked his gaze up to meet those dark eyes. "You can tell me," he added, surprisingly softly.
"I..." He considered lying but, despite his recent odd behaviour, Chishiya was his friend; he could tell him the truth. "It's my rent," he said, quietly. "I can't afford it, not really, and I don't want to have to go back to my father's and..." He trailed off, feeling Chishiya's piercing gaze on him.
"Not a problem," he said after a moment, removing his hand from Arisu's shoulder and reaching for his phone. "How much?"
"What?" Arisu asked, dumbfounded; he must have heard him wrong.
"I said, how much?" Chishiya's eyes were on his phone, whilst Arisu's felt like they were so wide they might fall out of his skull.
"No, I... Chishiya, you can't be serious, you can't-"
"300,000 yen should be enough to cover your current expenses, I think." Arisu heard his phone ding as Chishiya slid his away. "Let me know if you need more."
"You haven't... Chishiya, I can't take your money!" Arisu reached for his phone, but Chishiya saw what he was planning.
"Send it back and I'll just send more," he said and Arisu stopped, knowing that if Chishiya made a threat he meant it. "It's fine, I have plenty. My parents may not have cared about my wellbeing, but heaven forbid I should be too poor to maintain the outward appearance of my family's good name. Imagine the scandal." He smirked, although Arisu couldn't see much humour in his eyes. "I have far more than I need."
"But I'll never be able to pay you back!"
"It's fine. I suppose you'll just have to owe me." Chishiya smirked again, and suddenly Arisu was back on the floor of Hatter's suite, staring up at the man he thought he could trust. A nasty suspicion crept into the back of his mind and, as much as he tried to ignore it, Arisu found that he couldn't quite dislodge the thought. Chishiya had changed in the last month or so and, looking back, Arisu felt that dread grow as it suddenly hit him; the common thread in all those strange actions was, in fact, him. Chishiya had subtly and not-so-subtly changed how he acted around Arisu, and now he owed him a debt. He didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was staring him in the face.
Chishiya was up to something again and, whatever that plan was, it had something to do with him. Arisu watched as his supposed friend made his way into Arisu's kitchen to find utensils for their meal and felt a cold weight settle in his gut. He didn't want to believe this was happening. Chishiya meant a lot to Arisu and he'd really trusted him when he'd told him that things had changed. However, he remembered all too clearly what had happened the last time he blindly trusted Chishiya's good intentions and he couldn't make the same mistake twice. Much as he desperately hoped he was wrong, he had to find out what Chishiya was up to.
He only hoped he wasn't too late.