invinciblemikey: (Default)
manjiro "street gang conflict" sano ([personal profile] invinciblemikey) wrote2022-02-16 11:09 am
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koutsuanzen: (Wishing I Could Start Over Again)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-03 10:00 pm (UTC)(link)
...like you're fucking up the couch?

[Maybe leather cleaned easy. He wouldn't know. Mikey had lackeys for that sort of shit.

Tilting his head, watching him spill crumbs of cake and crumbs of dried blood like a god damn post-apocalyptic confetti parade, he'd snort.]


Oh, you prefer I show off for a crowd, eh? That's a first.

[Because they all knew Mikey was the Queen of not-kicking-in-the-teeth-of-anyone-who-touched-his-stuff. Baji barely contained an eyeroll, before reaching out; jangled of silver bracelets; to prod his nose.]

...Tora didn't notice anything?
koutsuanzen: (Mama Said if I Really Want it)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-03 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[He knows already. He's on lonely leader duty tonight. Like he is most nights. It's where he wants to be.

The couch was pretty comfy though, no lie.]


Who says we couldn't both sleep on it if you stopped shedding red?

[Rescinding his finger, and nodding a little aimlessly.]

Yeah... but you know he's been tryin' catch up to us.

[Bad idea. Tora had gotten out. He was safer this way-- happier. Healthier. They both knew it.]

You reek, by the way.
koutsuanzen: (I Let My Demons Take Hold)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-04 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Well yeah, that's what that cheese-whiz dingbat does.

[It was Takemichi's puppy-like charm. Secretly, in his bones, Baji wished that guy would find some solution to all this sooner rather than later. He despised counting solely on others when he could do something himself, but he was emotionally profound enough to realize Mikey wasn't something he could do by himself. What were friends for, in that case, but to prop each other up where there were weaknesses? Cohesion. He'd always put his faith in cohesion.

But then there's the spray to jar him from his thoughts; luke-warm and vaguely viscus.

Baji doesn't stop himself from rolling his eyes now.]


I thought you said you didn't want to fuck up my clothes?
koutsuanzen: (When I'm Not There)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-04 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe you're a little bitch.

[Maybe being absolutely.

He lets Mikey reach out, follows the languid trace of a wet finger over his skin, and knows he looks ridiculous now. And probably pretty fucking disturbing. This shit had never stopped disturbing him, even if he was nonplussed. He had to retain that shred of his humanity; the knowledge that everything in this gang was wrong and not at all what he had wanted it to be.

Not what any of them had wanted it to be.

And then Baji had to very delicately shut the fuck up about it so Mikey wouldn't oust him like most of the rest; so fucking far away that he'd become some untouchable legend to the people he still stalked and obsessed over. Sucking it up meant he got to sit on the couch while Mikey finger painted him; date night.

Baji gives Mikey a minute to himself. And then, yep; he's on his feet, following at a slow trail, barefoot and unbuttoning the rest of the shirt at a lazy pace as he walks, the starchy fabric now with its dark dank stains. Evidence. Death. Proof of Life.

Coming out onto the balcony, the city glittering, he'd curl his toes on the cold stone beneath...]


Why you always gotta sit like you half wanna jump?

[Not looking at him; still just looking out.

Sanzu's biggest worry. But Baji isn't worried. He'd never pull that shit with him there.]
koutsuanzen: (The Truth Now)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-04 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
[A shake of his head Mikey was likely to feel on the wind, so to speak. The whip of hair, the jangle of metal...

No. Not weird.

Not weird, compared to all the rest of it.

Not weird, to feel almost relaxed in the weightless enormity of skyscrapers that looked like a galaxy you could simply fall into and keep falling forever; not weird, to see all those warm blinking lights and think about the millions of lives being led out there apart from all this hell; the millions of destinies they themselves could have maybe had. Salaryman. Homemaker. College student.

Tokyo had a way of swallowing things; so it wasn't weird. Mikey wanted to be swallowed up. Who didn't, now and again.

It was just a little unnerving, if he had to put a name to it. But he'd leave that uneasiness to Sanzu. Mikey could never fall in any way that Baji couldn't catch him. Just wasn't possible. Literally, or in any way else.

...He wasn't expecting the sudden press, though.

Huh. Mikey really was in a charitable mood today after all. Killing Tora's enemies, skipping date night for take-in, offering up woulda coulda shoulda love connections; sharing his toys. Mikey couldn't have offered something like that if he didn't love Baji, same as the rest.

But Baji knows better than to express surprise. Or much anything at all.

Instead, he breathes in the pleasant curl of secondhand smoke, and shoves his hands into the pockets of his slacks, shirt open, forehead smiling.]


...Nah.

[That was all he'd give.

To a degree, Mikey was right. He loved Tora; always had. It had always been about even between the two of them, a thin line drawn in the sand, grains of difference apart, that loyalty running so goddamn deep in him that he couldn't tell the difference between his own heartbeat and his heart beating for these two people; couldn't untangle himself from wanting to save them or be with them or... make sure they were happy.

That was it. He wanted to make sure they were happy.

He couldn't make Tora happy anymore... or maybe that wasn't true. Maybe he just couldn't think about it. Thinking about it would be too terrible, because it would be like betraying one over the other. If he could make Tora happy, but not Mikey, he should leave; Mikey was impossible to make happy, ergo...

...But he could make him a little less alone. He could make him a little more grounded. He could make him say selfless shit like, 'maybe you should leave me and fuck that other guy you love'.

Tora... had Chifuyu. He had therapy. He had empathy now, so he'd heard.

He missed him in his bones.

Mikey, on the other hand, had crazy-ass Sanzu, bloody knuckles, and himself.

So... Mikey won. He'd stay with Mikey. He didn't have to think about it. He'd made his choice. He'd make it again and again. He wouldn't be forced away like the others had. Never.]
koutsuanzen: (When I'm Not There)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-24 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[...was Mikey-- was Mikey crying?

Not that there was anything wrong with it. Baji had always been a fan of old films, and old detective films especially: big tits, big crimes, big ol' man tears. Lots of leading ladies dead, lots of bodies floating in the Sumida river, lots of shots of lone men in trench coats pulling their hat a little lower, cheeks glistening in moonlight.

He'd always thought there was something irresistibly masculine in being brave enough to cry. He was maybe too Japanese in that way, even if he rarely indulged in it himself.

He knew Mikey felt the opposite. Always had.

It was a sign of massive vulnerability, that his slim shoulders trembled the way they did now. That he had to try to master control of his runny button nose, like it was tattling on him.

...All because Keisuke said he'd stay.

Frowning, and shoving his hands deeper into his pockets.

...It meant something bad was on the horizon. Mikey was letting himself feel, letting himself engage with reality. Which meant Mikey was worrying about Kazutora, and now worrying about him.

And Mikey worrying about him was worse, because he knew Mikey loved him. To a depth he loved few others.]


...That musta been hard to offer, Mikey.

[Starting to walk towards him, like one might approach a feral cat; but cats had never scared Baji.]

Thanks.
koutsuanzen: (Than Not Know)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-25 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
--you do know that ripping nails off used to be literally Kazutora's faovurite thing, right?

[Mikey couldn't make him, more like. No way he'd leave him with the vultures; and worst of all, himself. Mikey could be surrounded by people, but it wasn't going to make him any less lonely; wasn't going to make the pain any better, or improve things.

And maybe Baji could never improve this shit for him. Maybe Mikey needed to be numb, to get through all this, and maybe there wasn't a coming back from it.

But he was nothing if not stupid, and hopeful.

Baji didn't press him about it anymore-- he pretended to be on board with everything-- but they both knew better.

They both knew what he really thought and felt.

Too bad he knew what Mikey really thought and felt, too, in his lucid moments.

He'd put out a hand for him. Whether to help him up and back, away from the ledge, or wether for a cigarette, it was unclear.]
koutsuanzen: (I Can't Wait Forever)

[personal profile] koutsuanzen 2023-01-28 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
[He knows it. Mikey knows it.

Knowing it's possible didn't make it true.

Maybe Kazutora wouldn't want him anymore. Maybe he wasn't good for him. Maybe even Chifuyu would be ashamed of him, at this point. Or maybe they'd both get it. Maybe they both talked over tea and fruity desserts about how he was being held hostage by Mikey, the evil Prince in the tower.

Who the fuck knew. It didn't matter. If he let it matter for much more than a few minutes a night alone with himself, Mikey would notice. And he couldn't have that.

He'd rub the palm of Mikey's hand with a thumb in slow, soothing circles. Warm. Affectionate. The blood on his forehead had dried, and was starting to crack.]


Yeah. I love you, too. Now c'mon.

[Giving him a soft tug; more suggestion than anything.]

Let's go rinse off.