Chapter 1: where stars collide(and we turn to stardust)
Summary:
We get a little prologue before the madness settles in. Buckle up. This is a one way trip into the rabbit hole.
Notes:
So, how many times have I condemned myself to this fic of an AU? Too many. But I will stick around this one.
Chapter Text
“This sucks.”
Have you ever felt something nagging at the back of your mind, saying that there’s something going on inside you. Something that was once a part of you had been sealed or buried deep in your mind? But for your sake, you can’t figure it out? And you feel like it’s bound to give you an identity or existensial crisis or an unholy combo of the two. And the thing is, you’re too scared to know, but dang it, your mind is telling you to fuck around, find out?
Well, unfortunately for Shindou Takuto, that’s the predicament he has found himself in. And it had caused him to lose focus in class, and therefore, not understanding the lesson. But he could care less right now, he was too lost in his mind to even care.
Goddamn it. He really was going insane. Nope, not from the soccer communism,not from space or time travel, or saving the world. No, he thought he and his friends had seen it all, but boy, he hasn’t. He hasn’t realized, he had only scratched the surface. Of what? Well, that’s gonna come sooner.
While waiting for their next teacher, everyone is busy chatting or gossiping about whatever latest trends there is. Which, the prodigy couldn’t understand. He was pretty different from his peers, his lifestyle, ways of interacting with others, stemming from his rich life, had made that obvious.
Still not snapping from his crisis, Kirino notices he’s deep in thought, and sighed. “Something on your mind?” the pink hair asked.
“…”
“A little.” The brunet replied sheepishly, knowing it’d be pointless to lie from his best friend. Kirino chuckled as ‘he’ patted Shindou’s back, and asks “Well, what’s bothering you?”
“Nothing much. Just a small existensial crisis. I don’t know myself anymore.”
“Oh geez, you really just had that? I thought you had yours weeks ago?”
“Look, I just came back from space. It took me sometime to actually process it.”
Shindou retorted as he huffed, rubbing his palms on his forehead and groaned.
Kirino laughed a bit and said “Well it looks like it’s going well.”
The brunet just sighed, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, Tenma, Shinsuke, Kariya and Hikaru are playing “Rock, Papers, Scissors” while Aoi and Tsurugi watches them. As the minutes went by, their adviser came into the room, startling the class as they all scrambled to get back in their seats. The adviser paid this no mind, and instead, talked to another adult outside the classroom, the words “transfer student” ringing clear in the class. Buzzes of murmurs and whispers were then heard.
“A new student? At this late in the school year?” Tsurugi wondered. “They must be either lucky enough or had bribed that easy-to-get chairman again. Or both.” Kariya snickered, earning a sheepish sigh from Aoi. Meanwhile, Tenma, Shinsuke, and Hikaru, though not as dorky as they were back then,(because seriously, facing Fifth Sector and time travelling with the threat of a highly advanced government organization(aka El Dorado), and a “terrorist” group made up of children with genes you could just edit up like code on a computer(aka Feida) is really gonna mess you up)were talking about how would it be great to have a new club member since their third-years are gonna go to university the next year.
“Hey, do you think maybe we could recruit the new student in our club?” Tenma gleefully chuckled while looking at the other two. “Maybe we could!! It’d be nice, since our seniors are close to graduating.” Hikaru replied, while Shinsuke thought, “I wonder how different things would be if we enrolled earlier into Raimon? Or later? We wouldn’t have met each other by then!”
This caught the other trio’s attention, Aoi heaving a sigh before looking at her childhood friend and the others with a mom-like smile. Tsurugi looked at them thoughtfully, while Kariya loomed away, the others unaware that deep down, he’s glad that they’re his friends.
The transfer student, who they didn’t know was listening to their conversation(with her sharp ears. No, both literally and figuratively, she has sharp ears. Pretty hard to hide, but at the same time, it’s practical especially when you want to listen to a specific conversation,like what she’s doing right now), smiled at Shinsuke’s thought about how different would the circumstances be.
“Oh Shinsuke. You don’t know, we all have already met.”
—————————————————————————————————
Yokihada Arazen, the new girl’s name(?), was disinterested with the adult’s conversation. Internally sighing, she gazed at the inside of the classroom, hyperfocused at the group of soccer club members chattering lively. She knew Kariya and Hikaru, but somehow, her mind put them out of the picture, focusing on Tsurugi, Aoi, Shinsuke and Tenma. Especially Tenma.
It’s not that she was a huge fan of them. (Liar. You’ve been watching them ever since hearing Shindou and Kirino joining the club. You’ve been in tune when you heard about the first years joining. You were suprised when you heard Tsurugi was a SEED. You even brought the initiative to yourself to kill whoever dumbass adult had the guts to actually actively attempt to assassinate any of Raimon’s members, because Fifth Sector really was going too far. You were frustrated when you heard from your Dad on why the country’s acting different about soccer. You were frustrated when you heard about the threat from the future, fretted about how are theydoing.You were scaredthattheywerentgonnamakeitoutaliveandthatyouwerentgonnaseethemagain-)
(Stop lying to your self.) But the thing is, she actually enrolled in Raimon, due to a motive. What that motive was, only she and a few others knew. But it did involve a few members, and you know who those are already. Why are they involved? Well, lets just say that they’ve been childhood friends. Simple as that.
No not really. It’s not simple.
Shit, she thought. How is she stressing over something- no, nevermind, She got herself into this, she got herself into this. She could’ve just moved on, but nope. She had to choose jumping back into the rabbit hole they escaped from and dug deeper, looking for any answers and all she got were few of those and more questions. Not to mention, dragged both of her parents into this.
“What the actual fuck am I doing with my life.” She thought, mumbling in a whisper, scratching her neck. Where if you looked really close, there seems to be something black etching on her skin.
When the adults were done talking, the class adviser smiled at her, and said “Well. Time to meet your new classmates, Miss Yokihada.”
Arazen just sighed, and said “Go figure.”
Entering the classroom, she was stared at. Partly because she’s a new student, but mainly? Her attire. Seriously, she just, grabbed the girls uniform, replaced the bow with an actual necktie, replaced the blue skirt with an black-violet argyle patterned skirt, grabbed a black vest and placed her pins on it, had cuffs and black fingerless gloves on her hands. Fingertips that seemed to be naturally faded with pink, thigh-high black socks and ankle boots. Add a wild fluffy mess of blonde hair with a pink-orange ahoge, and she will look straight out of an anime.
While everyone murmured and whispered about the new student, Tenma was locked into gazing at Arazen, with the girl giving him what seems to be a knowing smile. Her lips curve up ever so slightly, and her eyes glinted, like a fox’s.
It made him gulp, because, you know that feeling that Shindou just felt earlier? Well, Tenma felt that too, but, of course, he’s oblivious to it. Well, not too much, previous events kind of brought his naivety down, but, it’s just that he couldn’t pinpoint what he was feeling.
He didn’t know why, but Arazen’s gaze gave him that feeling.
“- so please make her feel welcome here. And if you have time, show her around the school ground, help her get familiar here, okay?” The adviser chirped up, which recieved either forced or compliant okays from the class. “So, any questions?” The adviser asked, and Arazen internally sighed and chuckled, while keeping her resting bitch face on.
“Oh boy, I know those questions are gonna come. Go on, shoot em.” She thought.
“Uhm, so, is it true you’re from abroad?”
Bingo, one predictable question down.
“Well, yes, for one. I’m from America, frankly.”
This made the class interested, while it made her internally irk. Neurotypicals.
Then Tenma’s hand raised up, making the class either sweatdrop or groan, as they knew he was gonna ask if she played soccer. Which she kinda guessed too, but it was one of the questions she wouldn’t mind answering.
Probably because she’s also a soccer dork, though not as much as him.
“Matsukaze, we already know what you’re gonna ask; “Do you play soccer?” One male student slightly mockingly said, making the class either giggle lowly or chuckle snidely, while Tenma’s face reddened a bit.
The class adviser openly said he did not approved the student’s behaviour, which then the student replied “So? It’s kinda annoying that he asks the same question over and over. No offense, but not everyone’s a soccer freak like you are.”
Oh you. Time to prove that jerk wrong eh?
“And unfortunately for you, I am one of the others who are soccer freaks, so if you have nothing else nice to say, might as well be quiet for my sake.” She snapped at the male, making the said student blush and groan in embarrassment, and the rest of the class just looked at her. The emotion? She didn’t know, nor did she care, since she’s focused gazing at Tenma, Shinsuke and Hikaru’s excitable faces, Kariya’s grin, Tsurugi’s small smirk, and Aoi’s slight smile.
“Any more questions?” Arazen asked, seeing if the class has anything more to pester her about. When no one answered, the teacher immediately tried to elevate the tension by assigning Arazen, to sit right next to Tsurugi.
Great. Now she can actually monitor her friends in case it happens too early. For both of their liking anyways. And, honestly, she’ll be amused if it turns out that Tsurugi is famous like Shindou and Kirino are. Because she can see the other girls giving her dirty looks as she walks towards Tsurugi, where her seat is. While getting herself settled, the navy haired striker casted a bit of a glance at her. Just out of curiosity, nothing else.
(Another lie. Truth is, he also got that existential crisis feeling that Shindou and Tenma also experienced, literally when he saw Arazen. Something in his mind was screaming, he knew her. He knew her. He just couldn’t remember who she was, or how did they meet. Who is she? Why is she here? Who is she?Who is she?Whoisshe?Whoisshe?Whoisshewhoisshewhoisshewhoisshewhoisshewhoisshe-)
“-gi? Tsurugi?” Arazen whispered while gently waving her palm in front of him. He was staring at her while he was having his crisis apparently, which made some of the nosy ones think he had a crush on her.
“How the fuck does he look like someone who has a crush on me? He is literally having an existential crisis!?” Arazen screamed in her head out of exasperation as she took a peek in the nosy student’s minds, and in Tsurugi’s. On impulse, she gave a silent glare at the ones who are being nosy, causing them to either silently yelp, or turn their heads away, while the lesson was still ongoing.
Neurotypicals, honestly. She thought.
———————————————————————————————————————
It was lunch time, and while the students can be see walking around and meeting up with their own circle of friends, chatting, gossiping, and doing typical teenage stuff.
Meanwhile, Arazen was sitting alone under a tree, not eating, she’s already done with hers. Instead, she seems to be busy writing something, jotting down notes in her journal. Which was written in English, so that not many people would understand what she was writing. It helps that her penmanship made it harder for those who can read English to read.
And no, she’s not writing her thoughts and feelings down, that shit’s reserved for another notebook. What she’s currently writing down was a list of things to do while she’s here monitoring her friends(or are they? Are they still considered her friends? Would they consider her one? It’s been a long time. And even if they remember her, they’ll surely hate her in the end. She caused too much damage to their psyche anyways. Too much. And she paid the price with her friendship to them).
Such as checking to see if there are still Anomalies on the loose(seriously, just how many of those fuckers did those bastards create?), if there are rogue experiments around Inazuma Town that she can turn in to Ms. Airi(bless Miss Airi’s soul, and thank soccer she was lucky enough to encounter her. Miss Airi has been a huge help in the matter of Ele-Chimereans, and right now, she’s gonna need more help than ever), and maybe visit Mr.Aphrodi and Mr. Hiroto and Mr. Midorikawa to check on them(bless them too, they agreed to keep her actual identity secret, and Mister Hiroto and Mister Midorikawa even helped her forge documents to help her pseudonym Yokinada Arazen seem more legit.).
(She’s gonna have to pay those people back someday.)
A small fond smile crept up her lips, grateful for having some of the few good people in the world on her side. Guess the world still has some good in store for even the ones who had seen the most fucked up shit in it.
Meanwhile, the first-year soccer club kids were catching up to some of the second years, namely Shindou, Kirino, Ichino, Aoyama, and Nishiki. Akane and Midori were busy hanging out with the other three second years(you know who they are).
“-a new classmate? Well that’s good for you.” Kirino fondly said.
“And for us! Apparently she plays soccer too! We might have a new member this year again if she ends up joining.” Tenma added, with everyone getting what he means, and all of them agreed.
“Heard ya’ll soccer players talk about me?” Arazen suddenly chimed in as dangled upside down from the tree, a cheeky grin on her face.
Cue the startled grunts from the second years, the screams from Tenma, Shinsuke, Aoi and Hikaru, a girly scream from Kariya, and a held back gulp that made Tsurugi choke, which Nishiki aided with the Heimlich Maneuver.
“What…the..fuck?!” Tsurugi said as he gave Arazen a bewildered look, while the rest were in varying tones of “Language!!” and Tenma was like “Guys! Not the first time he swore!”, making everyone look incredulously at him. Apparently, Tenma’s not as innocent as everyone would initially think, as he actually had swore himself a few times, but only when he hurts himself on accident. And even then, he never had gone to saying “fuck” yet. And it all happens in private, away from everyone’s knowledge, even Aki’s.
But back to the, apparently, “funny as fuck” scenario, as said by Arazen, she howled in laughter as she kept dangling upside down from the tree, face reddening and tears of laughter dripping at her face. Until she falls, yelps with a “Woah!?” and lands face first, making everyone worry.
“Arazen!! Are you okay??” Aoi worried, which was met with a thumbs up from the girl, who chuckled as she rolled up, meeting everyone’s worried and/or concerned faces. Because seriously, who laughs after falling from a tree like that?
Well, she does. After regaining her senses, she sits up, looking at everyone, and says “So I guess I owe ya’ll an apology for worrying you like that.” in a sheepish manner. Everyone either sweatdropped or sighed, and after that, they all resumed chattering with each other, now including Arazen in the mix.
Surprisingly for them, Arazen, Shindou and Kirino get along pretty well, to the point that they eventually slip into conversing in fluent English, confusing the rest. Though Kirino’s not as fluent as the other two, ‘he’ still had a fun time chatting with them.
While they ate lunch(sans Arazen, she already ate hers), the new girl would often poof Aoi’s hair up, playing with it fondly, or either give headpats to Shinsuke. Which they both didn’t mind.
Somehow, Arazen thought, shit will go down the very moment she decides to join the soccer club, and it won’t be for the reasons her soon to be teammates would think.
Chapter 2: soothe your nerves(for the storm will arrive…maybe later)
Summary:
A little bit of pseudo-interlude before the real stuff happens.
Chapter Text
Classes have ended, and almost everyone had went home. Save for those who have club activities. And that includes the Soccer Club.
While walking towards the field, Arazen twirls her fingers seemingly mindlessly. To the normal eye, they’re either just weird loco-motors or a way to stim(which can be, since she’s diagnosed with ADHD, much to her chagrin).
But to her, it was her way of scanning her entire surroundings. If you were either her or the first years plus Shindou and Kirino, you would see a floating vibrant fuchsia ring of runes and sigils that keep rotating around her wrist. They send out flashes of sound waves only hearable by dogs and other canines, deer, and a certain species of mutated failures.
Arazen hopes that she won’t encounter those for at least a while. She can’t afford worrying about public safety and her new(old) friend’s sanity after all.
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Meanwhile, Tsurugi and Shindou during practice, they keep hearing these flashes of high pitched ringing from somewhere, and it’s getting close. They try to ignore it, but it keeps getting more higher and Tsurugi feels like either puking or his ears are gonna bleed.
Kirino looks at ‘his’ best friend like ‘he’ knows that something’s wrong, but decides that ‘he’s’ gonna ask him later.
Meanwhile, fortunately for them, it stopped. The two cast a knowing glance at each other, and nods.
He must’ve heard that too, the two thought to themselves. One nods wordlessly, and the other blinks, looking around to see what made that sound, not knowing that it was rather a who. Meanwhile, Arazen -with the sigil ring on her wrist now gone- had arrived at the field, or rather, is watching(observing you mean?) the yellow-clad players who are doing their darnedest to train themselves further. (Seriously, is there no such thing as limits in Raimon’s vocabulary?)
Shaking her now somewhat chaotic thoughts aside, she went down the stairs and started to walk towards Coach Endou(goddamn she’s so tempted to mess around with Raimon and their beloved coach and guidance counsellor/her godfather and blood aunt respectively. She just wants to see the look on their faces when they learn of her true heritage. Wait. Her dads didn’t say anything about not telling Raimon right?? It may probably be because they know that they can’t stop her from telling them. Still, that just gives her more incentive to do the little prank. Guess she’ll just have to pick her words right to cause the right amount of tension.)
Arazen knew with how she answered the random student’s mockery towards Tenma’s love for soccer that people will think she’s an aggressive-assertive kind of person. And with how she spooked them earlier with the little stunt she pulled back there, dangling on the tree, they’ll expect chaos from her if they ever cross paths(which is inevitably happening.)
(Fuck, she let parts of her actual personality seep through. What point is a pseudonym if you can’t make up a fake personality for it?)
…
(Maybe it’s because if there’s ever the case of them finally remembering you, you don’t want them to feel frightened about a drastic personality change between the Arazen they got to know and the real Arazen.)
(Besides, you were very young back then when all that trauma happened. You being kids, you didn’t have time for getting to know each other’s personality that deep.)
Maybe.
They never met Yokihada Arazen back then. But Gouenji-Kidou-Maraida Arazen. (Her name is ridiculous, but she loves it. All three surnames of the people who brought her here to this world, two of them brought her up and raised her, one who risked everything to bring her to this world and disappeared without a trace, intentionally doing so as to not lead to her husbands and her daughter to danger.)
(She’d sometimes wonder what it’s like to have a mom. Her mom was there for three years in her life, before she reluctantly seeked help from Gouenji and Kidou, afraid they'll push her away. And they accepted her despite what others said, and became a happy family. Until Higan was kidnapped, leaving the two men in a spiral. And that spiral became worse when Arazen was kidnapped too at the age of four. But the point is, there are still a lot of things her mom can catch up on and witness anyways. When she finds her. Not if. When.)
“-miss? Uh, Yokihada-kun, right? Yokihada-kun?”AuntieMiss Otonashi asked as Arazen spaced out, and eventually blinks. She then glances at the guidance counsellor (holy fuck, if no guy has noticed it, Auntie Haruna is actually pretty. How come most men’s standards are so shallow and pitifully low nowadays? she wonders) and chuckles, saying “Oh-was I spacing out? Sorry, didn’t mean to. I was actually wondering if I can join the Soccer Club? If you guys have anymore player slots that is, hehe.” Arazen immediately said, catching the Coach’s attention. “Oh? Does she want to join the club?” Coach Endou asked as he approaches the two girls, and Otonashi nods. "Yokihada-kun here wants to join.
“Well, do you like soccer?” he simply asks.
(Arazen internally chuckles; her dad Gouenji did say that all Endou will do to those who join at a later time in the school year is ask them that question, along with a few others and that’s that.)
“I do, actually. Been playing it ever since I learned to run.” Arazen replied(which isn’t far from the truth. Soon as she learned to talk, her first word legit was “soccer” much to her mother’s amusement. And once she learned to run, all she did was chase the white and black ball whenever she got the chance to.) and this gained an amused smile from Endou.
“You must be quite an experienced player then?” Otonashi says.
( If only you knew. ) All that the two adults got from the blonde girl was a devious grin akin to a certain goggled-matchmaker, and a mad cackle.
—————————————————————
“So you’re the new student Tenma and Shindou mentioned?” Sangoku(ever the mother hen) asked the vixen, who nodded with a grin. “Yep! That’s me!! Yokihada Arazen at your service.” She cheekily replied. “She’s…an…interesting character.” Kurama muttered, while Kirino agreed. “She scared the living shit out of us earlier, by literally dropping down from a tree.” The pink haired defender said nonchalantly, much to the choco-mint midfielder’s confusion. “What?”
Meanwhile, Shindou had been observing Arazen from afar, while said girl was joining Tenma and Shinsuke in their dribbling and stealing practice. Seems she is an expert at keeping the ball, as Tenma and Shinsuke are having a hard time against the girl, while said girl was moving in a mix of jagged chaos and graceful agility. Her movements resemble somewhat of dancing at high tempos, like tango, as her feet taps in fast percussion against the grass. Tenma complimented Arazen on her dribbling and keeping, while Shinsuke asked if she can teach them. All they got was a mad cackle that everyone else swore could’ve resembled Kariya’s when one of his pranks becomes successful, only that Arazen’s had a tinge of chaos that seemed particular to her.
The tactician kept an eye on Arazen, who impossibly have noticed, given that she was busy having a conversation with Sangoku and Kirino right after her short dribbling with Tenma and Shinsuke. The vixen seemee to happily talk with the two seniors, but it only took a split second and close attention for Shindou to notice that Arazen was indeed casting glances at him. No, not the dreamy fangirl kind of glance. It was far from that actually.
(Shindou swore he recognized the way Arazen’s eyes glinted and narrowed, he just couldn’t place a finger on how or why.)
———————————————————————————————————————
During water break, Endou received a call from Gouenji, while Otonashi had one with her brother, Kidou. The two other adults mentioned that they’re going to pay Raimon a visit to check on something (or rather someone).
(They didn’t see the way Arazen’s eyes lit up and narrowed as she overheard the names Kidou and Gouenj.)
So, while the willy nilly of training kept going on, Arazen grinned.
Chapter 3: won’t you help me sober up?(growing up made me numb)
Summary:
In which while practice today continues with Arazen on the mix, she reminisces the fuckery she and a few others went through. Fragments of memories resurface sharply to Tenma and Shindou, and they don’t know where they came from. A few shorts of bliss from spending time with Raimon is all Arazen needs to remind herself that it’s ok if she takes some time just being a thirteen year old.
(also, the title’s a quote from a song, and soon, some of the future chapters are. see if you can figure out which ones are which :3)
Chapter Text
“-and I never saw them since.” Arazen finished the story, which was about a few childhood friends she had who she got kidnapped with, and were rescued after a year or two. They eventually gone their separate ways, and Arazen hasn’t heard from them since. Or at least that’s the surface. Well, that’s basically the gist of it, but there’s more than what Arazen told. Also, the last part was a lie. She knows what happened to the other six kids, since all of them are in front of her. Tenma and Shinsuke shared relieved sighs, while Aoi patted Arazen’s back, who just grinned. Tsurugi’s face was expressionless, but everyone there knows that he’s just as miffed and worried as the others. Shindou and Kirino looked at each other they seemed to have a wordless conversation. ( Some things never change between those two huh? Arazen thought.)
“Well, past is past, though I don’t know why I decided to tell you that part of my childhood.” Arazen chuckled, walking towards the field. A grin carved it’s way to her face, as she yells “First one to steal this ball will have a free ramen bowl later at Tobitaka-san’s! Also Aoi, you’re exempted from this, I’ll pay for you anyways!!” Which prompted the two first years to chase after Arazen, wanting to get treated to a free ramen bowl (and to finally get to steal the ball from Arazen), Tsurugi tagging along to entertain the mischievous first year (and to see for himself if Arazen really does have a firm grip on the ball, which he’ll learn the hard way later that she does), while the two second-years get called by the other second years, leaving Aoi to join Midori and Akane as they walk away to grab some bottles and towels.
“She really has a nonchohalant attitude about it, no?” Kirino says as ‘he’ walks besides the prodigy, who nods, but his face scrunches at the way Arazen seems to just summarize the whole story. Normally, when telling a story as traumatic as that, the person would’ve hyperfixated on certain details. But Arazen seems to skip over details, which was concerning. But Shindou wasn’t one to judge one’s reaction to trauma. He could imagine what it was like being kidnapped, but he couldn’t imagine her feelings when it happened.
(Alluding to the time Fifth Sector kidnapped them and brought them to God Eden. But the difference is, they were aware that something bad was gonna happen to them in the middle of their rebellion against soccer communism. But Arazen? She was just a child when she was taken. An unaware, helpless child, who was randomly chosen to be a victim. The huge difference lies there.)
Shindou looked at Arazen’s direction, the girl still managing to keep the ball to herself against Tenma and Shinsuke, but was ultimately caught offguard by Tsurugi, after a while of rapid keeping for the former and rapid stealing for the latter. The two first-years whined, while Arazen laughed and said she was gonna treat them all to ramen either way, which did calm the two down. Aoi couldn’t help but chuckle at the childish way the two boys reacted. Tsurugi himself was interested on how did Arazen keep the ball like that while rapidly tapping her foot, and Kirino vaguely heard the word “flamenco” being mentioned.
The two second years decided to let their lowerclassmen be and walked towards the others. While doing so, Shindou took one last glance at Arazen and Tenma, and that’s when it first happened to him. A split-second flash of an image, but short as it maybe, it was vivid and clear.
An image of a little girl with cream-blonde, messy long hair, with tips dyed pink, and a face with rage accompanied her body filled with bruises, her hospital dress ragged and dirty with blood stains. Wounds and pink glowing lines decorating her legs and arm, fangs and nails barred at a group of grown-ups in lab coats, all unrecognizable to him. He vauguely heard the girl’s scream of rage as she was about to attack. And then it dissapeared, and Shindou was back on the field.
“-dou. Shindou? Are you okay?” Kirino repeated worriedly, while Kurama waves his hand on the male’s face, saying “Yo, Shindou. Why are you frozen like that, man?” The prodigy snapped back to reality, but his mind still felt disconnected. He nodded emptily, making the others worry. “Hey,something on your mind?” Ichino asks, which the prodigy shrugged it off. “No, I..I’m fine, really. Just, spaced out for a bit.”
They weren’t convinced, but they didn’t push it further.
When he was left to his own thoughts again, Shindou wondered. Who was that little girl? Why was she angry at those people? And why did she…vaguely look like the very girl that shared her story about being kidnapped?
(If there’s anything he learned from past experiences, it’s that anything events that happen one after another is NOT a coincidence.)
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Tenma blinked after seeing a split second vision of a child (a child who looks like him), with wings and a horse tail drenched in blood, his ears having a lot of cuts that bled, and his scream echoing in the captain’s ears. But those details were dulled by how clear the look of agony and rage was in the child’s eyes. After the image went out of his eyes as quick as it came, Tenma blinked, once, then twice, then looked around the place. “Huh….what was that about?” he wondered. He took a look around, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and sighed. Maybe his brain was playing tricks on him? He did practically oversleep after all.
(Deep down, he knew he wasn’t hallucinating. Past events can testify to that, but he wasn’t about to ruin what little semblance of peace Raimon has now. They deserved a brewk from all the problems of the world. They’re teenagers dammit.)
The captain looked around and saw that practice was going well, no threat of the world ending, no one to try and use or wipe out soccer, nothing. For once, they’re allowed to be kids. Just teenagers. No burdens to shoulder for now.
He heaved a sigh, and tried to calm himself down. He could think about that weird image flash later.
In the distance, Arazen’s eyes narrows in acknowledgement, and walks towards the captain, the motive she had for joinigng Raimon in the long run ringing in her head.
“I have to protect them.”
(One of the things that Arazen has learned since their escape, is that anything that looks out of the ordinary is worth checking out. Even if that thing is out to kill you. You just need to equip yourself with that knowledge and at least have a way to retaliate.)
———————————————————————————————
Waterbreak soon came, and everyone were sitting by the benches, quenching their thirst and resting for a bit.
While the resident delinquents (Kariya, Midori, Kurama and Kurumada) are scheming for another stunt (the soccer club of Raimon is quite famous not just for their prestige in the youth soccer world, but also for the…wacky adventures they pull that lands them on the front page of local news), the discipline comitee (aka Sangoku and Kirino) are trying to quell the mischievous gremlins from pulling more shit. Tenma sighs in the background, a sheepish and apologetic look on his face towards Arazen, who just shrugged and said “Man, I have my own set of shenanigans.”
Shindou is seen showing a shit-eating grin (because he’s also a harbinger of chaos in the team unfortunately), while Tsurugi facepalms and says “My goodness, I thought Shindou-san had at least a bit of commonsense,” to which Aoi deadpanningly replied “Tsurugi, just throw out any hope of any semblance of peace you have, because this is Raimon. There’s no such thing as peace in our vocabulary.” The ace striker could do nothing other than groan as he drank his water. He was fingerpinching close to throwing his water bottle at his friends and yell at them to just please, please, stop with the chaos for now.
The rest are pretty neutral; Whatever shenanigans Kariya would do, Hikaru’s on board, and the same goes for Hamano, which makes Hayami (being Kurama and Hamano’s voices of reason) the equivalent of an anxious mother. Amagi is on board with the delinquent’s shenanigans (and is also the supervisor for said shenanigans), and only Ichino, Aoyama and Akane are the true neutrals(if you want them to participate, you can bribe them, but make sure it’s something they’ll metaphorically die for, and only give it to them after they’ve done the favor, and KEEP that favor, otherwise if you don’t do any of all of the above, they’ll snitch on you with a grudge. And they can get away with it).
And Shinsuke? He’s just going along for the ride, because he’s a clueless midget mostly, and if you give him a reason to, he can be one of the worst chaotic team members. The only reason no one has suffered casualties yet is because he will stick with Tenma most of the time, and their managers who are their lifelines (this includes Otonashi, who Kidou gratefully thanks the gods that her chaos is quelled for now).
“-at least that’s how I see ya’ll motely.” Arazen chuckles at Tenma, who gives her an incredulous look. “And I’m assuming that you’ll join the chaos leigon soon?” the captain asks, not horrifyingly or warily, just, somewhat confirming. “Tenma. I thrive in chaos. I live off of it.” she says as her eyes glint. Tenma isn’t sure what she means by that, but he just assumes that it’s her way of saying “I like causing fuckery.” “You’ll get along with them just fine then.” Otonashi chuckles as she walks towards the two. “Raimon is a colourful bunch, so no surprise that you all will coalesce like this.” “I can imagine almost everyday there’s always a moment of chaos.” Arazen snickers, and Tenma sighs, pleading “Please don’t jinx it right now.” The girl raised an eyebrown and cackled.
(“Hey, now that I think about it, didn’t we used to make Dad and Father’s heads ache from our shenanigans?” She’d imagine herself saying to any one of the six kids(no, she can’t call them her friends, they technically just met her, and what she did was…unwarranted), and she’s imagine them replying “Oh! I remember that one time Shinsuke ate fertilizer, and eversince then, we’d make shre he stays away from it. He got really high from that, didn’t he?” She’d imagine another one of them adding “Or the time Tsurugi got scolded because he ate a sparrow?” And then everyone would call each other out. Yes, call her delusional, but, you can’t blame her. She misses them so bad, and they’re here in front of her, het so far out of reach at the same time.)
Arazen gazed at Otonashi and Tenma who were having a fun little banter between adult and teenager, and a curve irked on the corner of her lips. A wayward ball made it’s way towards her and bonked her on the head. She yelped, and quickly asks “Now who the fuck decided it was a good idea bonkin’ me with a ball?!” Replies ranged from a “Language!!” (Sangoku, we’re not babies), “Not me!!”(a nervous Hayami), to a “It was me.” from Kariya and he stuck his tongue out to provoke Arazen. She was provoked (she knew better than to be petty, but, it won’t be harmful being petty here. She had always been a petty person anyways.) by Kariya’s antics, and shot the ball back to him (she wanted to use Fire Tornado so badly on the defender, but nooo, incognito, incognito, she reminded herself, and not to mention, she might end up giving him burns. Hissatsus, when used in a severely emotional state, can materialize physically, and not just be a projection on one’s spirit. This can range from dents on the ground, soaked grass, to a literal dent and crack on the stadium wall caused by a wayward hissatsu) right on his face, the ball landing with a smack.
Of course, she had to apologize to Kariya after being scolded by the team moms (Sangoku and Kirino), but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
(Reminds her of one of her favorite songs. “Sober Up”,wasn’t it? Her inner child must be laughng heartily right now.)
Guess she too, can take a break. They won’t remember yet. not until next month.
Chapter 4: (aero and hysteria/chaos): my palms and fingers (still reek of gasoline)
Summary:
Contrary to what most people would think, Tenma, to a fault, may be naive, but it doesn’t mean he’s innocent, he’s pure, or any of that shit.
In fact, today, after a while of thinking about it, something in him snapped in realization.
Aoi was right. Everything he and his team went through…no matter how amazing, was fucked up. Severely fucked up. Especially going against communism at it’s worst (in soccer), at the age of 13. Sure, there were adults to help them, but why them? Why didn’t the adults do anything about it sooner or earlier? It was so messed up, that Tenma was surprised that this revelation hadn’t come to him sooner.
Now to find someone to confide his mixed feelings about their adventures to. He has a lot of choices. Even the present vixen with them, who can somewhat relate. For more reasons than one.
Chapter Text
Watching the team get together like this was amazing. No end of the world to worry about, no nothing, save for the chaos that was caused by the team itself (seriously, Kariya, what were you thinking, having your kick hit Arazen? Are you asking for a death wish? I just met her and I can tell she’s one of the people who won’t hesistate to stab you, please, I don’t want another of my teammates dying by the hand of another teammate, we already had Kurama-san and Minamisawa-san when he visited here last month), but the point is, there’s peace here. At least a semblance of it, and it was enough. The captain sighed deeply as he went to dribble alongside Hikaru.
I can think about the weird image flash later…for now, I just want to play soccer with my friends.
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Arazen kept her promise of treating Tenma, Shinsuke, Aoi and Tsurugi (who was dragged along, in place of Kariya and Hikaru, who went to the arcade), and Shindou and Kirino decided to tag along (partly because they wanted to eat ramen and enjoy the company it brings, and partly because Shindou decided to follow by his instinct about weird shit happening one after another not being a coincidence).
Rairaken was filled with the chatter of people, the sound of ramen being slurped and broth being sipped, and the clanging of pots and utensils slightly rang through the kitchen. “Oh? Isn’t that Tobitaka-san? Wasn’t he a member of Inazuma Japan?” Arazen piped up curiously, feigning intrigue (when she in fact knew all of the members of the pro-league team, a few of them personally).
“Mhm.” Shindou nodded, and they all went to sit down while taking orders.
Raimon always had get-togethers like this, whenever it’s after practice, after a match, or just when they have free time altogether. The managers aren’t left out (they’re practically the team’s life support), and it’s in this particular ramen shop that some of their shenanigans happen. Tobitaka is either a witness or a participant in their chaos. “Kurumada-san, no, you can’t throw a stool at a customer who insulted Kurama-san because of his skin colour, and no, Midori-san, please don’t cheer on him anymore further, we don’t want to get charged of assault. Guys please, no resorting to violence- oh. What did you just called Tsurugi?? A traitor? OH YOU DON’T GET AWAY WITH THAT YOU FU-“ Tenma joined the chaos after a random guy (probably an ex-SEED, those guys are still around, and while some have accepted and enjoyed playing free soccer, there are those who are brainwashed by the damned Fifth Sector) commented on Tsurugi being a traitor to Fifth’s cause and that he should be ashamed of himself and that the world would be better off without him. That day ended with the team being terrified of Tenma’s silent wrath as he slapped the guy on the cheeks and slammed his head on a table while Tobitaka just watched with a grin (the adult knows that he shouldn’t be encouraging this kind of behaviour, but fuck that, no one messes with a captain of Raimon, and Endou is another prime example of that), and coldly whispered “You say that shit again to Tsurugi, or insult any of my team mates, I promise you, your body won’t be found.”
The team didn’t hear whatever Tenma said, but they sure know it was terrifying as heck if the ex-seed had a genuinely terrified reaction. It just meant that Tenma’s anger was cold, and whatever he could possibly had done to this guy, he won’t regret it. But that one event aside, Rairaken held a lot of good memories for Shinsei Raimon, as the original Raimon guys had dubbed them. A lot of pseudo-adoption jokes circulated around them, and the kids can’t help but be confused as they witness Kazemaru, Gouenji, Endou and Natsumi fight and lose badly against Aki for Tenma’s “custody”, which the captain sighed and grimaced about. Yes, it happened behind Rairaken.
Tenma can’t help but chuckle at Arazen’s flabbergasted reaction as he and the rest recall those events, excluding the ex-SEED incident. But Arazen, having the ability to read people’s minds like a book, she watched their collective memories about the incident, and the thoughts and feelings afterwards that. It seems that they just all found out how terrifying Tenma was, which made the vixen internally smirk. “-that would work, but, you’re a midget. Sorry Shinsuke.” Tenma yelped and laughed with the rest as the mentioned pudgy goalie playfully punches his shoulder and yells “I’ll show you the power of midgets, burnt chesnut!” Tenma mildly winces and pats Shinsuke’s head, who crossed his arms and pouted. While they kept slurping at the ramen they ordered, they all told stories of stuff that happened during the year, such as Fifth Sector in their perspective, but Arazen noticed they’ve been leaving out personal details. Oh well, they just met her, but she had a feeling that whatever went down within Raimon before the revolution started had a negative effect on most of them. Then came the time travelling and the space travelling, which did leave Arazen genuinely baffled and (well, she did hear Kidou and Gouenji’s side of the events, but they were nothing compared to their sides.)
While they all recollected about it, they all hear Aoi say aomwthing that shook them to their core. “I know that Fifth Sector is all behind us and everything, but…I just wondered. How come the adults didn’t do anything back then?”
The following silence was deafening, and they all tried to come up of an answer, or anything to say, really. But Arazen seemed unaffected, in fact, she seemed intrigued. “Well, what made you say that, Aoi-chan?” The blue-haired girl looked at her with interest and continued “For one, why didn’t they deal with Fifth Sector when it was still beginning? Why didn’t they uprooted Fifth Sector from the start? And second…why….why did it take us literal children getting hurt before they even acted? And…third…what did they do with the remaining SEEDs that…were…” “-trapped in God Eden and in Fifth Sector’s hold in general?” Tsurugi continued when he noticed Aoi was dreading to finish her statement, patting her back as she solemnly stared at her ramen bowl, which was nearly empty. While everyone was deep in thought for an answer, Tenma’s head was cranking it’s gears differently.
Contrary to what most people would think, Tenma, to a fault, may be naive, but it doesn’t mean he’s innocent, he’s pure, or any of that shit.
In fact, today, after a while of thinking about it, something in him snapped in realization.
Aoi was right. Everything he and his team went through…no matter how amazing in anyone’s eyes, was fucked up. Severely fucked up. Especially going against communism at it’s worst (in soccer), at the age of 13. Sure, there were adults to help them, but why them? Why didn’t the adults do anything about it sooner or earlier? It was so messed up, that Tenma was surprised that this revelation hadn’t come to him sooner.
You were a freshly turned 13 year old back then. And you had so much passion for a sport that brought you joy…naturally, you’d be somewhat unknowledgable of how the current circumstances are. You just joined Junior High for damn sakes. But…Aoi’s questions…they’re right. Why wasn’t Fifth Sector dealt with right from the start? Why did it take us literal children to get hurt before they even acted? Even more so, what happened to the ex-SEEDs? Were they safe? Or..were they like the guy who insulted Tsurugi and Kurama-san? Confused? Angry? Brainwashed? Come to think of it…what happened to the SEEDs in the other teams? The ones in Mannouzaka? Kaiou? Hakuren? Even Seidouzan and DragonLink? What happened to them?? Oh wait…wasn’t Senguuji Daigo the father of DragonLink’s goalkeeper? How is he now, since his father is in prison?? He must be treated badly, since people will judge him because he’s the son of a criminal…
…This doesn’t make sense…if Fifth Sector didn’t happen in general…maybe…Second Stage Children wouldn’t even exist…and even if they still did….maybe they won’t be so prejudiced to the point they rebelled and caused damage not just to their timeline but to the ones they interacted with, and El Dorado wouldn’t have been hellbent on erasing soccer in Japan…and…the Grand Celesta Galaxy….why…why didn’t adults step up to this? Why did they have to get literal kids fight a war for them?? I know we wouldn’t have met Earth Eleven and get to meet real aliens if we hadn’t, but…
It all boiled down to one question, Tenma realized, as he looked at his friends after rambling all of that to them. (Huh, took you long enough. Arazen thought, internally smirking as Tenma opened his mouth to say the auestion he didn’t knew he’d dread to say.)
“Why didn’t the grown-ups do anything?” Tenma muttered for all of them to hear, which made the rest realize the same thing.
Having all of these thoughts suddenly make Tenma’s head gear up and crank altogether, was making his head hurt and his sanity almost implode. All of them had looks on their faces, ranging from Shinsuke’s queasy expression, to Shindou’s thoughtful and distressed face, to Tsurugi’s horrified look on his eyes.
“…now that you’ve said it…I guess, me, Yukimura…and Amagi-san’s friend from Gen’ei, Mahoro-san…we’re lucky, so to say. I heard that the SEEDs at Teikoku…they were allowed to stay after the Resistance found out that we were…practically abused there. At God Eden.” Tsurugi muttered, the horror in his golden-orche eyes still not leaving.
“Abuse is an understatement Tsurugi…your situation with your brother was used to gaslight and manipulate you, you literally trained with cannonballs, dangerous equipment, and you were goddamn isolated. No contact with the outside world, and brainwashed you to push your bodies to the limits, even if your’e tired, dehydrated, or worse. And…we can’t rule out the possibility of the ex-SEEDs being scouted in one way or another…” Kirino said, which the underlying meaning of the last sentence said “Some of the SEEDs may be kidnapped or abducted there. That’s human trafficking…”
It made Tsurugi think on how lucky he, and those other few ex-SEEDs were that they didn’t go back to that hellhole. Now that he thought about it…it must’ve negatively affected Hakuryuu so much…he was brainwashed on thinking he needs to be the best, and although he had improved from that and is trying to get along with his peers and improve his life, now that he studies at Arakumo (Taiyou’s so darn happy he has another friend in the team), the part of him that is obssessed with being the best might ingrain itself in his personality, in the manner that he might stress himself on doing his best in things, especially in loving others and making them proud…and that might reach a point of Hakuryuu overdoing it and either mentally and emotionally exhausting himself, or being obssessed with being the best…oh no…Tenma’s right, Fifth Sector is fucked up. It fucking ingrained trauma on everyone that’s affected by it’s actions, especially kids like them.
His face was shadowed as he looked at his ramen bowl, which was near halfway, and saw his wobbly reflection on it, his eyes threatening to leak out a tear. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a bit, while his lips quivered. Tenma meanwhile was still staring apprehensively at his ramen bowl, his hand tightening it’s grip on his chopsticks, until he accidentally snapped them in two. That also snapped him out of it, and Arazen took this as her cue to say something.
Or rather, answer the question.
“What was that question again? Why didn’t the grown-ups do anything? Was that it?” Arazen clarified, staring at Tenma’s eyes, which the captain nodded, albeit a bit shaky. Arazen turned to her ramen bowl, and thought for a bit, before chuckling a bit. “Simple. They’re either one or both of the following; ignorant, or too full of pride.” She shrugged as she slurped her ramen and chugged the broth down in one sitting. When she finished, she looked at her companions (do not use the damned f-word Arazen, you don’t deserve it, you don’t deserve to call them your friends), who all are wearing faces full of confusion, astonishment, intrigue, and a bit of wariness and terror. “What do you exactly mean by that?” Shindou finally said, breaking the silence. Arazen grinned and continued.
“Well…adults may be more older than us, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re wiser than us. And, it actually stems from generational upbringing. See, take this for example. It’s currently 2018, right? Pretty sure that you’re aware of the LGBTQIA+ community, right?” Arazen started, which Shinsuke confusingly asks “I’m sorry, but…what’s LG…LGB-“ “LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Transgender, Intersex, Asexual. The plus is there to mean there are more sexualities than the ones mentioned. Uh, basically, it’s a community for those who don’t conform with the heterosexual norm.” Shindou sheepishly explains to the first year, who just looked even more confused, which Kirino elbowed the prodigy and chuckled as ‘he’ whispered “Darn you and your articulate wording.” Aoi sweatdropped and explained “Uh, basically, it’s when you don’t fit in with the normal boy-girl binary and the boy-to-girl relationship quo.” This made Shinsuke understand it even more further now, as he replied with an amazed face. “Oh! I get it now! But wait…what does this have to do with why adults, uh, didn’t do anything about Fifth Sector?” he asks.
Arazen chuckled and said “Bear with me. So, like how Shindou and Aoi explained it, our generation are much more open to new ideals, new things, and we are willing to try new things. Also, we tend to be more accepting of diversity and of one another, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone. But the older generation on the other hand, they tend to be more conservative, less open-minded, and would rather stick to what they know, plus, they would try to seek control of other’s lives. Now, not all of them are like that, we have Coach Endou, Miss Otonashi, Trainer Kidou, and Sir Gouenji to testify for that, but most of them? If you, Shinsuke, asked the same question you asked Shindou earlier, chances are, they either only have bad things to say about homosexuality or queerness in general, or they’ll chastisize you for asking as auch. If they have the audacity to, which, most of them do, they’ll try and condition you into thinking that being queer is wrong, and will try to gaslight you, manipulate you, expose you to mentally toxic environments, or in Fifth Sector’s case, brainwash you.” Arazen paused to let that sink in. Shinsuke shuddered in nervousness as he processed Arazen’s words. He may not be academically smart, but the message came across. The same was for the rest, and suddenly, Arazen’s example was now rather complimentary with the case.
“So what you’re saying is…a lot of grown-ups are just that controlling? To the point they would control a literal sport? Just so they can feel good about themselves?” Tenma asked, still not staring away from his ramen bowl. Arazen shrugged and said “Not necessarily, there are a lot of other factors. But that’s one of the main reasons. Remember the other? Being too full of themselves? Well, another thing about adults? They tend to not admit they’re wrong when they are, they tend to turn away from the problem or underestimate it. And such, that problem comes to bite them in the back. I mean, look at the Resistance. Sure, they may have backed you up in the Revolution, but, did they do anything else other than give you information about your opponents and being your back-up? Did they actively try to make sure you’re safe during it all? Because if they did, you wouldn’t be kidnapped to God Eden. Sure, you don’t regret it Tsurugi, since you’ve met Hakuryuu again and all, but, is that really the only way you couldn’ve? Couldn’t you have met him in a much better circumstance than being abducted?” Arazen sighed, gnawing on one of the chopsticks, casting a sideways glance at the ace striker. Tsurugi raised an eyebrow, as if to say “What do you want me to say?”
Arazen shrugged and sighed. “Well, that’s what I have to say at least.” Kirino chuckled and asked “Do you hate grown-ups that much?” The vixen shrugged and said “I do, but I have exceptions. I just instinctively hate adults with spite”, and then winked at Kirino. The feminine ‘guy’ stared back at his almost empty ramen bowl, and a slight tint of pink rushed to ‘his’ cheeks, but ‘he’ quickly shook it away, and looked at the rest. We have Shindou, Shinsuke and Tsurugi who’s processing what they just heard, and Aoi who’s trying to pull Tenma from the depths of hell because he looked like he was yet ready to murder again, goddammit.
“Hey, Tenma.” Arazen tapped his shoulder, making Tenma look at him. She cast a gentle smile at him and said “Look. It doesn’t excuse them, the Resistance, and, Endou-san, Kidou-san, and Gouenji-san. But that doesn’t mean you should be angry at them about it. They did help you, in their own ways, even if the circumstances were unideal, now you realise, and, we can’t keep getting mad at what happened already. That’s a rabbit hole you can’t get yourself out of.” She sighed.
You just can’t have him stuck at that cycle of spite. Not like how you did against yourself.
Tenma sighed back, and thought for a while, before finally replying “I’m not mad at Endou-san, or any of them. I just…I just had realized that, and no matter what my mind tells me to just, scream at them about it…I can’t seem to find it in my heart to do so.” The vixen couldn’t stiffle a cackle and cackled madly like a fox, her laughter ringing in the ramen shop, some other customers glanced uo to see what was it about. “Wha-why are you laughing?” Aoi asked bafflingly, while the rest sweatdropped. Arazen’s mad cackles were soon quieting down, and she sighed with a chuckle. “Well, all I can say at this point? Is that good luck with sorting your emotions out. Because you’ll need it.” She grabbed her bag and started to walk out of Rairaken. Before she left, she waved goodbye to the rest, who waved back with confusion or amusement on their faces. She flashed them a devious grin, and skipped on her way home.
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Tenma sighed as he laid on his bed, while Sasuke yawned and napped by the door, preffering some company for the night. He thought about what th summary of what Arazen said.
Just because the ones who you trust are flawed doesn’t mean you have to be angry at them for it.
He just stared at the light of the room, his eyes growing weary. Normally, he would have slept already, but, aside from the discussion they had about adults earlier at Rairaken, the image (or memory? Does it count as a memory?) flashed again in his mind, this time, a bit more blurry since he’s trying to actively remember. The look of rage on the child’s face…the blood drenched on his body…
…what happened to that kid for him to be so agonized?
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In a small non-urbanized forestated part of Inazuma Town, a shrieking wail faded as the life was stabbed out of the creature. A head with faceless features, only comprising of a rotating maw, and long lanky limbs, the creature looked malnourished, when it actually had a ridiculous strength ratio to it.
The only reason the creature was stabbed to death was a psychic blade stabbing it’s stomach and beheading it.
Arazen’s eyes have never glowed a fierce hysterical pink than it did right now.
She sighed, looking at the sky, wiping the blood off her cheeks. Groaning, she mumbled “It’s too early for this shit.”
Chapter 5: (blaze, sharp, and hysteria/chaos): blow a kiss, fire a gun (when you need someone to lean on)
Summary:
While waiting for their daughter to come home, Kidou thinks about things. The next day, he and Gouenji talk. Remembering the kids you rescued while they don’t remember you in the same way you do can be pretty jarring after all.
Notes:
A/N: oh god, I am going insane with writing out this au. Btw, in Raimon Eldritch Chronicles, the gap between the OG and GO is 15 years instead of ten, so that some things in this chapter will make sense.
Chapter Text
The steamy scent of food lofted in the air while Shuuya was frying the steak, carefully cooking the dishes that they’ll eat later. His daughter and husband had preferences after all. To anyone else, it’s kind of surprising that the famous CEO of Kidou Corps, famed tactician of the field, strategic Kidou Yuuto and the Ambassador of the Japan Youth Soccer Association and renowned Flame Striker Gouenji Shuuya, both active members of the original Inazuma Japan, would live in an apartment complex. It’s even more surprising when it turns out that they are married…for four years. That’s considered a long time on being able to keep your marriage secret. Meanwhile, Yuuto looked at the news on his tablet, skimming through the articles about their marriage being revealed. Resting his head on his palm, he sighed and pinched his nose bridge.
In their defense, they got caught because Shuuya can be a dork sometimes, and though they’re not the type of couple to go PDA, silly little things like quick pecks on the cheek when no one’s looking or subtle hand holding that they can hide sometimes ensue. One of these times( which was also how they got caught) they were just sitting on a bench by the Inazuma Steel Plaza after catching a day off from their respective jobs, eating takoyaki together. “I still can’t forget when I accidentally scared Hakuryuu off because I was mentally scolding myself because I undercooked the takoyaki I shared with him…I scared the poor bloke.” Shuuya muttered rather embarrasingly, still not forgiving himself for terrorizing the child. Yuuto chuckled and a curve irked on his lips, his eyes holding a bit of amusement behind his goggles. “Now you know where you got your “ruthless and cold” popularity.” the tactician muses. Shuuya gave him an embarrassed face, looking rather peeved out and sighed, saying “Can you at least be a bit kinder with me? I just scared the shit out of a kid.” Yuuto stiffled a cackle (seriously, why did Arazen have to inherit that from him? Shuuya wondered), and patted his husband’s back…huh,everytime he even just refers to Shuuya as his husband in his mind, it still manages to amuse and startle him. See, Yuuto, as we all know, doesn’t really look like the type to be interested in romance at all. But after an…interesting happen of circumstance in their 18 years of age,a polyamory relationship with Shuuya and with a woman named Maraida Bana, Yuuto can confidently say (to himself, to Arazen, and to Shuuya) that romance did have interesting plans for him.
Oh dear, we’re going in for a trip down memory lane now huh? This always happens, whenever and whatever. He can remember the details very clearly.
Three years passed after a drunken threesome at a bachelor’s party and at the age of 21, Yuuto’s company was thriving, and Fifth Sector wasn’t a thing they had to worry about. So, often, he’d meet up with any of his old friends who were available (sans Sakuma and Genda, he coaches Teikoku along with them anyway), and a particular blonde striker. Yuuto and Gouenji were having a little discussion in the comfort of Kidou’s mansion, when a surprise visitor came to visit. Hakamada interrupted their conversation, saying “Master Kidou, there’s a woman and a child wanting to see you. She says you know of her.” Yuuto and Shuuya are obviously confused with the turn of events, and out of curiosity, Kidou tells Hakamada to let them in. The butler complied, not asking a single question (one thing, in the Kidou household, no matter how questionable, do as the Kidous tell you to, and do not question their orders), and the mother-daughter pair were welcomed in the mansion.
You can imagine the shock on all three of the adult’s faces when they saw her and them. (The butler instinctively went out and all the remaining staff followed suit, knowing in themselves that they shall not speak of whatever ensues out of this.) Bana looked the same as back then; soft scarlet red hair and pink eyes. But she looked like she got no sleep, her body was covered in bruises,and she looked worse for wear. Her current outfit was one of the few decent clothes she had. The curious three year old peeped behind and her eyes sparkled when she saw the two men. It really was Kidou Yuuto and Gouenji Shuuya, the real deal! She could barely contain her excitement, Shuuya noticed. The kid saw the Flame Striker gazing back at her and eeped as she hid behind her mother, who chuckled sheepishly. “I severely apologize if, I intruded or interrupted something here…but…” Bana trailed off, nor knowing how to continue, or even say that this kid could be either theirs…
“Bana.” Yuuto said, and Bana immediately starightened up, saying “Yes?”, afraid that he’s irritated that she even came here in the first place. Yuuto paused for a moment, and held a small smile on his lips, saying “Why don’t you and…uh, what’s your name little one?” to the little girl. “Arazen!” She chimed, and her enthusiastic energy reminded the two males of their younger sisters. “Yes, Bana and Arazen, why don’t you two sit down on the couch, can’t have you getting your legs numb from standing there.” Yuuto tried to get the two comfortable, which somewhat worked, as Bana did sit down, albeit hesitantly, while Arazen was more than happy to. She was eyeing a mochi from the platter in front of her, and Bana sweatdropped, and lightly bonked her head, eyeing the message “Mind your manners” to the kid. The girl replied with a sheepish grin and rubbed her head. “Um, may I take a mochi?” Arazen asked, and Shuuya nodded. “Go on, we don’t mind.” She beamed and grabbed one, and happily munched on the sweet treat.
While she was busy snacking, Yuuto gazed at Bana, and asked “So…what brings you here?” The woman obviously got nervous, and looked at the floor, clearly trying to compose herself. She took a few breaths in, and finally gathered the courage to speak.
“After uh, the…that night..I-I mean, a few weeks later after that night, I found out I was pregnant…and I already graduated high school…I was on my way to college, but my pregnancy developed. My foster parents got furious with me when they found out…” Bana had to hold herself from sobbing, from even letting a tear out. Shuuya noticed this, looked at the other male and the two men looked at each other and nodded. Yuuto called for Hakamada to take Arazen and tour her around the mansion, merely to distract the child. When Arazen and Hakamada were gone, the two carefully approached the woman, making sure she’s alright with them being this close (she clearly needed someone to tell this to, it’s clearly traumatic to her. PTSD came in many forms after all) and they both patted her back gently. “Go on, it’s okay.” Shuuya reaffirmed, letting the woman know it’s okay to tell them, that they won’t judge her. Her breath shivered and she continued “So, they kicked me out. I barely scraped by…I gave birth to Arazen on the streets, and, I…had to work multiple jobs just so that I can provide for her. Look, I won’t elaborate on that anymore longer, that’s not what I came here for.” Bana sniffled and rubbed her eyes, trying to muster whatever courage she had left. When she looked at both Yuuto and Shuuya, they looked devastated. Their facial reactions weren’t intense or dramatic, but she somewhat could tell that they felt pity for her. Her eyes averted, and she sighed. “I…I’m tired…and I can’t provide for her for too long. There will be a point where I can’t be there for her anymore, and I don’t want her to be alone in this world so young.I-“ “You want us to take her in?” Yuuto cut in, Shuuya snicker in his mind because damn, Yuuto is blunt. Thus making Bana flabbergasted and shook her head. “N-no! Not-Not at all! No, I can’t ask for something too big! I just…I just want to…I just want you to help…me financially. I-I can’t interrupt with your lives, a child is way too-“ “Bana. Are you saying we won’t want to take Arazen in?” Shuuya asked, and Bana looked down at the floor again. Slowly, her worries turn into ramblings and she stands up and exclaims every possible thing her mind can articulate right now in the haze of hysteria. “It’s just…well…agh. I can’t interfere with you two…you’re, well, you. I…if people find out about this…you and Arazen both will be…jeopardized. And, I don’t even know which one of you are the father! I didn’t even expect Shuuya-san to be here, I was planning on asking you—“ she gestures at Yuuto “—on where he lives so I can talk to him too! And, now, I am probably embarrasing myself infront of you both and I just can’t, I just can’t….I-I just can’t-“
Her ramblings turn to a halt when Shuuya stands up and hugs her, patting her shoulder as he wraps his arms around her in an effort to comfort her from her hysterical sobbing. Yuuto followed suit, wrapping one arm around Shuuya, and another arm at Bana, and patted her other shoulder. “It’s okay.” Yuuto softly whispers, and Bana, for the first time in three years, cried. She cried, not loudly, but softly.
Agonized cries don’t have to be loud after all.
She softly cried her heart out, hugging them tighter. “Bana, I don’t know what you went through raising Arazen, and I may never know the feeling. But what I do know is, I don’t want you to suffer anymore, just to raise her.” Yuuto said after a while of letting Bana cry herself out, followed by a few minutes of soft silence. “Me too. I may not be as finacially extreme as Yuuto here, but, I want to help too. And, frankly—“ Shuuya put his hand on her shoulder, and gazed at her seriously “— I don’t really care if Arazen is mine, or Yuuto’s. I just feel as responsible, since we uh…” Shuuya averted his eyes then, remembering the…interesting sex position they did back then prior to Arazen’s conception. What was it called? Ah, double penetration, was it? “eh, you know what, doesn’t matter. What matters now is, we help you and Arazen. Okay?” Shuuya mildly chuckled, and Yuuto nodded in agreement. Bana’s eyes were still tearful, but they weren’t of sadness, rather, of gratefulness. She only wanted them to help Arazen, but she didn’t quite expect to be included in the package. Yuuto now realised, Bana is altruistic to a fault, it seems…when Arazen came of age 5, four months after her birthday (August 24), she disappeared. Not out of wanting nothing to do with Arazen no. In fact, it’s her unconditional love for the kid, and the addtional whiplash of genuine eros, genuine romantic love towards the fathers of her child, that she left.
See, when they properly intergarted Bana and Arazen to Kidou’s mansion (and Gouenji started to visit more frequently at this point to play and bond with Arazen, Yuuto and Bana), they decided to get a DNA test from the one they trust (aka Hiroto and Midorikawa, those two did not question their life choices, just as Yuuto did not question the two former fake aliens’), it turned out, Arazen didn’t have a father. She had two fathers.
(Yeah, so there’s this ridiculously rare but not impossible phenomena where a child has three biological parents instead of two, and it can be cause by a lot of factors, mainly being that the egg cell from the woman lacking it’s own set of 23 chromosomes, therefore having no genetic material to exchange with the sperm cell during fertilization. Normally, this would cause the child to not even have a chance of survival, but if two sperm cells fused with this chromosome lacking egg cell? The child might have a chance. The first time this happened, it was between an American married couple where the woman was cheating off her husband, and because of the circumstance, the two men were forced to both provide child support. Crazy right?)
Yuuto almost choked on air, Gouenji had to do the Heimlich Maneuver, and Arazen had to calm her mom down from hysterical embarrasment, while Hiroto and Midorikawa watched the scene unfold in front of them. “Should we do something?” Yuuto heard Hiroto whisper, and Midorikawa chuckled while shrugging, saying “Nah, let them be. This is their matter to discuss, we’re just here to help them clarify things.” The tactician had never wanted to punch someone in the face so bad.
Back to the DNA, it seems, that Arazen has one singular chromosome from her mom. And when they looked into it…well, let’s just say, psychic shenanigans ensued. And it’s because of that, that Bana had to leave. The people who kidnapped her and tried turning her into a cold hearted killing machine had found her, and it’s only a matter of time before they found out about her daughter. In a last ditch effort, she dissappears into the night, only advising Arazen to show Yuuto and Shuuya one of the few papers she managed to hold on to before she got kicked out. They were lab records, showing Bana as an entirely different species of human, and her unique psionic and creature shifting abilities.
Homo Ele-Chimeris.
Yuuto sighed, blinking his eyes as he stared back at the news article about the reveal of his and Shuuya’s relationship, and griamced. How in the fuck did he go back into that damn rabbit hole again? Wasn’t he thinking about how were they caught red handed?
Hold on. Yeah…he remembered, Shuuya was pretty embarrased, so he cut him some slack, and chuckled. “Okay, pardon me. So, pray, tell me, why are we celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary with just a simple takoyaki snack in the Inazuma Steel Tower Plaza while watching the sunset?” The tactician asked with a smirk, and Shuuya retorted “Oh Yuuto, you know the answer already, I just want it to be the two of us. Arazen’s at home, she’s safe, and fortunately she knows her limits to her chaos. And we rarely get to do this again, what’s with the shitshow of Fifth Sector, El Dorardo, and the Grand Celesta Galaxy. Which by the way, I am dissapointed that the damn bastard Kuroiiwa didn’t at least pick Arazen for the team. With a SOUL or not, she would’ve shredded their opponents.” “Shuuya, that’s bias.” “C’mon Yuuto, don’t tell me you were not dissapointed that at least a member of Teikoku wasn’t even chosen. At least you can agree with me on this one.” “agh…fine, maybe you’re right.” Shuuya let out a little laugh, and to be honest, it brighthened Yuuto’s day a bit more. Seeing that rare genuine laughter, that’s something you won’t get to see unless you’re Endou, or Yuuka. “Yeah, I recall, she panicked so bad because she can’t monitor them and watch over them if they’re in space, she was pulling her hairs out.” Yuuto chuckled.
The two just gazed at the setting sun, a small breeze lightly tousling dreadlocks and a pair of ponytails.
“Y’know, I don’t think I can imagine a life without you, Yuuto.” Shuuya said. “Huh, pretty cheesy, honestly.” The bespectacled man chimed, but Shuuya wasn’t teasing. He was being genuine, he realises, and sighs. “Sorry about that. But, being honest? Same here. I can’t imagine a life where I didn’t meet you.” The blond man huffs a smirk and leans a bit closer sideways to Yuuto, who moves closer to him so that he can lean on his shoulder. Yuuto tries to subtly place his right hand on Shuuya’s left knee but the blond man grabbed his hand and raised it on his thigh instead.
What affection they exchanged to each other was now clouded in Yuuto’s mind, and all he can remember was the savoury taste of takoyaki blending in his and Shuuya’s mouths.
A camera flash was all it took for the intimate moment to be ruined.
And that’s how they came home to a dozen reporters crowding the Kidou mansion, and the security barely able to keep the crazed reporters and journalists at bay, while letting Yuuto and Shuuya in. Arazen was understandably worried, exasperated, and amused at the same time. The next day, and the day after, any semblance of peace was non-existent for them as the journalists and paparazzi kept peeving and pestering them for answers. The two decided, fuck it, and they just blatantly told the media that yes, they’re married, and have been so for four years now, what are you gonna do about it? Cry?
At this point, they don’t care about the controversy it brought, they just focused on their and Arazen’s lives. Yuuto and Shuuya were in for hot scoldings from their sisters, and a congratulations from Inazuma Japan. The flame striker was also in for a weird and awkward converstion to his father and sister.
“-Father? Are you in Memory Lane again?” Arazen’s voice rang in his head, and he saw the girl standing infont of him across the table, with blood splatterred on her cheeks, skirt, blouse, drenching her arms and legs…oh god. “Don’t tell me those creatures are out and about again?” Yuuto sighed while Shuuya settled down dinner, looked at Arazen with an incredulously aghast expression, looked at the puddle of blood dripping from her hands, the blood stains on the floor, and sighed. He rushed towards her, taking his apron off, and is now ushering Arazen to take a bath and let him work on her clothes, because dammit Arazen, don’t leave bloodstains everywhere oh my god- okay, holy hell, is that a fucking heart you have in your jar, Arazen, what the fuck are you gonna do with that, oh fucking fuck-
“We’ll talk about it later after dinner!” Arazen yelled on her way to the bathroom, where Yuuto is understandably miffed. He took a few seconds to glance at where she was standing and towards the door, where he saw the bloodied footsteps on the floor, and is now questioning on how the fuck did Arazen get away with it without raising suspicion from the police oh my god-
As if the situation with Arazen’s memory wipe on the Project-IC80R kids wasn’t bad enough, public safety is now a concern too. Huh, maybe he should call Airi and tell the fellow CEO as well as Hiroto what’s up? Maybe he could pull Touko into this too.
After a bit of clean-up on the blood (don’t fucking spill the hydrogen peroxide dammit!), dinner went relatively smooth and peaceful. It was one of the few times that life wasn’t fucking them around, (save for that time Arazen almost destroyed the apartment all because she finally had a taste of Natsumi’s cooking after thinking that it couldn’t have been that bad, but really, her father’s a food connosieur, and her dad’s a master homemade chef, their repulsed reactions, no matter how dramatic, should’ve been a waving warning to her face. She made a promise to herself to trust her father and dad’s instincts when it comes to food after that.) After cleaning the dishes after they ate, Yuuto huffed as he sat on the couch, his husband and daughter following suit. “Still down in Memory Lane, Father?” Arazen asks as she watches him type an email furiously fast, humming a yes as he keeps typing. Shuuya sighed, and gestures at Arazen, saying “So, what were you gonna tell us earlier? About those creatures? The Anomalies?” Arazen grimaced and said “Yeah. They’re back. I just don’t get on how did they get here. Those bastards from Agahike couldn’t have possibly infiltrrated Japanese waters and airspace without being on the shitty government’s radar, so how—“ “Then it means that they came from here in Japan. No wonder, more people have been going missing out there. So far, no one who has a big name is kidnapped yet. I don’t know if that’s a coincidence or not, but if it isn’t, it makes sense.” Shuuya concluded, while Yuuto agreed. “Correct. If they are kidnapping those who are not known in society, chances are, the general public won’t care much, but they’ll be wary. They may share condolences, but then they’ll go on their day like nothing happened, until they’re the ones captured. However, if it is a well known figure…that can cause a massive outcry, and authorities will be very involved, and it might bust their operations.” “So, technically, Raimon’s safe. But I’m gonna go ahead and say that we can’t rely on that. We can’t rely on a false sense of security.” Arazen added, which the two agreed with.
Yuuto had sent the email to Hiroto, then to Airi. He wonders and double-thinks if he should involve Touko. He decided to not think about that for now, and has decided to get some rest. “Arazen, you should sleep. You have school tomorrow, and no, I don’t care that you’re used to it, you should have a proper sleep pattern.” Shuuya sternly tells Arazen, who has now decided that she hates school for this particular reason. She kisses her father and dad on the cheeks goodnight, and went in the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face before she sleeps. After her, the two men took their turns practicing proper hygeine before going to bed.
They always had slept together, whether that’s on a bed, on the couch, or even on a futon. The amount of intimacy they share isn’t really surprising, since that’s his husband we’re talking about. Yuuto just gets spooned, and that’ll be the end of it. Other times, if they’re feeling like it, they make out, Yuuto making sure that Shuuya has a good time when the blond man decides to do him. They always talk before, during, and after it. Communication is key after all, and consent is hot, honestly , and if you disagree, Yuuto will look at you like you’re the most disgusting person in the world. Because how can you not find being asked if you want to be fucked silly arousing? And tonight was just one of those nights, and it escalated from Shuuya mindlessly peppering kisses all over Yuuto’s lips, cheeks and neck. Details are not known, not that he’ll ever tell anyone, but Yuuto did feel a sore ass after three rounds of Shuuya screwing him senseless in three different positions. After that, he conked out like a light, and Shuuya was still there, spooning him in their sleep.
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Believe it or not, no matter how ruthless Arazen is at killing Anomalies, she doesn’t enjoy it. Those were people that were forcibly inhumanized, and they can’t be reverted back. Chemical changes can’t be reversed after all. And this constantly weighs on her shoulders.
She wasn’t sleepy, she never was. When her dad told her to sleep, it’s was only force of habit. But he knew that Arazen is nocturnal because of her fox affiliation. But that’s not the main reason she isn’t feeling sleepy. If anything, aside from the feeling of guilt of killing hundreds of those who were once human, the dread of her teammates (don’t call them your friends dammit) hating her after they remember the fact that she removed their memories of each other and her was agonizing. But she never acted on it.
Hysteria, or Chaos, is one of the twelve elements that draws power from your mind, not from your surroundings. If you are in a worsening mental state while using an ability derived from this element, you are most likely to descend into madness, destroying everything in your sight while the negative thought that triggered you repeats and echoes in your mind. For Arazen, since she’s the holder of the original Hysteria element, she would have the worst of it. Especially if the echoes in her head would chant “You hurt your friends, and they hate you now.”
She had to keep at least a semblance of a calm state of mind, one that isn’t on the verge of shattering, for her to be able to keep her powers on check. When improperly used, they’re destructive (yes, she remembers the time she almost destroyed the apartment because of Natsumi’s cooking. She grimaces at the memory), but if properly used, it’s still deadly, but it can also be helpful, and even entertaining (she kept trolling this one kid when she was on her way to her first soccer practice yesterday). Arazen chuckled to herself, and gazed at the ceiling, the star lantern she owned casting bright stars on it. She added a bit of her own twist to it, with a flick of the wrist and small finger motions, she added colourful hues to the light, making it shine in a spectrum from pink to teal to violet to yellow. Those were her favourite colours, and they looked nice in a pallete.
She thought, maybe it doesn’t really matter if they forgive you or not. What matters is that you can watch over them. (She tries convincing herself that, but it’ll only work for so long before the dread comes back to her.)
Arazen huffed, and, for the first time in this week, she slept, hugging a pillow.
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A few days later…
While Arazen was at school, Yuuto and Shuuya decided to pay Endou and Haruna a visit, including Shinsei Raimon (whoever thought of the name isn’t really far off, those kids are the embodiement of the continuation of the Raimon spirit, both in their strengths and flaws).
“Let’s just hope that Arazen won’t tell those guys that she’s our daughter, I don’t think we can handle any more unecessary attention from the damn press.” Yuuto said while holding a stern-worried expression on his face. Shuuya shook his head and clicked his tongue, replying “Yuuto, you know Arazen. One way or another, she’s the reason her identity will be revealed to them. But I do hope it won’t be today and that it won’t spread.” Yuuto now shook his head, and retorted “Please let me hope, let me dream.” “Too late, this is Raimon we’re talking about. Arazen is now part of their chaos leigon.” “Auegh, you had to jinx it yesterday when you said that didn’t you?”
Shuuya chuckled and leaned in for a small kiss before they went out of the apartment. Journalists weren’t crowding them anymore at least, but a die-hard fan or an incriminative paparazzi will sometimes approach them and one time, it got to a point where they had to call the police. (Not that they can’t protect themselves, any guards that Shuuya or Yuuto may bring along sometimes isn’t for their safety, it’s for the safety of the public). Luckily, today wasn’t one of those days.
They drove off on Yuuto’s car (between the two, Yuuto’s more on the lawful side of driving, while Shuuya is the embodiment of a getaway driver. Which means that Shuuya only drives when they need to get away from car chases, which only happened once) towards Raimon Jr. High, and while walking in campus, many students were surprised, some fangirled and most of the gossip were around their marriage. “Is it true? Those two are married?” “I think so. They admitted it to the press.” “No way those two are gay!”
Yuuto sighed while Shuuya gave a sympathetic smile, walking their way to the Raimon Soccer Building, where Endou and Haruna didn’t expect them to arrive. Classes were still ongoing, and afternoon practice was in an hour.
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Haruna has seen a lot of shit in her years. From her generation to the next. A team running on steroids, learning her brother and his team are gaslit by a villanous madman keen on controlling soccer, fake aliens invading, soccer communism (seriously, why has that terminology left an impression on her?), time travel(twice) and space travel. Nothing should surprise her right?
WRONG!
Nope, nada, nyet, zilch! Apparently, her brother is married! And to Gouenji-san nonetheless! (Which is kind of ironic since she had heard that dear brother Yuuto had assumed in their junior years that she and Gouenji were going out to date. She still finds it as hilarious as embarrassing it is for Yuuto.) No one knows of the menacing talk-down she had with him, and this now has left a constant reminder to Yuuto that one; never hide secrets from Haruna, because she’s a journalist. And they know the best ways to find out about your secrets (Yuuto was aghast when he saw her signature blue hair in the crowding sea of reporters, paparazzi and die-hard fans all jabbing questions at him and Gouenji-san), and two; hell hath no fury than a journalist hellbent on digging every inch about your life up from the ground (Yuuto’s so damn glad that it’s his little sister and not any other journalist, or else hell be let lose).
But, all that aside, she genuinely feels happy that her nii-san has found someone to spend his life with, screw whatever their gender is!(That comes from a raging lesbian, hello.) And the fact that it’s Gouenji-san no less reassures Haruna that her brother’s heart won’t be broken.
And would you look at that? Her brother and his husband has decided to pay a visit today! Soccer practice is in an hour after all, maybe Endou-san might invite them over so that the kids can have fun with them! (By fun, meaning roping the two into their chaos, now that the Shinsei Raimon chaos leigon has a new member; Arazen!) “Nii-san! Gouenji-san!” Haruna exclaimed as she came running to hug her brother, who pats her head as he caught her embrace. Gouenji sighs and joins in the head patting, while Endou walks towards them, greeting them with his iconic cheeky smile. “Yo! I didn’t expect the two of you to visit! What’s with all the ruckus.” Yuuto’s lips turn to a smirk and replied while Haruna lets him go “Well thank soccer that no one was stalking us on the way here.”
“So, what are you guys doing here? I don’t think you two would come here for the sake of nostalgia, though that would also be plausible.” Haruna asks, and her brother chuckles. “It is the reason we went here.” He casts a knowing glance at Gouenji (strange, it’s like they have another agenda coming here. Wonder what it is?), and looks back at Haruna. The woman quickly masks her intrigue with a smile, feigning innocence.
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Raimon can’t help but be distracted with the notion of having Kidou-san and Gouenji-san visiting them (they may have met the two a lot of times, but it’s still jarring everytime they do), while Arazen looks like she’s on the verge of cackling everytime she glances at the two. Ichino looks at Arazen curiously, almost as if he’s suspecting of who could Arazen possibly be related to if she’s glancing at the two pro-leagues like that. They had to use the inside field (because someone thought it was a good idea to have a Keshin battle that involves no soccer at all, on the outside field. And now, it looks fucking thrashed. This happened a few days after Arazen joining the soccer team, and speaking of the girl; she had joined the chaos instigators just yesterday, splashing a bucket of slime on their slightly sane teammates, and that includes Tsurugi oh god, how did she get away with his wrath? Apparently Arazen bribed Tsurugi the next day with a poster of Gouenji Shuuya, with a damn autograph, and a 500 dollar(she doesn’t know how to convert that into yen, blame being in a different country) 5 foot Gouenji plushie. Ichino will never know where she got the merchandise, because holy, those are expensive as hell.)
Meanwhile, Gouenji looks at Arazen pensively (because now he knows what Arazen needed the request of a signed poster of him and that ridiculous giant plushie of the teenage him for. Kidou looks so damn proud), who shot a sheepish grin back at him, when they both saw the wolf ace striker look absolutely embarrassed at Kariya’s accusation of being bribed with merchandise (how the hell did he know?). Tenma looked so done with his friend’s bullshit (huh, he changed so much from Chrono Storm and the Grand Celesta Galaxy. But that doesn’t mean he’s sane, oh no, he’s a madman himself. Gouenji and Kidou were victims to the sight of Tenma’s own set of chaos when he used his SOUL to get to school because he’s late, and the two were treated to the sight of a pegasus carrying Kyousuke, Shinsuke, Aoi, Kariya and Hikaru on it’s back. Kidou wanted to go in the Galaxy Nauts, search the entire galaxy for that bastard and sock him in the face because look at what he’s done to the kids; he’s fuckin turned these already harbingers of chaos into masterminds of it. Gouenji won’t forget the time he saw Nozaki Sakura ram herself around in goat form around Kidokawa Seishuu when Oumihara visited for a friendly match and he decided to visit for nostalgia’s sake, or the sight of Kazuto Minaho grabbing one of the ex-seeds by the arms as a dare in SOUL form when he went to check on the schools that were infiltrated by Fifth Sector back then with no announcement), and Shinsuke still feigned the looks of a clueless midget for his friend’s sake, (because he pities Tenma inside.)
Sangoku looked like he was getting grey hairs from the team, Kirino was sympathizing with the goalie, and the rest are practicing (because no thank you, we don’t want Mr. Sangomom to cut our heads off for today). Endou internally grimaced (because he should’ve focused on getting this team to get along the first time around, he could’ve just chucked them to Fifth Sector so that all hell breaks loose and can be saved with the burden of a revolution).
“Sorry you have to see this side of the kids, they just don’t know the meaning of limits.” Endou shepishly sighed as the four adults watched the debacle unfold. “Huh, weren’t we the same back then?” Gouenji said, an amused expression on his face. Haruna looked around for a bit and whispered to her brother “So…got any tea to spill with me?”, which was an encryption for “You better share me the details of your wedding dammit, you didn’t invite us you asshole.” Kidou huffed and replied “Not really much.” which was actually “That’s for me and Shuuya to know and for you to find out, little sister.” Haruna looked at him with a smile (that actually shows how irked she is), and Kidou replied in kind with another huff (that shows that he’s amused of her antics). Endou, of course, with a mixture of naivety and blunt, asks outwardly “So you two, how’s your marriage going?”
This prompted Haruna to stiffle a laugh, Kidou to grasp Gouenji’s hands and whisper “I really want to murder someone now.” while the blond man replied “Don’t worry, we’ll go to a rage room later.” Raimon looked at the adults incredulously, and the first to break the silence was Akane’s “So it is true?! You two are married?”, Ichino and Aoyama’s coalition to get the details, and after that, the entire team broke into more chaos (huh, you might wanna count how many times that word has been said here). Highlights are Shindou’s quivering and slight jumpies equivalent to a child in a candy store (he only ever reacts like this whenever he has new hissatsu ideas, the team gathers for a hissatsu brainstorming session, or if he hears the latest juicy gossip from Kurama), Tsurugi’s slow approaches to Arazen as he asks her about what she knows (because he’s kind of convinced that she’s also a Gouenji fan), Kirino’s slight fond exasperation to Shindou’s reaction, Kurama’s wide open mouth, Hayami’s fainting and Hamano’s frantic attempt at waking his friend up. Tenma sighed again, wanting to punt someone to the sun right now (aka Arakumo Academy), and asks Shinsuke “Shinsuke, if I get too pissed about the team’s bullshit—“ the midget mildly gasps at the language “—can I have permission to punt you all the way to where Taiyou is?” “If you can manage, and as long as you pick me up after, sure, I’ll let you.” Shinsuke decided to humor Tenma a bit, knowing that this is his way of stress relief. Tenma nods gratefully, and decides to continue training by himself (the coach can deal with his teammates.)
Arazen looked at the motely of yellow-clad players who are absolutely collectively losing their minds, and decides on what she was thinking about yesterday. She pities them, and her parents, and so has refrained from making them lose their minds even further from telling them about herself.
That can wait after all.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Luckily, Tenma pulls his shit together and used his captain card, so now, everyone is busy training (though it is relatively going easy since there are no upcoming tournaments this time around). While watching from the benches, Gouenji and Kidou are observing a few players.
Seeing Tenma be the literal instigator of the Revolution absolutely threw both Kidou and Gouenji for a loop. “I was so fucking terrified when I saw Tsurugi in God Eden. I just wanted to pull him out there and then.” Gouenji said one time they( him, Yuuto and Arazen) when Arazen droped the news on them that her memory suppresant effects on the Project-IC80R kids were soon wearing off, as she heard a constant ringing in her ears that could only mean that. Kirino and Shindou were no surprisingly childhood friends after their rescue (Arazen felt guilty erasing those two’s memories of each other prior to their kidnapping). Tenma and Aoi only became childhood friends after those events. Shinsuke and Tsurugi were the only ones who were quite lonely in their childhood. Kidou, who spent a lot of time in Raimon during the Fifth Sector shit, always had to suppress his urge to stand in front of the kids and protect them because, no, no, he can’t let them go through shit again. Though those feelings, it was only towards Tenma, Shindou, Tsurugi, Shinsuke, Kirino and Aoi. They were the only ones he and Gouenji were familiar with, in the familial sense anyways. They held a lot of kids under their care and lead, Teikoku for Kidou, Seidouzan and DragonLink(after Fifth Sector’s disbandment) for Gouenji, but they never had this feeling of overprotectiveness towards them.
Unfortunately, they’re not as close to the kids as Endou is, due to their meetings being somewhat circumstanstial. So they never had any emotional confrontations (that, and because Endou is more better at emotions that those two are. They’re abysmal at it.), and all they can see is that those kids are happy now. But they know that’s not the case. Arazen knows this especially.
She knew how they all looked like when they’re in extremely emotional pain. Well, as kids of course, but, honestly? Their faces when they cry as teenagers aren’t far off from their faces when they cry as children. Peering into their accessible memories, she could see how Shinsuke sniffles at night as he grieves his parent’s death anniversary (it was last four years ago, and it’s coming this November), trying to keep his cries down. Or how Tsurugi’s face contorts into disgust and guilt, and them mentally beats himself up for it as he sobs wreckedly whenever he catches himself exploring his body in the shower (he kept scratching his thighs because he hated the phantom feeling of his aunt’s nails in them). She could see how Shindou has to scream at a pillow while tears drip from his eyes whenever he hears his parents arguing again because dammit Father, please stop bringing my mother into so much pain, you fucking womanizer. Tenma cries on Aki’s shoulder whenever he sees a white lily, his mother’s favourite flower (he still remembers the hollow look on his mom’s face when he saw her lying in the ground lifeless, with a bullet hole on her forehead. He still remembers his father’s disgusting face when he was taken into custody by the police a while later.) She could see how Kirino felt so neglected by her parents because she’s a girl, while they showered her younger brother with affection (she wanted to just runaway and never come back, because it wasn’t just favoritism, it was outright child neglect, and by extension, child abuse.) Aoi’s sobs echoes in Arazen’s head when she sees the memory of Aoi sobbing in fear and despair as she watches her mother gets beaten up by her father (they were out of that situation now, but the trauma still holds her back.)
Gouenji and Kidou glance at Arazen, their thought mentally connecting to her. “You couldn’t have done anything. We couldn’t have done anything.” Gouenji said in her head.
Arazen grimaces as she looked closely at her teammates, and she could see how mentally drained they are from the events in the last four months, whether in soccer, or in their personal lives.
She hates how despite suppressing a majority of their most fucked up memories, there’s always something that’ll continue to hurt them mentally and emotionally.
Chapter 6: (constellations and fire): oh when you’re rife with devastation there’s a simple explanation (you’re a toymaker’s creation trapped inside a crystal ball)
Summary:
Everything is set, and now, it reels in motion. Everything is starting to escalate.
But before that, Tsurugi must come into terms with a certain part of his childhood for it to tip the dominoes of effect.
Notes:
Trigger warning(s): depiction/mentions of SA/rape, graphic mentions of blood
WOHOOOO! SHIT IS STARTING TO GO DOWN MY FRIENDS!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
If there’s one thing that Raimon knows clearly about Tsurugi Kyousuke, it’s that he knows how to hide it when he feels down or if he’s in distress. Sure, he’s smiling a bit more now and is showing a few more emotions, especially when he fanboys about Gouenji, much to Arazen’s amusement. It skyrocketed through the roof when she gave bribed him a Gouenji plushie and a poster with his legit autograph on it(they had to verify it at first, but once it was, they all are now wondering how the hell did she pull strings to do so.). But that’s not the only circumstance. He also smiles and cries more. His brightest smile and most genuine cries yet was when his brother showed up to a friendly match against Kaiou one day, and he saw his brother walk towards him while it was half-time(they still wonder how the hell did he sneak all the way down there). It left Tsurugi bawling in public(he didn’t care at that moment, how could he? his brother was walking now), crying his eyes out and clinging onto him tightly, convinced it was a dream, and was waiting to be woken up. But it was real, and with a few words from Yuuichi, and a new hissatsu was born( Fever Dream ). But that’s not to say he doesn’t show other emotions; he panicked when he was looking for a gift for Tenma’s birthday, he got pouty when Shindou caught him and Tenma overtraining themselves for a new hissatsu they wanted to try, he screeched when the roller coaster dropped all of a sudden from it’s highest point, his eyes sparked with curiosity when he saw Sangoku chopping vegetables so quick(that’s how he learnt to cook for his brother).
So…what’s the problem? Well, his trauma with his brother’s accident (he’s learning it slowly now that things that happens to his loved ones aren’t always his fault) may be resolved, but it doesn’t mean that his other issues are too.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
“Why didn’t the adults do anything?”
That question was ringing in his mind the moment it escaped Tenma’s mouth, when their discussion about the things they went through took a turn due to what Aoi said. And to be honest; he agrees. In all honesty (towards no one , of course), it’s because he related to that certain question.
He sighed, looking down at his homework (that he easily finished, as these things are basic for him), and tiredly flopped himself on his bed. Groaning on a pillow, he let his mind drift for a while. Usual thoughts that slowly float for a while in these circumstances includes the moments that he and his brother have slowly made up for the lost time that the accident caused. Or how in five months, from Fifth Sector to the GCG, his heart slowly grew a special place for Tenma and Shindou only. Try as he might, he cannot deny that he has a crush on them, not when Aoi and Kirino were the ones he asked on what do the two like. He got keychains for them; a soccer ball etsy and a crocheted mini pegasi for Tenma(June 7),a G-clef and chibi peacock etsys for Shindou (July 18). They may seem half-assed, but he wanted to give them something that they can easily put on something( on their phones) to remind them that; Shindou and Tenma are his, and his only , whether they know it or not.
(He does sometimes wonder if they actually know, because Tenma and Shindou are more or less a bit more affectionate with him. Tenma sometimes nuzzles him on his hair when they have a sleepover. Shindou sometimes gave little pecks on his forehead or cheeks in private. Their physical intimacy only escalated from there.)
He rolled over on the bed and gazed at the empty white ceiling, the only part of his bedroom that wasn’t filled with posters of his favorite bands, artists, soccer, and other interests that he has (he was planning on hanging a pride flag above his bed, but oof, he’s still in a sexuality crisis).
He wanted to try again. And he hoped that this time, he won’t sob and look in his reflection and see a monster
~0~
“Dammit…god I feel so disgusting.” He murmured after he wiped himself clean with tissues (to save himself from the embarrassment of his mother having to wash crusty sheets), took a quick shower, and gazed in the mirror. Looking at himself, he can see the huge difference between the Tsurugi that his friends see; a calm and passionate ace striker, an amazing friend, and a trustworthy rival, and the part of him that no one else knows(though he thinks his brother does, his friends(?) definitely do); a disheveled mess of emotions, just like his messy hair.
He stared at his reflection for a while, looking at the details on his body; supple fair skin, rosy cheeks, a small yet soft pair of lips.
(He wonders how it feels to kiss Tenma or/and Shindou with them, on the lips actually.)
All of that juxtaposes the edgy form of his navy blue hair(no matter how messy or out of place) and his sharp golden orche eyes.
He has tiny freckles just above his nose that decorate his face like the sun gave him some of his softest kisses(he wonders if he harbors some sort of infatuation towards Taiyou too).
Soft and hard at the same time, some people say. He wonders if the particular mix of his complexion was one of the reasons why he gained an outburst in popularity(aside from his position as Ace Striker, since out of all the members of the team, he, Shindou, Tenma, Shinsuke and Kirino are the most popular ones. Aoi is surprisingly famous too). Nevertheless, he dries his hair with his towel, and quickly brushes his teeth before grabbing the manga he was binge reading, and sat on the bed as he read.
(His face turning a bright shade of red was a sight to behold to Raimon when Hikaru sheepishly gave him that manga as a birthday gift (August 10), because Hikaru accidentally saw the ace striker glancing at the particular book in a bookstore, and thought that he wanted it. Nevertheless, Tsurugi cherished the gift still like all the rest of the gifts he got; such as the Venus Fly Trap Kariya gave him still thriving by his window sill in a small cute pot. Or Arazen’s late/coincidental gift/bribery of the signed Gouenji poster and the giant Gouneji plush.)
The plot of the manga was unique and interesting too; a human boy got sold off by his greedy parents to a demon. Turns out that the demon wanted a grandchild, and so has adopted the human boy.
(Tsurugi swears, the main character resembles Tenma a lot, from the demeanour to the charisma to the strong will.)
Most of the characters were fun and unique too; and some even had relatable problems (the boy’s classmates remind him of how colorful and unique Raimon is apparently). He sighed, putting the book down and let his thoughts drift away again.
This time, they drifted to a much darker territory. This always randomly happened, be it at home, or in the middle of class. Never during soccer practice though, as his mind was always occupied with soccer during that time, refusing entry to the bad memories that otherwise would send him to a downward spiral.
“I’m sorry, but we have to find someone who can take care of you while me and your father are away…” His mother sighed as Kyousuke didn’t stop crying, begging for his parents to not leave him. He didn’t know why, he had always been strong, this wasn’t the first time his parents had to leave for a long while for work, he should be used to this!
But something has been nagging at the back of his head that they were “abandoning him” or that his Auntie wasn’t someone he should trust. He didn’t know where the voice was coming from. He didn’t know it was some part of him locked away, warning him.
(Arazen, who was on the roof of Tsurugi’s residence, grimaced as she saw Tsurugi slowly wandering into that part of his mind. As much as she doesn’t want him to get hurt, as much as she wants to protect him from the pain, she can’t interfere. Not yet. All she could do was remain invisible to him in his mind as she watched how he remembered what happened on that day, that day when his entire view on his body shattered.)
“Mama! Papa! Please, don’t leave me!!” Kyousuke wailed, although he didn’t have a solid or valid reason to argue with, he had to do anything, anything just so that they won’t leave. He felt like he’s been hurt by adults once, and he felt like he was in danger again right now.
It hurts, watching them board the car and you can’t do anything but watch them leave, while crying outside. Being dragged inside the house and trying to be soothed by a relative you don’t really know about. “It’s okay Kyousuke. Don’t cry. Your parents will be back soon. Until then, I’ll take care of you.” his aunt softly whispered to his ear. It was supposed to be reassuring, it was supposed to be at least a bit comforting.
So why did Kyousuke’s brain scream “NO. DANGER. DO NOT TRUST HER.”
A week later, he got his answer.
He was still in his bedroom, just gotten up from a nap. He still doesn’t go out much, only doing so to go to school, or play a bit of soccer, or visiting Yuuichi. He was lying down on his bed, gazing emptily at the ceiling. He was just done from a crying session from him missing his parents, because they usually only are gone for a week. But for a month? That’s more worrisome. And that too much for him to handle.
His Aunt Akumi knocked on his door, calling for Kyousuke. “Kyousuke? Are you there? Can I come in?” she gently asked, and Kyousuke, not in the mood to protest, weakly called out “yeah”. The door opened and Aunt Akumi came in, dressed in a long sleeved red dress. It had a v-neck and the fabric caused to reveal every curve in her body, stopping at mid-thigh. Kyousuke always wondered why Auntie Aku was always dressed the way she was. He heard from family gatherings that Auntie Akumi was known to be a bad person, doing bad stuff. When he asked about what bad stuff does she do, his father said “You’ll understand when you get older.” He was four at the time, so he didn’t really get it. Not that he needed to.
Plus, that didn’t seem to be Aunt Akumi from last week. She was kind, she was patient, and she was an incredible playmate! When he didn’t have friends at school, she was the one he played with. She even watched him play soccer and they even went to visit Yuuichi after school. She can’t possibly be a bad person, right?
Sadly, this is the first time when he learned the weight of the word “gaslighting”.
“Kyousuke, it’s okay. Your parents will be back soon. Look, you’ve gone through a week without them already! Only three more, see?” his aunt playfully teases the kid as she gently tickles his neck, while Kyousuke giggled while pleading her to stop. But she didn’t. She kept tickling him, at first with her fingers, but then slowly, with her mouth, nuzzling her face on his neck.
Kyousuke didn’t realize that what she was doing to him was deeply wrong between the two of them until it was too late, when she started to bite his neck and abruptly take off his clothes. His innocent questions, turned to pleas of stopping, were left unheard as the situation escalated badly. His auntie whispered “Let’s play a game, shall we?” which shook Kyousuke to the core.
~0~
“Tell anyone, and I’ll punish you for being a bad kid, alright?” His aunt hissed as she left Kyousuke in his room, clothes disheveled and psyche shattered, as she left for the night. All he could do was sob and feel waves of repulse, guilt and shame crash over him.
He couldn’t tell anyone…no, screw that! He’ll wait for his parents to come home, and then he’ll tell them! If they don’t believe him at least, maybe Yuuichi would!!
A tear escaped the corner of his left eye, and it took Tsurugi a moment of blinking before he grimaced and groaned while rubbing his palms on his face. “Not again.” he murmured dejectedly, his left hand on his face, and his right one on his right thigh, gently squeezing it for stress relief.
“Not again.Not again.Notagainnotagainnotagainnotagain-“
A wave of repulse and guilt crashed over him and as soon as he felt it, the image of his aunt violating every inch of his body came to him vividly, along with memories of some of her male friends having a “feast” on him, calling him literal pet names, ordering him around, and other vile things.
It was sadly only because of the fact that he was raped by men too that they managed to file a a case against Akumi, when the doctors found multiple lacerations in his body that pinpoints to sexual abuse. His aunt was also sentenced to life in prison both for being one of the assailants and being a accomplice in the crime, the truth only being revealed because one of them snitched on the police trying to get away.
Sadly, the damage was already done, and his parents and Yuuichi were all grieving the loss of their youngest’s innocence. A while after that, then came in Fifth Sector. And during that, he slowly learned the weight of the word “manipulation”.
He was a sobbing mess, crying so wreckedly as disgust, guilt and shame ricocheted around his body. He was in a cycle of mental torment, genuinely trying to explore his still blooming teenage body, only for his past to haunt him and shame him for doing so.
Back then, he would’ve just hid all this, all his feelings away. He would’ve just passed it off like any other day.
But he couldn’t pretend anymore. Soon, his friends will figure out that something’s bothering him in the days to come and he’s afraid that they’ll feel betrayed if he doesn’t come honest with them. He already messed up in the Grand Celestia Galaxy, he cannot mess up again.
It took a lot of courage, but after 30 minutes or so, he finally picked up his phone, and dialled two numbers.
~0~
“Um, hello? Oh, Tsurugi! How are you doi- huh? Tsurugi…are you crying? Hey, is everything okay?…You want me to come over? Uh, sure, I’ll just let Aki-nee know. Hey,hey…it’s okay. It’s okay, Tsurugi, alright? Hang on, I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
~0~
“Hello? Tsurugi? Why’d you call me-…Hey, Tsurugi, are you okay? Why are you crying? Is everything okay- stupid me, that’s a redundant question. Obviously you’re not okay, so…can you tell me what’s wrong? Hm? You want me to come over? Okay, sure…hey, hey. It’s alright, okay? I’ll come over, might take a while to get there, but I promise I’ll come.”
~0~
Tenma and Shindou saw each other at the block where Tsurugi’s house is. They didn’t need to ask each other; they both knew that Tsurugi called them both. So instead… “Wonder why Tsurugi sounded so distressed? He sounded like he cried a lot.” Tenma wondered, and Shindou worriedly glanced ahead at the street. “I don’t know. But knowing him, it’s something serious. Otherwise he wouldn’t have called us.” The captain nodded, dread pooling in his stomach as they neared the Tsurugi’s residence.
~0~
The two were calming Tsurugi between them, silently soothing him. They knew that his form of comfort wasn’t coddling, empty or repetitive reassurance. No, he was more of a person who was comforted with silent companionship and grounding stimuli, such as gently hugging him(Tenma’s hugs are the best, anyone who disagrees will have their ass hunted down by Raimon the to kingdom come at any chance they have), and gently stroking his messy fluffy hair(Shindou, along with Kirino and the managers, like styling their other teammate’s hair. Nishiki, Amagi, Midori, Shindou and Kirino’s hairs are the favorite ones to be practiced and fondled on.) They stayed like that for a while, the Sunday sun setting down in a comforting orange glow (one that reminds them of a certain orange haired teen who’s namesake was the celestial object glowing it’s shine on them now).
Tsurugi explained why he was crying earlier, though not all the details, and they can understand that. Unfortunately, his earlier masturbation was found out when Shindou saw a bunch of crusty tissue paper on the floor (Tsurugi completely forgot to dispose them), and he was forced to explain how that was the cause of his trigger, and how it wasn’t the first time this kind of thing happened. Which understandably worried Tenma and Shindou, but they both knew Tsurugi doesn’t like to be bombarded with words of reassurance, he likes being showered with actions of reassurance. So instead, they completely sandwiched the ace striker in between them, gently fondling either his hair or his hands.
“You’re so soft, you know that?” Tenma whispered gently to Tsurugi’s ear, which made him raise an eyebrow. The brunet chuckled as he gently gave a small kiss on Tsurugi’s wrist, while Shindou gently nuzzled his hair, all in an effort to comfort him. “Depends on what you mean by that, you’re literally kissing my wrists right now.” he retorted with a smirk. Shindou couldn’t help but be amused and say “And you enjoy it, don’t you?”, which Tsurugi misunderstood as a genuine question rather than a rhetorical one, and awkwardly answered “Um-uh,yeah? I do? I do!” while a small flush of red from embarrassment tinted his cheeks.
Tenma and Shindou looked at Tsurugi’s flustered expression, and they both silently agreed that Tsurugi is adorable when he’s blushing while his face is like an embarrassed puppy’s. Speaking of Tsurugi, he now feels a bit better, but is still a bit shaken. “But that’s okay.” Shindou reassures him as Tsurugi vents about how fucked up his childhood was in summary. “It’ll work out somehow.” Tenma whispered to the two of them, who both nodded in agreement.
“Definitely.”
(None of them(Raimon) care about their society’s conservative bullshit on intimacy, not since Tenma and Aoi set this standard in the team. It was set when they hugged each other after winning a friendly match. Many people made comments on the two’s relationship, but it became soon known to the mass that Raimon could give less fucks about decorum, which is apparent with their unadulterated hugs to each other. Midori and Nishiki playfully brawl with each other but they do know each other’s limits. Ichino and Aoyama are known to be close, and when people ask “Are you two dating?” when they get spotted holding hands or having their hands on the other’s shoulders or waist, or fondling each other during class when the teacher hasn’t arrived yet, the two just give a knowing yet cryptic smile. Other times, when Raimon wins a match, they somewhat developed this habit of giving each other nuzzles or quick pecks on their hair or foreheads, which quickly soon made any reporter’s claim of any of the members being in a relationship ridiculous. Endou seems to join the fray too, because at times he ruffles their hair, and other times, he swings and tosses the lighter ones in the air like how you would do with a little kid (Shinsuke and Kurama highly enjoy this). Raimon soon became known to the soccer community as the “Familial Soccer Team”, which stirred inside jokes to the other teams. Minamisawa, Taiyou, Hakuryuu, Yukimura and Mahoro are honorary members of the found-family, and more or less, were at some point snuck in to the team’s habitual team sleepovers in the soccer building.)
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
A while after, Tenma and Shindou had to go home, because tomorrow is a school day after all, so although reluctantly, Tsurugi had to say goodbye. But it got better though. Tenma and Shindou did say goodbye, but before they left, they each laid a peck on Tsurugi’s lips, which startled him at first, but then he gave a knowing smile and shyly gave one back. They unanimously agreed that starting now, they’re no longer on the platonic side of things, but they’re neither on romantic. Queer-platonic? Maybe. They just agreed that their relationship isn’t exactly labeled.
(“I swear, flustered Tsurugi is adorbs. Like, I just wanna squish him.” Tenma chuckles while Shindou agrees. The senior kisses the junior and vice versa, and said their good byes. All three of them thought to themselves in their own rooms “Oh shit. I have two boyfriends now.”)
Tsurugi may or maynot felt like trying it again, and this time, he didn’t feel any repulse, guilt, or shame. Instead, all he felt was pure, unadulterated bliss and pleasure as he sighed before wiping himself off and went to sleep, the feeling of Tenma and Shindou’s kisses on his lips and their little physical intimacy engraved in his mind.
(“Heh. They definitely knew.” Tsurugi thought to himself. Now to the next thing; does he also have a crush on Taiyou and possibly Hakuryuu?)
Little did he know, their small cuddling session stirred a slumbering beast inside of them awake. The moon shined a bit more brightly that night.
If she could talk, she’s say “It’s alright child. Your beast is still slumbering. You can greet me later, when you’ve found a way to connect to your beast.”
~0~
In another part of Inazuma Town, police cars were surrounding a scene, where someone was ambushed by an unknown creature. The forensics were trying to investigate the scene, reporters were asking questions and trying to get a story, when suddenly a group of black RVs swarmed the scene. Some of them had the Kira Corps logo, another portion had the Kidou Corps logo, and half of them had a horned owl icon on them, and the kanji around the logo read; Yokihada Corps.
From one of the RVs came out a tall woman with a slender figure, autumn red hair that faded hazel brown at the bottom, with two stubborn stubs of hair on either side of her head that resembled her company’s mascot, and olive green eyes that had an ethereal vibe to them, like she’s some otherworldly being from mythology.
No one except her knows that in her past life, she was known in an ages old council as the Countess of Knowledge.
“And who are you ma’am?” The chief of the local police asks, eyebrow raised in suspicion. The woman simply smiles and says “Yokihada Airi at your service. I’m here to take over this investigation, sorry!” in a whimsical manner, the chief scoffed in disbelief. “You? Don’t bullshit me, this is local business here we’re dealing with. So if you excuse me, I’m gonna need you to leave Miss Yokihada.”
The woman kept calm, and somehow this time, her voice cuts sharp as a knife to the chief. “Really? Unknown or alien circumstances that occur for unknown reasons aren’t in the category of things the local government should investigate about, as far as I know. It’s rather the higher ring or government that’s in charge of that. And I’m more or less from that higher ring. I even have a warrant and some more proof if you don’t believe me.” Airi taunted to the chief, who was aggravated. Unfortunately, the chief was caught, hook, line and sinker as he lurched towards Airi, though she didn’t move, and everyone gasped at why.
“You have no manners on how to treat a person, do you?” Kidou’s voice boomed as he launches the chief backwards, making him stagger and fall down on the ground. Hiroto came next, walking towards the chief with a piece of paper that was probably the warrant Airi was talking about. The red-haired man gave the paper to the chief who was standing up while glaring at Airi and Kidou, and read the warrant.
Shock turns to disbelief to denial and then to resignation and surrender as the chief admits defeat and orders his crew to let the higher-ups handle the investigation. The reporters were forcibly put away by the extra amount of security that Hiroto and Kidou brought (again, the security they have isn’t for them, it’s for the public), and once it was sure that no one was sneaking around trying to catch the latest scoop with confidential info, Kidou went to the RV that he boarded from and knocked thrice, while saying “It’s okay. You can come out now.”
Arazen stepped out of the van, looking huffy. “I swear, I want to murder those reporters, they can’t seem to leave you alone.” Arazen grimaced as she looked around the crime scene. Airi clicked her tongue and shook her head while hooting, saying “Child, one mustn’t be entertaining ill will to those who rather go about such trivial whims. Karma will fall down on them one day, my sweet.” Hiroto looks a bit flabbergasted with the ancient way Airi talks, as this was his first time meeting the fellow CEO. “Does she always talk like this?” he whispers to Kidou, who shook his head. “No, she’s just like that when she gives advice. You just heard her talk normally earlier.”
“And may I remind you young men that one can choose to send your minds in a maze with the manner of my speak?” Airi chuckled as she lets out her wings, a beautiful pattern of hazel, chesnut, white and black adorning her owl wings while patterns of books, old ancient quotes from
old literature are engraved on most of the feathers, with a quote written in ancient Latin on her wings.
“ Thus to all tyrants .”
“So, what do we have here?” She murmured while gesturing the other three to follow her to where the “crime” actually happened. The victim was alive, thank god, but he had his left leg broken, and now he’s currently sent to the hospital (after Arazen permanently altered his memories of the events that happened.)
“Any idea on what kind of Anomaly it is?” Kidou asked one of the forensics on the site. She huffed and answered “I’d say it’s a Cat 2, Predator Type. Quadrapedal, about 60 kilos, and…yep. That’s all we can get for now- hey kid! What are you doing?! You can’t just-“ the woman and her colleagues watched in horror and disgust as Arazen dipped her finger in one of the test tubes that had samples of the creatures blood in it, and stuck said finger in her mouth. She went and tasted it for a bit before exaggeratedly gagging and rushing to drink water, which fortunately, Kidou had one in hand.
“Based on your reaction, I could say that there’s so much DNA in there?” He chuckled, while Hiroto looked a bit appalled by what Arazen just did, but nonetheless horrified too. Airi on the other hand was waiting for answers. “Yup. About four to six people I believe.” Arazen coughed, and gratefully chugged the entire water bottle down.
“Can’t believe that your daughter can tell how many people are there in an Anomaly by tasting their blood. Not sanitary, but…” Hiroto grimaced as he looked at the mess that the Anomaly created.
“So, how’s it going with your friends?” Airi asked Arazen, whose eyes narrowed before she spat “They’re not my friends.” The older woman chuckled and continued “You say that, and yet you yearn for the day you would stop harbouring self-hatred because of something that you felt you had the power and responsibility to. You yearn that one day, they would look at you with pride, with joy, with love, and say that you’re their friend.”
“…”
“What’s your point?” Aira asked, confused. Among other people, Airi was and still is one of the few people she can’t read their minds. Her mind was like Daedalus’s Labyrinth, full of twists and turns and new destinations to get lost in.
“I do not have a point to prove child, rather, I’d like to remind you that you deserve to be loved by those you love as much as anyone else.” She smiled, before she called the two men to follow her, leaving Arazen with her thoughts.
Suddenly her own desperate whispers of self reassurance didn’t seem so desperate anymore.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The next day, rumours of the “accident” spread like wildfire to the entire town, and the police, when asked about what happened, kept their mouths shut. Everyone had speculations about the matter, but nothing was concrete.
No one except Arazen knew about the truth. She sighed, walking to school, and went to class. She eyed Tsurugi, and quickly peered into his mind, and saw the events that unfolded when she left when Tenma and Shindou were at Tsurugi’s doorstep. She had to stifle a giggle, making her way to her desk right beside Tsurugi’s. She noticed he did look a bit lighter, and he occasionally stole glances to Tenma, who smiled knowingly every time. Aoi noticed this too, hiding an amused smile, while Shinsuke, Kariya and Hikaru were discussing about video games and such.
Aoi glanced at Arazen, whose eyes glinted with mischief and knowing, not towards the two boys, but to her. Aoi was a bit baffled and intrigued as she questioned the meaning of that look. The vixen just cheekily winked at the blue haired girl before sitting down as their teacher entered.
Aoi sighed to herself, knowing that it’ll only be a matter of time before she too, becomes a harbinger of chaos.
She swore she felt her cheeks burn when Arazen stuck the tip of her tongue out to tease her, and the sight of a gem-studded piercing made blood rush to her cheeks.
~0~
‘School in general is boring’ Arazen thought as she mindlessly stared at the blackboard while their teacher went on and on about their lesson about English. Not to mention, it’s about grammar.
“ Jesus fucking Christ, this is boring as heck. ” She muttered in Russian(aside from English and Japanese, Russian was another language she was fluent in, and it’s her favourite, due to the aggressive nature of it’s accent) which prompted Tsurugi to look at her and gape a bit. “ You know Russian? ” Tsurugi asked. It was Arazen’s turn to gape and stare incredulously at Tsurugi, mouth gaping like a fish. She chuckled afterwards and
“I do. My favourite language actually. How about you? How do you know Russian?”
“My Dad has Russian blood from his mom’s side of the family. After I learned that little bit of family lore, I tried learning the language, which also…served as a coping mechanism during Fifth Sector, basically.”
“Huh. That’s cool. I learned it because well, I like how aggressive it sounds. And it’s a beautiful language honestly.”
“…”
“Also, just thinking Tsurugi. Not being racist and all, since I’m mixed-race myself, but…when you think about it…ain’t it ironic that you went against communism?”
Tsurugi looked at her incredulously, eyes wide with delirium, before he tried to stifle his laughter, his back shaking and tears escaping his eyes. “I-I’m-I’m sorry, but- pfft! THAT, is literally, the funniest shit I’ve heard!! Like, how the fuck did I not think of that?!” Tsurugi whispered out in a jargon of Japanese and Russian, prompting to confuse their friends and classmates, while the teacher sternly looked at both of them. Arazen was not better, she herself was on the verge of cackling again like a madman who just successfully created Frankenstein.
“I think we might wanna keep our mad cackles for later Viktor, lest we want ourselves to go straight to detention.” Arazen chuckled. Tsurugi looked at her and repeated the name. “Viktor?”
She nodded and said “Your name in Russian. Viktor. Or I can change it?”
“…”
“Viktor sounds nice. And I shall call you Amaryllis.”
“Sounds good. Do we give the others names too?”
“Let’s ask them later.”
“Yeah, let’s.”
~0~
“So that’s what you guys were goofing on about?” Kariya asked as the first years were eating lunch under a tree. “Mhm. Basically.” Tsurugi replied, sagging a bit against Tenma, who chuckled and patted his back. “I didn’t know you were mix-raced too! I’m part British!” The captain cheekily said. “So you drink tea at four o’clock, mate?” Arazen teased, which prompted everyone to laugh mildly, while Tenma pouted and huffed. Shinsuke grinned and added in to the conversation “I’m half French!” “How the hell did that happen?” Kariya asked, genuinely baffled. “My mom’s French. She moved here to Japan because she found the life here interesting and lovely.” Shinsuke reminisced. “I’d love to meet your mom.” Hikaru cheerily said, which Shinsuke met with a forced smile. “S-sure.”
Arazen doesn’t miss this and patted his head, not giving away the solemness in her eyes, instead, feigning sheepishness. “I’m think I’m pure Japanese. But I’m not sure.” Aoi wondered. Kariya didn’t know if he was pure Japanese too, since he was an orphan, and he’d rather not figure out his past for now. Hikaru’s apparently half-Italian, from his Mom’s side, which suggested that Kageyama Reiji was also half-Italian. They didn’t wander there for too long, and instead, are now wondering how the hell is Arazen part Russian, Italian and Japanese at the same time. All she gives is a devious grin, indicating that she’s not giving away her secrets soon.
(In truth, her mom’s half Norwegian and half Japanese, but the only genes she got from Bana were the pair of chromosomes that gave her her abilities, which altered her DNA to a triple helix instead of a double helix, which one side of the helix was dedicated to her abilities. Her mixed-races came from her Dad and Father, Gouenji harbouring the Russian side(from his father) and Kidou having the Italian side of her. Kidou may not remember much about his parents, but a self-prompted investigation shows that Kidou got it from his dad, who was an Italian businessman.)
“What are you guys talking about?” Shindou joined the fray, as well as other the second-years and third years, and soon, everyone have more or less concluded that; Tenma’s part British, Shinsuke’s part French, Tsurugi’s part Russian, Shindou’s half -not part- Italian(which is why he has more of a foreigner’s complexion, the wavy hair, naturally tanned skin and all), Kirino’s part Spanish(‘he’ says it’s from ‘his’ mother’s side of the family).
Aoyama, Ichino, Nishiki and Akane are the only ones who are pure Japanese from what they know, Sangoku’s half Korean, Amagi’s half Chinese, Kurama’s part German (Kariya was about to make a dark Hitler joke,but Arazen who read his mind smacked him hard on the head, since it won’t be well recieved by the team). The only ones who don’t know if they have other nation’s blood in them, but whose complexions support that, are Aoi, Kurumada, Hamano, Hayami and Midori.
Their conversation about their nationalities were rudely interrupted now, as the school bell rang, which meant that classes were resuming. They said their goodbyes and agreed to have their about-to-begin soccer analyzations -where they debate, discuss and of course, analyze hissatsus, gameplays, strategies, and so much more- later at soccer practice.
Arazen went to the bathroom, saying she’ll take a bit of a break before coming back to class, and while washing her face, her head screamed.
It felt like her head was cracking at a rapid pace, shattering and splintering like glass, and all she can do is scream in her head, lest she wants to draw attention to herself. She gritted her teeth, nausea and dizziness swelling up inside her. Pain, pain, so much pain, it hurts- p a i n, her head is breaking, oh fuck, her nose is bleeding out like a geyser, she feels dizzy, she wants to throw her guts out, oh fuck, ow,ow,ow,ow,ow- she wants to tear her skin, claw at it, rip her skin off with her canine teeth, claw at herself to stop this mental shatter-down, because the unbearable pain is ricocheting at every single nerve of her body- oh shit, her left eye is turning back to black and pink, shitshitshitshit- now she’s coughing up blood -too much blood- while trying to get her shit together- is she seriously crying right now? Get a grip Arazen- fuck I can’t breathe I can’t breathe can’tbreathecan’tbreathecan’tbreathe-
It suddenly came to a stop, and Arazen gratefully gasps for air as she washes her face again, trying to make sure any trace of blood on her face disappears. She gagged and vomited up her lunch, which she immediately gargled her mouth with water to get rid of the highly sour taste of bile in her mouth. Grimacing, she counted that as her first mental-shatter down of the month. Weirdly enough, it wasn’t as painful and frequent as the last ones (thrice a month at minimum), but it still hurts.
“These mental shatter-downs are getting less frequent now huh? Must be from exposure to Tenma and the rest, doesn’t matter if they’re currently dormant and suspended.” she thought.
Panting, she looks at her face and sees how fucked up she is at close range; eye bags have started to form, her once smooth skin has blemishes, and for once, she disables her distortion ability and looks at her body for once. Her real body.
Scars line up on her arm, a giant slash mark was on her back, and on the left side of her neck, a bar code and serial designation can be seen.
SD-G-007 “4L3P0U”
She groaned and huffed when she saw the tattoo on her neck, covering it with her hand. She wonders if the distortion on her fellow Project-1C80R friends have already started to fade. A light ping in her head was all she needed to confirm that it’s started to do so.
“I feel like I jinxed it. Oh well, better watch over them now.” Arazen hummed as she tidied herself up and went to class.
~0~
Meanwhile, unknown to Tenma, Shinsuke, Aoi and Tsurugi, barcodes and their own serial designations have appeared on their necks, during class.
SD-A-001 “P3G4SUS”
SD-D-004 “GRYF4UN”
SD-F-006 “H4RP13”
SD-C-003 “LYKOS”
Shindou and Kirino were walking to their class, when the former noticed a barcode and serial designation on his friend’s neck. “Kirino, is that a tattoo?” he asked, leaving his pink-haired friend confused. “A…tattoo? I don’t have a tattoo, what are you talking about?” ‘he’ confusingly says, which made Shindou furrow his brow. “On your neck. How do you not know that you have one?” Kirino seemed a bit confused and worried, and after Shindou took a picture to show it to Kirino, the pink haired teen couldn’t help but have a million questions as to how ‘he’ got it, what was it, or why was it on ‘him.’
SD-E-005 “S3RP3N7”
“That’s weird. I swear, I did NOT get a tattoo, and even if I did, it won’t be on the neck. I’d rather it on my chest or thigh.” Kirino waved his hands as if Shindou shot him an accusatory look, which wasn’t far from it, as the prodigy was raising an eyebrow at ‘him’. Kirino was looking around to see if anyone had seen them, when his eyes caught something on Shindou’s neck. His eyes widened in disbelief.
“H-how is that possible?” The pink-haired teen muttered, eyes wide in confusion, shock, and of course, disbelief. Shindou was confused at why is his friend staring at him like he was holding something appalling. “Sh-Shindou…you have it too…on your neck.” Kirino barely whispered out, which prompted Shindou to take in a few moments of remembering to breathe before whisper-shouting “WHAT?”
“Yeah! You do- wait, let me picture it so you can see.”
After fidgeting for a while to get Shindou’s phone and taking a picture, Shindou was half in denial, and half in believing it. They had to find a mirror(which they found in the boy’s washroom) to confirm it by their own eyes, and they both exchanged worried glances as they were puzzled. Shindou took a better look at his, and was able to make out what it read;
SD-B-002 “3L4F14”
“SD-B-002…three-L-four-F-one-four? what does that mean?” Shindou puzzlingly asks. Kirino shrugged, and they both agreed to worry about it later in favour of getting back to class. Though through the lesson, Shindou was certain of one thing; if he was number two and Kirino’s number five, then that means there must be more. But that wasn’t the only question he had; why was it there, how did it get there, and what was it for?
More importantly…why, when decoded, it says “ELAFIA”?
Notes:
hint: some of the codenames in the serial designations are greek :3