Chapter Text
It was early morning on a Sunday, during breakfast, when he first heard the news that the empty house next door had finally been sold. Akira was sitting at his usual spot at the kitchen table, strawberry toast in hand and legs idly swaying back and forth, as he quietly watched his parents hurry around the kitchen, going from one counter to the other as they both got ready for another day at work. Every now and again they would look his way to give him a smile or to shake their head at the jam on his face and hands, but it was clear that his parents were more focused on discussing the new neighbors and inviting them over for dinner than making sure he was clean.
“It would be a nice, neighborly gesture,” his mother said as she sat her dark brown briefcase on the kitchen counter, opening it with a quick flick of her wrist. Her long black hair was pulled up tight into a bun and her fancy shoes clicked as she tapped her foot against the floor. “And from what I’ve heard, one of the young men is the nephew of Inspector Dojima so it would be more than appropriate to welcome them into the neighborhood properly.”
Standing at the kitchen sink, his father sighed as he finished washing out his coffee cup. His white shirt’s sleeves were rolled to avoid the water and his black hair looked super shiny from the sticky gel he always put in it. “Dear, their moving truck has barely begun unpacking,” he said. He set his cup down with the rest of the drying dishes and straightened out his shirt. “It would be impolite to demand their attention as they’re just settling in. Who knows how much furniture they have. We should wait until tomorrow night.”
Akira watched, silent and with a mouthful of sticky toast, as his mother let out a huff. It was the huff that always meant she was beginning to get mad. “It would be impolite to wait,” she insisted. She finished up with her briefcase and as she closed it with a click, gave Akira a quick look. A strained smile reached her lips. “Akira, honey, please go get a napkin. You’re going to get jam and crumbs everywhere.”
Resisting the urge to just wipe at his face with his sleeve, Akira nodded instead and he hopped down from the table. A dark curl nearly got in his eye as he did but he was quick to push it away with a puff of air. His mother hated it when he “acted like a wild child” and using a sleeve as a napkin was as wild child as it got. He was seven and as both of his parents liked to remind him, he needed to remember to act like it. As he went over to the kitchen cupboard to find a piece of paper towel, he heard his mother speak again.
“We need to make a good first impression and I know that if anyone is going to show proper appreciation for a home-cooked meal, it will be two young men right in the middle of moving. From what I managed to see this morning, neither of them look a day over twenty. They’re so young, I don’t think they’d say no to someone cooking for them.”
“That is true,” his father said. Then, just as Akira managed to find the roll of paper towels, he heard his father’s tone go cold and he recognized it as the voice his father used when Akira did something bad. “Two young men living together. A bit unnatural, don’t you think?”
Akira carefully pulled a square of paper towel free and made his way back to the table, reaching his chair just in time to see his mother rolling her eyes. “Oh, you think every young person in this town is immoral,” she said, giving Akira another small smile when she saw him with his napkin in hand. “As I said before, one of the men is related to Inspector Dojima. I highly doubt such a respectable member of our community would endorse such vile behavior in our town.”
Brushing her hands down her dark skirt, Akira watched his mother give his father a sharp look. “And I’m sure that such subjects will not come up when the two of them arrive here for dinner tonight,” she said and her voice was just as scary, if not more, than his father’s. “We only have one chance to give them a good first impression and I will be very upset if that impression is ruined with you accusing them of such things.”
Akira scooted back into his chair as his mother spoke, setting his napkin to the side before he went back to his toast. He wondered, silently of course, what kind of vile behavior his mother was talking about. Maybe the new neighbors liked to use their sleeves as napkins too?
His father let out another sigh and, as he grabbed his work jacket that had been resting on one of the kitchen table’s chairs and slipped it on, gave his wife a nod. “Very well,” he said, bending down to pick up his own briefcase. “I’ll see what I can do about getting home early. Do you need me to pick up anything for tonight’s dinner?”
His mother shook her head and used her free hand to grab her purse from the counter. “No, I’ll have everything prepared before you get home,” she said. As she spoke, she glanced over at the clock that was on the wall between the kitchen and the living room. She was always checking the time. “And if I do need anything I’ll pick it up before I get home.”
Taking another, more careful bite of his breakfast, Akira watched as his parents gave each other a quick look over and then smiled when their attention finally turned to him. His father offered him a small nod while his mother quickly walked over to him to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Behave yourself until Mitsuko-chan gets here, alright? She should be here soon,” she said and Akira nodded dutifully. “Have a good day, sweetie.”
“I will,” he said, making sure that he’d swallowed his toast before speaking. “You have a good day too, Mom.”
His mother smiled at him one last time before she again looked over to the clock, her smile turning to a frown as the clock’s hands tick-tocked away. She gave him one last smile and then turned, ran her hand down her work skirt one last time, and then both she and his father were gone, the front door giving off a quiet click as they closed it. After such a busy morning, the quiet tick-tock of the clock was suddenly very loud and Akira tried to ignore the funny feeling he always got in his stomach when his parents left him alone by focusing on his last piece of toast.
He carefully used his napkin to wipe at his face and hands, knowing that his mother would be mad if he got the table sticky, before he hopped down from the kitchen table and placed his plate onto the counter next to the sink. The weird feeling was still there, the one that made his throat tight and his stomach twist. He raised a hand to grip at his shirt as if that would make the feeling go away. His sitter would be there soon and then he wouldn’t be alone, even if all Mitsuko-chan did was text on her phone and do her homework.
You’re seven, he reminded himself. Almost eight! And Mom and Dad leave all the time. Stop being such a baby. Spend your time more productively.
Even with his mental scolding though, he stood at the sink for a real long time with that twisty feeling refusing to go away.
A sound, loud and rumbly, broke him from his musings and he turned to look over to the glass sliding doors that led to the backyard. He heard the sound again, that time recognizing it as the sound of a big truck, and he forgot all about his twisty stomach. New neighbors, he thought with more than a little curiosity. I wonder what they’re like.
His mother had mentioned their behavior and whenever his parents talked about behaviors, that meant that you were doing something wrong. But the new neighbors were adults and adults never did anything wrong. So maybe their behavior was bad and good at the same time? Curiosity completely overriding his nerves over being alone again, Akira decided that in order to understand just what his parents were talking about, he needed to get a better look at these new neighbors. And what if they had a kid with them? Maybe then Akira would have a friend outside his school, where the kids all pretended to like him until the grownups stopped watching.
Besides, there wasn’t much for him to do inside until his sitter showed up. All of his books were boring, his toys were all the way upstairs, and he was only allowed to watch T.V after dinner. Meanwhile, there were no rules against going outside alone as long as it was the backyard.
His mind made up, Akira hurried over to the sliding glass doors to put on his outside shoes before he slipped outside, making sure that he shut the glass door firmly so that no bugs would get inside. Outside was only a little colder than inside and the sun was already really high in the sky, so Akira didn’t bother going back in for a jacket. His shirt had long sleeves, it would keep him nice and warm.
He never spent a lot of time out in the backyard. His parents didn’t like it when he trailed dirt in the house and he didn’t like it when they were mad at him so he mainly stayed indoors. Due to that, the only worthwhile bits of fun to be had in the yard was a single tree that his father always complained about during the fall and the big, empty wooden flower pots that his mother always swore she’d do something with. Eventually. The backyard was also surrounded by a big brown fence that was around their whole house, offering Akira only the tiniest peek of the big moving van that was parked in the neighbors’ driveway.
But that was just fine. He had his ways of getting around the pesky fence. As he cut across the yard toward the tree, Akira looked over to the right and tried to see if he could spot anything else from the ground. The next door house looked the same as it had been yesterday when it’d been empty, brown walls with a blue roof and a couple of windows, so it gave away nothing about the new neighbors. And there was only so much the top of a truck could offer so with a huff, he quickly made it to the tree and jumped for the closest branch.
He’d discovered when he was six that the middle of the tree had really good branches for seeing almost his whole neighborhood and he could remember sitting on those branches as he watched his parents drive away for work. But that had been forever ago and now that his parents always remember to say goodbye before they left, he’d had no use for the middle branches. On that day though, they were exactly what he needed. Akira grunted as he pulled himself up into the tree, being extra careful not to slip or get his shirt too dirty. He hadn’t climbed the tree in so long, he felt like he’d almost forgotten how to do it! He had certainly forgotten how many scratches you got on your hands thanks to the rough bark. But after only one little scare when a tiny branch threatened to break under his hand, Akira had managed to find a steady perch within the tree’s middle and he settled down with his legs dangling over the big branch with a relieved sigh.
“Minato!”
The sudden shout nearly sent Akira tumbling out of the tree as he jumped and he was only saved by how big the branch underneath him really was. He turned to where the shout had come from and he saw in the house’s driveway, next to the big moving truck, a grownup. He was tall like all grownups and young, way younger than his parents, but he had grey hair like an old person and he was glaring at something inside the truck. He might have had hair like an old person but he was dressed kind of funny. His shirt was white but the sleeves were all rolled up, his pants had paint stains all over them, and even his shoes were all dirty looking.
The grownup had his hands on his hips like his mother would do when she thought Akira was arguing and he inched closer to the edge of the branch to get a better look. But the man didn’t seem to notice him watching. He was just glaring into the back of the truck.
“What did I say about the knickknack boxes?” he said as he climbed onto the truck’s metal ramp and ducked inside. Akira could still hear his voice echo out as he spoke though. “They’re too heavy for you. We just managed to get Mitsuru-san to stop hovering, I don’t need everyone suddenly popping up on our doorstep because you overexerted yourself. Again.”
Akira heard another voice from the truck, softer so he couldn’t hear what the person was saying, but whatever they had said made the grey-haired man laugh suddenly. “Oh, I can totally see that scenario playing out just perfectly. We’re not locking your friends out of the house. They already hate me as it is, I don’t need to give them even more ammunition.”
A moment of quiet and then Akira watched as the grey-haired man walked back out of the truck, a giant box in his arms, and next to him was another grownup. He was a little smaller than the grey-haired man but was dressed pretty much like him, wearing a grey shirt his mother would call “ratty” and pants that looked just as paint covered. But what really caught Akira’s attention was just how blue the man’s hair was. And it was long, like a girl’s hair! It was tied up in a bun like his mother but the blue-haired man’s bun was messy and lopsided and kind of looked like a sad cake about to fall over.
“Stop being so dramatic,” the blue-haired man said as he followed the grey-haired man out of the truck. “They don't hate you. And I’m not so invalid that I can’t handle a box or two. It’s not like we have any real moving to do besides unpacking boxes anyways, thanks to your mother-henning.”
The grey-haired man snorted and, after he moved the box to one arm, used his other hand to grab the blue-haired man’s hand. “Hey, that wasn’t my idea,” he said, laughing when the blue-haired man gave him a flat look. “Honest! I just might have sort of suggested to Aigis that we had a lot of furniture to shift around and she just so happened to decide to offer us her furniture moving services. You can’t tell me you’re actually upset about not getting to move the couch yourself.”
The blue-haired man shrugged and then leaned closer to his friend, resting against his side. “Not really,” he said. “It’s just fun complaining about it.”
Akira watched through the leaves as the grey-haired man laughed again before both grownups headed inside the house with the box still in hand. Are they the new neighbors? He thought as he scooted further toward the edge of the branch, stopping when the fence separating the yards was right below him. They seem nice enough for grownups, even with the weird hair and clothes.
He also didn’t see any sort of behavior that was bad or would make his father sound so mad like he’d been in the kitchen. Maybe he doesn’t like how they dress? Or maybe it’s because of their hair?
Akira frowned a little as that thought rolled around in his head. He thought their hair was kind of cool. Breaking him from his contemplation, he heard the two grownups again before he saw them. It seemed as if the grey-haired man was really loud and the blue-haired man was really quiet.
“I say we turn it into a guest room,” the grey-haired man said as they reappeared out onto the driveway. “It’s not like I need an office or anything and the living room has more than enough shelving space. Plus, you just know we’re going to have to invite everyone over eventually. It’ll be nice to have a designated room for them if they decide to stay the night.”
They were still holding hands as they walked and the blue-haired man let out a soft sigh. “They’re never going to give us a moment of peace, are they?”
Akira watched as the grey-haired man leaned in closer to the blue-haired man with a cheeky grin. “Probably not,” he said but he didn’t sound mad or sad. He sounded happy. “But I can’t really blame them. Can you?”
The blue-haired man was quiet for a long while before he finally shook his head. “I guess not,” he said softly. “Not after everything we’ve been through...”
He was talking so quietly, almost in a whisper, that Akira could hardly hear him. With a small grunt he tried to scoot further across the branch, not noticing the ominous groaning sound coming from below him. The new neighbors were so weird compared to the other grownups, especially his parents, he needed to hear more. He moved further down the branch. Was the blue-haired man’s hair really blue or was it just paint or something? Maybe that was why the grey-haired man’s pants were so messy? And just what about them was so “vile”?
So lost in his thoughts and so focused on getting a better look, Akira noticed too late that he’d moved too far along the branch and that the wood behind him had begun to split in half. The branch creaked and Akira let out a frightened yelp, tears springing into his eyes as the tree limb quivered. He wrapped both his arms and legs around the branch in an attempt to secure himself, letting out another cry when all that did was shake the branch even more. The branch was gonna break! He was gonna fall! Akira squeezed his eyes shut as the branch continued to tremble. He was going to fall and then the neighbors would know he was spying on them and his parents would know he’d climbed the tree and he’d be in so much trouble, he was gonna be grounded forever!
“Hey, hey! Kid, it’s okay!”
The branch suddenly went still and the sound of splintering wood went away. Akira let out a shaky breath and slowly peeked open one eye to see what had happened. It took him a minute to see past the tears but when his vision finally became clear, he let out a tiny squeak of surprise because the grey-haired man was right there in front of him. He was leaning onto the fence, the wooden pickets digging into his stomach, with one hand under him to hold himself steady while the other was firmly gripped around Akira’s branch. When he saw Akira staring at him, the grey-haired man offered him a sunny smile. “There we go,” he said, his voice sounding a little funny. “Let’s just calm down, okay?”
Akira hiccuped but nodded. He could feel his tears running down his face and his stomach was still cramping just from the thought of how much trouble he was going to be in, but at least he wasn’t going to fall anymore. The grey-haired man didn’t look mad though. Even his eyes are grey!
“Good,” he said. He let out a little huff of air as he shifted. “Now here’s what we’re gonna do. I’ll keep this branch steady while you scoot back and once you reach the tree trunk, you climb back down to the ground. Deal?”
The mere thought of moving sent a shiver down Akira’s spine and even though he wanted to listen, because you always had to listen to adults when they told you to do something, he found himself unable to move. What if he shook the branch too hard and he fell? What if his arm broke? Or what if he hit the ground so hard his eyes would pop out like Aki-chan from school had always warned him would happen? So instead of doing the right thing and listening like a good boy, Akira just let out a whimper and clung to the branch even harder, more tears escaping him.
“Easy there, kiddo.”
Akira looked over past the grey-haired man’s shoulder and saw that the blue-haired man was there too, right at the fence. He didn’t try to get onto the fence like the grey-haired man though. Instead, he simply gave Akira a soft smile.
“Don’t be scared,” he said and Akira couldn’t help but think that his voice was very nice even if it was very quiet. “He might not look it but my friend here is pretty strong. He can keep the branch steady while you get down.”
The blue-haired man then moved a little closer to the fence and reached up so that he could rest one of his hands onto the grey-haired man’s arm, the one that was holding up the branch. It made the limb shake ever so slightly but it quickly settled with the additional support.
“But just in case, I’ll help him out a bit,” he said. He was still smiling as he gave Akira a little head nod. “Now just take a deep breath and start scooting back.”
Akira sniffed and then said, with a hiccup, “I-I’m really sorry for spying. A-and I’m sorry for climbing the tree even though I’m not supposed to! I don’t wanna be in trouble.”
Both grownups let out soft laughs at that and Akira couldn’t help but feel a little silly even as the grey-haired man said, “Kid, you’re fine. No one’s getting in trouble. Just scoot over to the trunk. I promise, we won’t let go. We’ve got you.”
Letting out a shaky breath, Akira nodded and even managed to wipe away some of his tears. “Okay,” he said, lifting himself up onto trembling arms. The branch remained steady as he did, true to the grownups’ promises and, after taking another deep breath, he moved. “Okay, okay, o-okay.”
It took him a long time to get back to the tree trunk. Every time he moved backwards, he would pause to see if the branch was still secure enough and every time the neighbors would assure him that he was doing great, he was just fine, you’re almost there just keep going. Finally, after a bit more shuffling, Akira’s back hit the tree trunk and he let out a relieved sigh. He looked over to the neighbors who were still holding onto the branch, though he could only see the grey-haired man from the trunk, and he felt a smile reach his face.
“I did it!” he said, suddenly so proud of himself.
The grey-haired man gave him a thumbs up as both grownups finally let go of the branch, allowing Akira to see the big split in the tree limb right behind where he’d been sitting. “Good job,” he said and then he huffed again. “Now I think it’s time that I get down or else I’m gonna get stuck too.”
But before he jumped down, the blue-haired man still hidden by the fence said something too soft for Akira to hear which made the grey-haired man give Akira another look over. “Are you sure you can get down by yourself now?” he asked, a look of concern on his face despite the fence posts still jabbing him in the stomach.
Akira wiped at his face with his sleeve and nodded. “Yeah,” he said with a sniff. “I can get down now.” He paused and then blurted out, “My parents were gonna invite you for dinner tonight.”
A look of surprise and then understanding appeared on the grey-haired man’s face and he smiled again. “Ah! You must be Kurusu-san’s son. She mentioned you to us when she extended her invitation just awhile ago.”
Akira offered him a wobbly smile which then turned into a surprised giggle when the blue-haired man’s head suddenly popped up over the fence. “It was very kind of your mom to invite us over,” he said as he continued to jump up and down in order to see over the fence pickets. His bun flopped from left to right as he did and Akira giggled again. “But she didn’t mention your name.” Hop! “My name is Minato Arisato.” Hop! “And he’s Yu Narukami.” Hop! “Who looks ridiculous, by the way.”
The grey-haired man, Narukami-san, glared at the blue-haired man, Arisato-san, and puffed out his cheeks. “Well at least I’m not hopping up and down like an over-excited rabbit,” he said and Arisato-san just jumped up again with a glare of his own.
Akira tried his best to hide his laughter in his sleeve, knowing that it was rude to laugh at grownups, but the neighbors were acting so weird. “My name’s Akira,” he said and, remembering his manners, added on, “It’s very nice to meet you.”
Both Narukami-san and Arisato-san offered him smiles, one big and bright and the other small and warm. “It’s very nice to meet you, Akira-kun,” they said together, Narukami-san still hanging from the fence and Arisato-san still jumping. Akira’s smile grew a little more confident at that. Maybe these new neighbors wouldn’t be so bad, even if they were grownups.