Kazutora had already left the scene soon after giving his name out, now limping inside of an empty alleyway. Leaning up against a brick wall, he roughly slid down onto the concrete floor, panting heavily as he mentally assessed what he had just done. He had beaten up a gang of already-fighting delinquents just to get his name out into the world— an introduction, if you will. Even if he had won, he still, nevertheless, gained some rather painful injuries from the experience.
He winced as he landed on a bruised portion of his leg, doing his best not to put too much pressure on himself as he rested. How was he supposed to go home like this? How would his mother react? Should he go to the hospital to get treated and to check on his might-be-broken nose, or suck it up and deal with it? He could already tell that it was close to evening, the afternoon sun lowering in the sky. But he didn't know what to do right now.
He didn't know anything, to be honest. Y/N didn't know why they were here—why they were in this world in the first place. They didn't want to be here, but they also knew that no matter how much they complained, it would still be set in stone that they were here and Y/N would just have to deal with it.
The adrenaline had worn out some time ago, so now Kazutora could feel nothing but the throbbing pain of his body. Bruises littered his skin, blood, and fluid leaking out in some bits. His mouth was bloody from his upper busted lip, and that didn't even include the amount of blood that was dripping out from his nose. The skin on his knuckles were cracked and torn, bruises having already formed.
Y/N could already conclude that this body wasn't used to major beatdowns from others and going through a full swing of his own fists. Kazutora had been in juvie for years under careful watch, so experiencing any real fighting outside of being a pest wasn't likely to happen. Y/N would have to build up his stamina and endurance, already trusting his own strength to a comfortable extent. That would mean more fights and violent encounters, leading to even more injuries and enemies along the way.
But another, more sudden thought had come to mind. What if he forced others to be loyal to him? It wasn't something most people would consider, but it was certainly something that Hanemiya Kazutora had done. Remembering the manga and looking back at how Kazutora's underlings had treated him when he had first met Takemichi is what brought this idea to Y/N. How it was mentioned that Kazutora had broken his most "trusted" people's legs the day before, only for those said people to not care and to continue defending Kazutora's honor when speaking about him.
Kazutora coughed into his elbow, furrowing his brows at the dry feeling of his throat. He was exhausted and dehydrated, probably in desperate need of water. He leaned his back against the brick wall once he fully sat down, his left arm holding him up despite its injuries.
It was amusing to a slight extent, how not too long ago today he was hanging out with Tachibana Hinata and having the time of his life, only to push himself into a random gang's business and start a fight. Suffering the physical consequences was his only option to do now, right? Hinata had already gone home, and he didn't really want to intrude and give her a scare from nothing but his beaten-up appearance. But he had won that fight and knowing that is satisfactory enough.
Y/N had ideas of what to do, but the process of getting there would need a lot of mental preparation. Kazutora was an emotional person that did heartless, torturous things to the people that worked for him. Replicating that would only strain Y/N, but there wasn't any other way around it. Y/N didn't even know what the qualifications were for Kisaki Tetta to seek him out, which would lead to Hanma Shuji recruiting him. So mimicking how Kazutora acted was the only thing Y/N could do or think of doing that wouldn't completely ruin the plot in some way.
Just thinking about this made Y/N want to cry, but they didn't. They couldn't. Not with what has been thrown at them, not with what they threw themselves into.
Breathing in, breathing out. He needed to calm down, stop his harsh breathing cycles, and breathe normally. But everything hurt so badly, his body ached and he could feel his blood vessels pounding beneath his skin as his heart raced. Breathing in, breathing out. Kazutora couldn't help but yawn, tiredness sweeping over him. His energy was drained and it was hard to move.
Why did he have to do that? Wasn't fighting so early on a bad idea? But Y/N didn't know what to do, they were desperate and impulsive because all of their emotions that have been suppressed were running wild, and he did what he thought he should do without even stopping to think about it. And now he was sitting alone in an alleyway with no one to help him and no energy to help himself.
Everything just felt so fucking heavy, like he couldn't breathe and yet he was regardless. Why, why did he have to be here? Why did he have to be Hanemiya Kazutora? Y/N loved fighting as a boxer, but fighting in a delinquent standing just felt so wrong to them. The lack of contracts, the lack of consent, and the lack of maturity between both parties. It just felt so, so morally wrong to instigate. But Y/N wasn't L/N Y/N anymore, they were Hanemiya Kazutora, and Hanemiya Kazutora was a delinquent that thrived off of fighting just as much as any other Tokyo Revengers character did.
But why, why did Y/N go look for a fight as soon as they parted ways from Tachibana Hinata? Y/N couldn't give a reasonable answer. So many things coursed through their mind, multitudes of events and "what if's" made them paranoid and confused with both themselves and everything around them. It was tiring, really. They've been in this world for just over a week and already they were being a reckless mess.
Kazutora's eyes started to feel heavy, his lack of energy making him want to sleep. Y/N tried fighting against it, thinking that falling asleep in some random alleyway wasn't a good idea in his condition, but his aching muscles had given up on him a while ago. No matter how much Y/N tried, they couldn't push him to stand up and head to either the hospital or home. He felt wobbly every time he did, his limbs trembling and shaking.
Giving up, Kazutora let his eyes close before drifting off to sleep, hoping that this nap would only last for a few minutes at most. But boy, was he wrong.
About twenty to thirty minutes later, Kazutora was still asleep. Even the soreness of his arms and face couldn't agitate him enough to wake him up; his brain temporarily shut himself down just so that he could rejuvenate, exhaustion taking him over.
Two teenage boys were walking along the streets of Tokyo, not particularly paying any mind to any of the buildings or people around them as they talked. A boy with sunflower blonde hair and a burn scar covering half his face, and the other with snake-like eyes and black hair. They were both wearing casual clothes, nothing about them other than the seemingly shorter boy's black-styled hair gave away their delinquency as kids.
It didn't take long before the two boy's passed the alleyway, the blue-eyed blonde taking notice of the body leaning up against a moldy brick wall. At first, if it weren't for his chest going up and down as a sign of breathing, Inui Seishu would have thought that he was dead. Stopping in his tracks, Seishu grabbed a hold of his friend's sleeve before motioning towards the alleyway.
Hajime Kokonoi looked over, now also seeing the what-looks-to-be a dead body, deadpanning at the sight.
"We're not involving ourselves." He said bluntly, now meeting Seishu's eyes.
The sunflower blonde rolled his eyes, walking towards the alleyway, "You don't have to help."
It was a simple statement, but it gave Kokonoi the option to leave. But he didn't, choosing to follow his best friend into the alleyway because that was merely what Kokonoi always did. They stuck together, no matter what. At least in theory, anyway.
Kokonoi sighed, furrowing his brows as he lightly shook his head, "This is such a waste of time."
"And yet you're still here." Seishu retorted, balancing himself as he kneeled down in front of the passed-out boy. Now it was Kokonoi's turn to roll his eyes.
Despite wearing red heels, Seishu showed no sign of struggle while moving around. As for the boy— somewhat dried blood covered the person's white shirt, and it would more than likely leave a stain. He then lifted Kazutora's lowered head, inspecting his face and determining whether or not he needed medical attention. From the looks of it, his nose wasn't broken, just probably busted a vein or two. But even so, Inui Seishu was no doctor, so he wasn't qualified to give a real evaluation. Lastly, he looked at the boy's hands, noticing how bruised his knuckles were.
"This guy was in a fight not too long ago." Seishu commented, placing down Kazutora's hand before sighing, "His nose doesn't look broken, but it would probably still be good to get it checked up at the hospital."
"We're actually going to help him?" Kokonoi questioned; his tone made it sound like he was complaining.
"I'm helping him, you're just tagging along," Seishu replied matter-of-factly, already knowing that Kokonoi wouldn't even lift a finger to help out the guy.
Kokonoi never helped anyone unless he was getting paid to do it, and that was just the truth of his character.
Seishu lifted the guy up before carefully hoisting him up on his back, giving the stranger a piggyback ride. Surprisingly, Kazutora did not wake up, nor did he stir. He was completely knocked out and unmoving.
Kokonoi grumbled just loud enough for Seishu to hear, "I can't believe you're doing this."
"Is complaining all you're good for?" Seishu spoke out loud, tired of hearing him basically repeat himself over and over. Although it was a rude statement, Kokonoi knew that he was being lighthearted.
"Yup." Kokonoi casually replied, fully disinterested in the subject at hand, but he continued, "Where are we taking him?"
Did Seishu not say it before? Or was Kokonoi really not paying attention?
"Hospital for a quick check-up. Afterward, I guess we'll just see what happens next." Seishu answered, the two boys now walking out of the alleyway together.
There were a few curious onlookers that would glance over at them every once in a while, but no one said or confronted them about anything. This was Japan, after all, and everyone minded their own business. Seeing a bloody dude being carried by another guy wasn't something people would see every day, but no one had the time to stop and question it. It was one of the many rush hours of the day, and everyone was heading home after work.
The two walked in semi-comfortable silence, the busy streets of people drowning their ears with constant noise and sounds. It was never quiet and no one expected it to be. With the amount of traffic and honking that was going around, it was surprising that Kazutora still hasn't woken up from it all. The duo was honestly starting to consider the idea that maybe he really was dead— if you ignore his breathing chest and beating heart.
It didn't take long before a few raindrops fell from the sky, the darkened clouds having loomed over them for quite some time. The blonde-haired boy furrowed his brows, not liking the fact that it would rain pretty soon.
But before Seishu could say about it, Kokonoi spoke up, "I'll go get an umbrella for us."
Wow, was Hajime Kokonoi being useful for once without getting paid to do it? This, of course, was merely a sarcastic thought of Seishu's; Kokonoi wasn't a bad guy and had at least possessed good basic manners, but it didn't hurt to jab him about it. However, Seishu held back from it, thinking that teasing Kokonoi right now wouldn't be such a good idea.
"Alright," Seishu replied, standing patiently as Kokonoi went off to grab a free umbrella next to a bus stop.
It didn't take long before Kokonoi returned, opening up the closed umbrella and holding it above the trio's heads. Kokonoi stood on Seishu's left, using his right hand to hold the umbrella up and using his left to mess with his phone. Seishu couldn't tell who he was texting, but he couldn't care less to ask right now. It was more than likely someone from those underground fights that Kokonoi hosted, Seishu concluded. It was how the man was able to obtain such a large amount of money in such a short amount of time.
As they continued walking, Seishu couldn't help but delve into his own thoughts for a while. He didn't understand why Kokonoi was still so obsessed with collecting more and more money, especially since there was no reason to continue it anymore. Maybe it was out of his own insecurity? That seemed to be the most likely, but it still pained Seishu that Kokonoi was still hung up on Akane. Sure, Seishu continues to grieve every day for the loss of his older sister, but he couldn't help but feel concerned as a friend for Kokonoi's well-being— not that Kokonoi would ever open up to him in that sort of way.
Realizing where his intrusive thoughts were leading him, Seishu safely dismissed them, thinking that right now wasn't the right time to think about it, as it would just end up with him becoming unnecessarily emotional.
Kokonoi glanced over at the somewhat taller blonde, observing his lost-in-thought expression. Normally he would ask what was on his mind, but Kokonoi could only think that whatever he was thinking about, it was probably about the boy riding on his back. It was the most reasonable conclusion, therefore Kokonoi didn't doddle much about it. Looking back at his phone, he sped his way through his one final text message before clicking send, stuffing his phone away and back into his pockets.
Deciding to break the silence between them, Kokonoi spoke his thoughts about what to do with the stranger, "The hospital is just a couple blocks away now, we should just drop him off there and leave."
"No, we'll stay," Seishu interjected, "we don't know why he was alone in that shape, and—"
"But why does that concern us, huh?" Kokonoi barked back, clearly frustrated with this trip, "We haven't even established the Black Dragons yet like you've been planning for so long, and now you want to dig your nose into someone else's business?"
"It's the right thing to do." Inui Seishu finalized, persistent with the job that he has assigned himself.
"Then this prick better owe us something by the end of it." The black-haired boy sighed heavily.
"He doesn't owe you shit. I said you didn't have to come along and yet here you are."
Seishu did have a point, one that Kokonoi couldn't find the words to argue against. "Fine, whatever."
Despite their small dispute, neither one of them was actually mad at the other. Bickering over random things was commonplace in their daily conversations, so even if they disagreed, nothing would genuinely affect their relationship or how they viewed each other. Sure, it frustrates them, but it wasn't something that they would hold on to for long. It's just one trip in one day, after all.
It took a while, but the trio eventually found themselves at the entrance of the hospital. Walking inside, Seishu seemed to immediately catch the attention of one of the available nurses-- the woman rushing over to ask if Seishu and the boy on his back was alright. Blood from Kazutora's nose and lip soaked into Seishu's clothing, staining his light-blue t-shirt with its deep crimson color. This didn't even include the blood coming from other areas of the Hanemiya boy's body.
Kokonoi stepped aside, staying out of their way as they conversed, not really finding any point in butting in considering that one, he is perfectly fine with no injuries, and two, he's not the one carrying the fainted guy.
"I'm fine. All of the blood is his." Seishu said to the nurse before proceeding to answer all of the questions that he could.
Quickly, other doctors came in with a rolling bed called a gurney, if that was even the correct name for it. Seishu didn't know, 'cause he wasn't a doctor. But he could assume that was what it was. Lifting Kazutora up from his back, he handed him over to the doctors as they adjusted him onto the gurney before quickly taking him to a proper hospital room to evaluate his condition.
Kokonoi was led to a waiting room where he would then sit on a lightly colored chair, whilst Seishu was then directed to a washroom to get cleaned up. He came out wearing a clean t-shirt provided by the hospital with his old shirt nowhere in sight, probably being cleaned to be given back later.
Sitting next to Kokonoi, Seishu wrapped his arm around the back of his chair and crossed one leg over the other, getting himself relaxed and comfortable while they wait. Kokonoi, despite his chair being the one draped over by the blonde, paid no kind to it— he was already used to such sitting behaviors from him.
It didn't take long before Hanemiya Kazutora woke up on his own, assessing that he was now laying down in a hospital bed with his nose patched up and his swollen bruises attended to. He was wearing a hospital gown, the white and desaturated light blue pattern framing him with a white blanket on top of him.
A nurse was standing near him, busying herself as she wrote down various things onto her papered clipboard. Lifting her chin, she took notice of his awake state.
"Good evening," she began, taking out one of the pieces of paper from his clipboard before handing it to him (along with a pen), "just fill this out and you're free to go. Your injuries weren't serious, but you will need to change your bandages every once in a while to keep them clean."
"My nose?" He inquired, his voice coming out raspy and tired.
She smiled, "It's not broken if that's what you're wondering. It should heal naturally on its own."
Well, that was certainly a relief. Taking the clipboard and pen, Kazutora then filled out his basic information like who he is, who his legal guardian is and how to contact them, ect. Once handing it back to her, Kazutora then glanced over at the window, noticing that it was late in the evening. He should be getting home by now.
Looking back over to the nurse, he asked, "Who brought me here?"
"Two boys around your age." She answered.
"Where are they now?"
"In the waiting room. Your clothes, which are now clean, are in the bathroom over there," She then motioned towards a door within the room, "once you get changed I'll bring you to them." The nurse then stepped aside, exiting the room to give the teenage male some privacy.
Once he was left alone to his own devices, Y/N couldn't help but automatically question who was paying for the hospital trip for him. Then they realized that this wasn't the United States where free health care wasn't an option. This was Japan, where they could only assume that it was an option. Woohoo, no more profusely large medical debts!
But even so, Kazutora could only deadpan at the realization that he would have to deal with his mother once he got home. Would she be worried and freak out, or would she not care? Would he get in trouble for obviously getting into a fight right after juvie? The last is more than likely, because it would concern her lawfully. And why wasn't the nurse not concerned about how he received those injuries? Did the ones that brought him here have anything to do with it?
Pouting his lips, he dramatically let out an "ugh" before getting out from bed, walking into the bathroom. Changing into the freshly clean clothes that he had worn not too long ago today, he stepped out before leaving the room, only to be met with the same nurse waiting outside for him.
The two exchanged a bit of small talk while the nurse led him to the waiting room, only taking one maybe two minutes to get there. Brief thoughts crossed Y/N's mind, curious as to who brought him here. He could only hope that it wasn't anyone from Toman, because now that would be a total inconvenience.
Entering the waiting room, Y/N had to force themself to hold back a gasp, their eyes widening by a fraction as they laid his golden eyes on the duo sitting down, messing around on their flip phones to pass time. Hajime Kokonoi and Inui-fucking-Seishu. Y/N couldn't help but feel excited, fangirl/boy nerves tingling under their skin. But they needed to compose themself, so Y/N did just that.
Kazutora's presence and the sound of a door opening caught their attention, lifting their heads up from their devices to look who it was. Kazutora walked over before bowing at a 90-degree angle, expressing his sincerity as he spoke, "Thank you for bringing me here."
"It's no problem," Inui Seishu replied, his neutral-toned voice boring into the room, "I'm Inui Seishu; this jackass over here is Hajime Kokonoi." He motioned towards said black-haired boy as he gave his name.
"Hanemiya Kazutora," He smiled, lifting himself up as he introduced himself from his last name to his first name.
This entire first greeting sent Y/N into a mental loop, thoughts and feelings spiraling in his head as he observed the appearance of the two people in front of him. Kazutora had never met these two in the original manga, did he? Did Y/N do something majorly different than what Kazutora had done in order for them to meet these two? Y/N couldn't help but think that these interactions were way too fast-paced with the Tokyo Revengers cast. After all, he's already met Tachibana Hinata within this same day already. Was meeting more influential characters a result of Y/N's impulsive actions? Or was it because of something else?
"I've already made an excuse to the doctors as to why you were beaten up," Seishu informed, "but mind telling me what put you in that condition?"
Seishu could already guess that Kazutora was more than likely in a fight, but he wanted to hear it from him himself.
Kazutora awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, deciding to be honest and come clean with him, "Thanks for that. I picked a fight with two gangs that were fighting," he admitted.
"And you lost?" Kokonoi randomly spoke, raising a brow.
"No," Kazutora denied truthfully, "I won."
Kokonoi scoffed, scrunching up his nose in disbelief, "I find that hard to believe."
Kazutora shook his head, "I don't really care if you don't believe me. I did what I did and you weren't there to see it."
"So you know how to fight?" Seishu questioned, his curiosity piqued upon hearing this. Would Kazutora be a good addition to Black Dragons?
Should Kazutora reveal his fighting style? "I'm a boxer, so yeah." Probably not, but he did anyway.
Seishu narrowed his eyes, analyzing Kazutora's physique, "You don't have the build of a boxer, hmm."
"No comment." Kazutora forcibly smiled, not wanting to explain why he was 'out of shape'. Y/N wanted to try and earn Inui Seishu's favor, Hajime Kokonoi in extension. But anything related to his time in juvie would more than likely ruin that, wouldn't it?
"Can't even prove yourself?" Kokonoi grumbled, not particularly believing anything Kazutora has said, but nevertheless couldn't care enough to degrade him further.
"It's.. complicated." Kazutora mumbled, trying to briefly brush the topic away.
Kokonoi let out a tch, "Sure it is."
Y/N wanted to ask something else, but a small bit of social anxiety started pooling into their stomach. The three boys fell into an awkward silence, not really knowing what to say. But before either one of Kazutora's "rescuers" could say anything, Y/N spoke once more.
"Do you want to be friends?" Y/N asked somewhat quickly, feeling awkward and fidgety.
Kokonoi was going to straight-up deny him, but Seishu beat him to it, "Sure." His answer was short and sweet, a shy smile enveloping Y/N's face.
The snake-like boy rolled his eyes, reluctantly coming to terms with the fact that this person would probably become a permanent part of the duo's lives if Seishu kept this up. What was even going on in the blonde's head, he wondered. This was so out of character for Seishu to him that he just couldn't understand what purpose interacting with Kazutora served. The look that glimmered in Seishu's blue eyes made it seem like he was enthralled with the Hanemiya, a curious feeling wiggling its way through the Hajime upon noticing this.
"Ah.. I'm glad." Kazutora said, hoping to himself that Seishu's acceptance would then be an extension of Kokonoi's. They were two peas in a pod, weren't they?
But that was the thing, it has always just been the two of them. Kazutora's mere existence in their lives now wasn't meant to happen, and yet it was happening right now regardless of what had originally taken place in the story. But Y/N was going to make sure that it happened, no matter the cost— because Y/N was selfish. Oh, so very selfish.
After quickly thinking to himself, Kokonoi supposed that being friends with Kazutora wouldn't hurt. Looking back at him, Kokonoi then began to properly observe his appearance. His demeanor and overall passive attitude perplexed him, unable to see how a person like Kazutora could intentionally start a fight for no good reason at all. He could see the gentle look in Kazutora's eyes as he looked back at him, the two boys making brief eye contact before Kazutora awkwardly looked to the side. Kokonoi, however, continued to look at him, memorizing every physical detail about him that he could. Feeling his stare, Y/N couldn't help but writhe in his spot, not knowing why Kokonoi was giving him such strange looks, thinking to themself that maybe asking for friendship was too soon. Seishu soon caught on to this, side-eying Kokonoi with a curiously raised brow. Just what was the snake thinking now?
Coming to a conclusion, Kokonoi sighed. Kazutora seemed docile enough, still not fully believing he had won that previously mentioned fight but still nevertheless decided to leave it be. "You look like a frog." He said bluntly, catching his two friend(s) off guard by the statement.
Seishu instantly gave Kokonoi a look that screamed 'are you fucking serious right now,' while Kazutora had fallen silent, a blank look plastering his expression. They waited for a reaction, but then the "two peas in a pod" were reasonably surprised when they saw and heard Kazutora break out into laughter at Kokonoi's statement once processing it. What? Y/N couldn't help it, especially not after reminiscing about the various memes that floated around the Tokyo Revenger's community about Kazutora's eye shape and signature expressions.
"Haha... I guess so." Kazutora spoke between fits of laughter, wiping away a nonexistent tear as his smile morphed into that of a grin.
"I can't believe you're actually laughing at that," Kokonoi muttered with a small, unnoticeable smile.
A/N: Had to end it here because I genuinely could not figure out what to write next, lol. It felt very awkward after writing over 14 pages straight, aaa. But I hope you all enjoyed reading!
[Edited.]