The following days in juvie went by fast. Y/N had learned nothing during their stay there, and now it was time for Kazutora to leave.
Y/N was correct, it was Kazutora's mother that would pick him up. The car ride home was quiet, not saying a word to each other. It didn't even seem like his mother wanted to deal with him, the tired look on her face speaking volumes. It was a suffocating feeling, really, knowing that the one family member he had left didn't even want to be associated with him. Was this how Kazutora felt when he was released for the first time, too?
As the woman parked the car in the driveway, she spoke for the first time, ending the uncomfortable silence. "I'm going to the store, leaving you here. Don't get in trouble. Your room hasn't been touched, so it might be dusty. Cleaning supplies are in the same place it has always been. Food is in the fridge if you get hungry." Direct and straight to the point.
"Yes ma'am." Kazutora quietly spoke, just loud enough for her to hear.
Getting out of the car, his mother handed him a singular key for him to keep up with, telling him that it was his copy of the house key. Taking it, he shut the car door behind him and walked towards the front entrance, his mother wasting no time driving off and heading to the store.
Entering the house, the first thing he did was remove his shoes. He then began looking around, eventually finding a room that appeared to be his. Posters he didn't recognize hung on his wall, along with other various boyish items scattered in his room. It didn't appear to be the cleanest, with a few things laying on the floor and his bed unmade. Sighing, he left the room, deciding to take his mother's hint and clean his room. It took a while, but Kazutora eventually found the cleaning supplies in the hallway's closet.
After cleaning up his room, Kazutora quickly explored the other rooms in the house, trying to gain a sense of familiarity with the house and learn the layout. Afterward, he went to the bathroom, digging through the cabinets before he found what he needed. Scissors and hair dye.
Back in Y/N's old life, Y/N had frequently tended to his hair and knew how to skillfully cut it. So cutting it now wouldn't be an issue, either. Staring at the bathroom mirror, Y/N did just that— using the scissors in his hand, Y/N cut Kazutora's pretty locks into a more even shape, no longer did he have those weird tufts of hair sticking out. Once done, he then went on to dye his hair, first dying it fully black in order to get rid of his old highlights before then moving on to dying his bangs a nice blonde-yellow.
Looking at himself in the mirror, 'Kazutora' released a contented sigh, happy with this change of hair. This was the start of his own sense of self-expression, already knowing that he wouldn't be able to express his truest self properly when it came to this world. He would have to act and pretend to be someone that he wasn't, feigning a lunatic personality with little to no self-control. So even the smallest ways of being himself would mean so much to Y/N in the end. His hair would ultimately be his sense of self-comfort, the separation between him and the original Hanemiya Kazutora.
The woman had lied, she did not go to the store like she said she would. In fact, she didn't even return home until late at night, drunk off her mind. Kazutora was already in bed in his room when she came home, waking up to the loud noise that she was making as she scrambled around the house before ultimately falling asleep on the couch.
Sighing, Kazutora pushed himself up and out of bed, grabbing a blanket out of his mother's room and draping it over the passed-out woman. It was the least he could do, right? She might not be Y/N's mother, but she is Kazutora's. But even so, it is quite worrying. Should he start expecting this from her? The manga never really explained in-depth about any of the character's home life, only giving the tragic backstory in order for the readers to sympathize with them.
He just hoped that this wouldn't result in an actual conflict between him and his mother. Y/N doesn't know whether or not they would be able to emotionally handle the hypothetical scenario in which his mother has a drinking problem, in fear that it could lead to... well, you know.
Heading back to bed, he face-planted into his pillow, breathing in the cold scent of home. His bed was far more comfortable than the sorry excuse of beds back in juvie. Burying himself underneath the blankets, Kazutora laid comfortably before eventually drifting off to sleep.
In the morning, Kazutora woke up to the sound of his mother calling for him, the woman not even bothering to get up from the couch to get him. It took a moment for him to process his surroundings, before eventually letting out a loud yawn, stretching his limbs as he got up from bed, leaving his room and heading towards the living room to see what his mother wanted from him.
When he arrived, the mother was digging through her wallet, pulling out some cash, and handing the money to Kazutora, much to his confusion.
"Go to the store and get me headache medicine." She said simply, only for Kazutora to let out a quiet 'oh'. The woman didn't even bother to comment on his change of hairstyle, luckily.
"Let me quickly get changed and then I'll go." He replied, holding the bills off to his side before heading back to his room, and looking through his closet. His selection of clothes wasn't much— well, not much as in not much that caught his interest. Y/N comes from a different era, after all, so clothing preferences were naturally different, especially considering that Y/N is technically an entirely different person than compared to the original Kazutora.
Finding a simple white t-shirt and black jeans, Kazutora put them on before heading out the door— not before slipping on some shoes, of course.
Kazutora took the time to breathe in some fresh air, appreciating the freedom that he now possessed. Even though Y/N has only been in juvie for a few days, he could still feel the impact of the lack of freedom and strict schedule. Y/N was glad that he didn't have to experience juvie in their last life, knowing that it would be a horrible experience.
But that doesn't mean that Y/N was anywhere near happy with this experience. They didn't want to be Hanemiya Kazutora, despite him being a great character. But that was the thing. He was a great character, belonging to a great seemingly fictional world. A fictional world that depicted so much angst and heartache, all of which Y/N did not want to be part of. But Y/N knew that they would have to— at least until the Valhalla arc was over with, which shouldn't be too long, right?
It didn't take long before Y/N realized that they didn't know where they were going. Which is only to be expected, right? Y/N has never been to Tokyo before, especially Tokyo in the year 2005. Using his memory to the best of his ability from the car ride, Kazutora eventually found himself in the busy streets of Tokyo, walking along some sidewalk in the he-doesn't-know district. It was incredibly confusing, constantly looking around on his hunt for a convenience store whilst simultaneously trying not to get lost. After about thirty to forty minutes of wandering around, Kazutora eventually found a convenience store, much to his relief. He just hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble with his mother for taking such a dreadfully long time looking for it.
Walking inside, he searched through one of the rows of items before eventually picking up a bottle of headache medicine. As he was about to turn, he accidentally bumped into someone rather familiar, their shoulders colliding.
"Ah— sorry.." Kazutora mumbled out, stumbling a bit before looking down at the shorter girl.
"It's alright!" She said with a warm smile.
This was Tachibana Hinata: the protagonist's girlfriend, and the reason behind nearly everything Hanagaki Takemichi did.
Kazutora's golden eyes met Hinata's, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he let out a chuckle. She was definitely pretty, he'll give her that. No, before anyone asks, he wasn't into her. This was Takemichi's girl, after all.
"I'm Hanemiya Kazutora, but call me Kazutora." The original Kazutora didn't like it when people referred to him as his last name, right? Because of his grudge against his family? So it would probably be best for Y/N to go along with that.
"Tachibana Hinata! But since you're letting me call you by your first name, I'll let you do the same for me as well!" Hinata returned, giving her own introduction.
Was this the start of a new friendship? Kazutora hoped so. Being friends with stable people that didn't constantly fight sounded like bliss to him, a true change of pace that would probably be needed in his life. If the option were to ever arise, maybe he should mend his relationship with Mitsuya Takashi; another person that wasn't unhinged.
"Nice to meet you, Hinata-san." He said, smiling back, "Do you want to be friends?"
He hoped that he wasn't being too direct. He didn't want to seem like he was hitting on her, he just genuinely just wanted someone to talk to. It didn't seem like his mother would be up for conversation, and he didn't have anyone to socialize with yet. He wasn't even sure if Kazutora's old friends would want anything to do with him, either.
"Sure, I don't mind." She replied, "Let me finish buying what I need, then we can hang out!"
Oh, that was quick. Well, at least Kazutora now had something to do with his free time instead of locking himself up in his room all day. Hinata was definitely a lot more extroverted than he was, so he was glad that it was her who wants to hang out instead of him having to ask.
"That's fine with me. I'll wait outside for you to finish after checking out, okay?" Kazutora replied, the two figuring out their shopping trip with ease.
Using the money that his mother gave him, Kazutora walked up to the counter and paid for the medicine while Hinata went off and grabbed whatever else she needed.
Afterward, he did as he said he would, standing outside with a plastic bag in hand. Y/N felt the urge to go on their phone and mindlessly scroll through the internet while they waited, but Kazutora didn't have a phone right now and the technology in 2005 didn't have the same things as the internet of 2022 did. It didn't take long before Tachibana Hinata was done, checking out her things before walking outside, soon seeing Kazutora and walking up to him.
"We should probably drop off our things before we hang out, now that I'm thinking about it," Hinata said, voicing her thoughts out loud. She wasn't wrong, anyway.
"Yeah. We can go to yours first since you obviously have more things than I do." The black-haired boy stated, trying to be mindful of what she had to carry.
On their way to the lady's house, the two began chatting, wanting to get to know each other since they were now friends.
"What are some of your hobbies?" Hinata first asked, finding it to be the easiest thing to start with.
Y/N thought for a second, unsure of what to say. Deciding to be honest with their own interests, he then answered her. "Boxing, mostly. But I do like doing other things, like reading manga and cooking."
"Ohh, that sounds cool! My boyfriend is a delinquent, so he gets into fights a lot. I wish he could do something more legal like boxing."
"Don't get mad with me, but I'm a delinquent too, you know. Just got out of juvie." He admitted.
Hinata let out a gasp, surprised by the information that she just learned. "Really? But you're so nice. How come you went to juvie?"
Kazutora pursed his lips into a straight line, not really liking the situation that he dug himself into. "I don't really want to talk about it, sorry."
Hinata nodded in understanding, "That's fine."
Wanting to redirect the conversation away from the subject, as Kazutora didn't want to think about that incident, he decided to ask the same question as Hinata did a few moments prior. "What are you into? Since I've told you my interests."
"I really like music; I even know how to play the piano!" She then continued, "And although I'm not very good at it, I also like baking. Oh! I was even in karate at some point, too, so I do know self-defense!"
Kazutora blinked, taking in the information. Y/N didn't know much about Hinata as a character, so hearing her talk about her interests was like a new experience for him. "Piano? That's neat. Mind playing me a song or two sometime?"
"Definitely!" Hinata smiled brightly, enjoying the conversation that they were having.
The two continued to discuss their interests among various other conversation topics as they walked together, getting to know each other fairly well. Kazutora even shared stories about his time in juvie, although the things he could talk about were fairly limited and were mostly referenced from the manga and the few days that Y/N spent there. Which was fine, anyway, as it was only briefly talked about before quickly moving on to other things.
Once they arrived at the apartment complex that Hinata lived at, Kazutora waited outside while Hinata brought her bought items inside; her parents were home, and knowing Hinata's parents, it would probably be best if he stayed outside.
Kazutora smiled to himself as he waited for her to come out, pleased with how things were going so far. Making a new friend after being shoved into a situation that Y/N didn't want to be part of was certainly a good change of mood.
Hinata went back outside, no more bags in hand. The two then went to Kazutora's house, chatting along the way. They did the same thing at Kazutora's house: he would go inside and give his mother her medicine while Hinata stayed outside.
"What took you so long?" Kazutora's mother questioned, annoyance lacing her tone of voice. She snatched the bag out of his hand, taking the bottle out and gulping down the pills (after drinking water, of course).
"Sorry, I forgot how to get there since it's been so long.." He apologized in a meek voice.
She mumbled inaudible words, sliding back down onto the couch and resting her head on one of the pillows.
"I'm going out." Kazutora then added on, the woman saying nothing in response.
Stepping out of the house, Kazutora sighed; his brows were furrowed, clearly frustrated with his mother's attitude. It's only been a day and he already feels so uneasy just by being around her. Shaking his head, he forces himself to relax and smile as he walked over to Hinata, not wanting to worry her.
"So, what do you want to do?" He asked, hoping that this hang-out would be a nice distraction from his growing anxieties. "Preferably somewhere that doesn't cost money." He chuckled nervously. He didn't have even a cent on him.
"Hmmm, I don't know. I guess we could just wander around for the time being. Maybe head to the park?" Hinata hummed, trying to think of places to go.
"Yeah, that sounds good with me." He just hoped that he wouldn't run into anyone Kazutora knew before going to juvie. Man, wouldn't that be an awkward situation to be in?
A/N: Hope you like the chapter. A bit of slice of life, you know?
This chapter also feels very forced, but it's ffiiinneeee.
Prepare for bloodshed in the next chapter, lol.
[Edited.]