madimpossibledreamer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
madimpossibledreamer) wrote2022-02-06 11:59 pm
madimpossibledreamer) wrote2022-02-06 11:59 pm
Entry tags:
Life is a Beautiful Tragedy
I'm sticking to the same non-canon name for Tak's dad that I used in Choice Reading, only I have now added one for his mom.
Putting together a mechanic (healing with record player songs) + a missing mechanic (karaoke) + my agenda to write a lot of characters who like music like me
started writing this post on time, finished very late...ehhhhhh it's fine....
Main Points:
pre-Judgment/Judge Eyes
Chapter Summary: Kaito tries to figure out why Tak won't agree to go to karaoke, only to find it's a touchy subject.
Word Count: 835
Rating: Teen (offscreen brief mention of canon death)
Spoilers: Tak's tragic backstory.
Kaito doesn’t know exactly who started it. Maybe it was the legendary Dragon of Dojima, maybe it was his mentor Kazama before him. That might just be a rumor, of course. It might not seem it from the outside, but yakuza are just as prone to gossip as the obaasans. True, the topics are different, for the most part, but they still love to talk. Still, it’s impossible to keep track of all the exaggerated stories—okay, maybe Tak could do it. Kaito can’t, so he doesn’t even try.
What really matters is that it’s tradition, and Kaito doesn’t question this particular tradition. It’s fun. Never mind the fact that he’s got a terrible voice, and only Keigo happens to be in-tune. Get all of them drunk enough and you can’t tell. (Honestly, he really should’ve known Hamura was up to no good when he acted like he was above these things. He only wanted to socialize during the painful moments, like when others getting disciplined. Particularly when he was the one getting to do it.)
It hurts a little when he can’t get Tak to go. Tak at least goes to drink with him, which is more than Hamura does. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the guy even likes him, so it’s nice to have some proof he likes hanging around. He just says he sucks at singing, and doesn’t listen when Kaito tries to argue that’s not the point, just acts like his point has been made. He still glares when Kaito ruffles his hair, though. That’s fun. Matsugane-san tells him to drop it, too, so he does.
He kind of misses fighting the punk, as annoyed as he’d been at the beginning when this all started, which is probably why he tries to hang out with the kid so much, even without him having been adopted by Matsugane-san. So he goes looking for him one night when he’s bored.
He’s looked through pretty much the whole of Kamurocho when…well, he hears him first. Can’t quite believe his ears, really, because that’s definitely singing and it’s not the complete disaster he’d been told, but he wouldn’t mistake that voice anywhere. It takes him a bit to be sure, because he’s not used to hearing it like this, but no, he’s not wrong. He follows the sound to the roof and finds Tak, surrounded by textbooks, singing along with the love song playing from his phone. He kicks himself a little after the fact for interrupting. The younger man always looks so guarded, but right now all of those walls are down. But no, he goes ahead and interrupts.
“So. It sounds like someone lied to me. That a crime, Lawyer-san?” he asks, squatting down beside him, and from the way Yagami’s fist flexes as he starts a little and the singing instantly dies away, leaving only the instrumental still playing, he’s sincerely thinking about ignoring Matsugane-san’s order and going for Kaito’s nose.
“Not a lawyer yet,” he states, surly, and continues after a moment when Kaito doesn’t follow that up with more teasing. “Also, not a court of law, and you’re a bona-fide criminal. I don’t think it’d bother you.”
Kaito might be slower, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try to keep up. They’re not quite at the ‘acknowledgement’ stage yet, but Tak really grows on people, and since he’s been adopted into the Family, they’ve both really mellowed to each other. “Gotta keep up yakuza tradition somehow. Come on, I’d pay for your drinks.”
Tak looks away, tightening his jaw. It almost looks like he’s going to cry. “Stop pushing.” It’s lower, dangerous.
At least he’s good enough to catch moments like this. Because there’s a story here. There has to be. “The real answer’s something a lot longer, huh?” he asks, with absolutely no force behind it. He might not be too much older, but it’s times like this that have him thinking of the poor guy as a kid. Kaito’s seen a lot more, being a yakuza.
Tak sighs, glances at him, and then starts picking up his textbooks silently, finally remembering to pause his music.
“Come on, we don’t have to talk about it, but don’t give me that shit,” Kaito pleads, because he really is that bored and he might not look like it but he cares, and Tak snorts, the slightest trace of a smile on his lips.
“I am far too sober to be having this discussion,” he informs Kaito matter-of-factly. “Oh, and thanks for offering to buy. Wanna carry my books for me too?”
Kaito puts in a token protest all the way there, but it seems they’ve gotten better at reading each other than he’d thought, because it doesn’t put Tak off in the slightest.
The younger man takes a big swig the second the glass is in front of him, ignoring Masuda-san’s worried glance. Kaito tries to indicate with a glance that he’d die for Matsugane-san’s adopted son, of course he’s gonna take care of him, brat or not. Apparently it’s effective enough, because Masuda-san looks appeased.
“You probably know there’s a reason I was pretty much living on the streets,” he begins abruptly, after a minute of him draining his glass at a slightly slower pace.
The pause indicates it’s not a re—ret—it’s a question that’s meant to be answered, is the point. Kaito only briefly hesitates, worried he’ll say the wrong thing, but waiting too long wouldn’t help either. “It’s not like most people in Kamurocho have pretty stories,” he decides, because it’s true. He loves the city, but really.
That answer must’ve been a good one, because Tak eyes him thoughtfully and nods. “You probably heard the news about my parents. Yagami Ichiya and Kaemi.” His grip on the cup tightens, and his voice is purposefully light.
Normally, Kaito wouldn’t have known who the hell they were. It’s not like he reads the paper or businessman crap like that. But even he couldn’t miss the big screens showing the stuff about a successful innocent sentence or the murder afterward. “Shit sucks,” is the only response he can come up with that feels vaguely appropriate.
The chuckle is slightly hysterical. Tak contains it quickly enough. “You’re not wrong,” is his only response, voice still attempting to be light, but wavering just a little. “Sucks more that I found them.”
Oof. It’s hard enough seeing guys passed out. Necessary, usually, but still. Sure, he’s a yakuza, but he’s never personally killed anyone. Never even seen a human body. Well—nah, that came out wrong, of course he has, but not when, y’know, they’re just a body, a dead one.
“We both need to be more drunk for this,” he decides abruptly. Maybe he should actually order a bottle?
“Drunker,” Tak corrects. He’s not all superior about it, so Kaito doesn’t take offense. “I’m probably not getting any more studying in tonight, that’s for sure.”
Kaito waits a bit for them both to get through a third glass before asking the question. “So, what’s that have to do with karaoke?”
“I’ll give you one guess as to who I went with last.” Oh. Ouch. Kaito winces. The sad smile, he’s pretty sure, says ‘no hard feelings’, but he can’t be completely sure.
“Probably should’ve been able to—to work that out,” he apologizes.
Tak waves that off. “You’re not used to making connections like that. It’s fine. Practice helps.” He fiddles with his sleeves before going on. “It was…it was kinda a tradition after a big case. I get all self-conscious, but I think it was probably telling me I didn’t need to sing if I didn’t want to that actually got me to do it. Plus he’d buy me snacks.”
Oh yeah. Tak’s kind of a vacuum. It’s honestly how impressive how much he can eat and still be that slim. “You wanna go eat after this?”
This time, he’s being stared at with suspicion. “You’re being awfully generous, Kaito-san.”
“I feel like an ass.” No use hiding it.
“…Sure, I feel like food. We should go now, though, or we won’t keep it down.” Not even finishing off the glass, but hell, sure, he’ll let the man call the shots tonight. It’s a little bit of a struggle, because Tak’s definitely weaving a bit and distracted by absolutely everything, from the stars to ‘oh wait, if we go that way we could go to the arcade’, but they do eventually make it to Kyushu No. 1 Star, because they both could use a lot of broth to help with the hangover. Kagiyama-san down at the Poppo had told him that the other day, and he makes a habit of listening to the wisdom of the obaasans.
“I really like music,” he states, completely unprompted, before they’ve even found a seat.
“That so?” he responds, not sure where this is going.
“Yep. It’s relaxing.” Which probably explains the little study break. Kaito still feels a little bad. Though it seems the drinks and the prospect of food have perked him right up, too.
“…You could come and not sing,” he offers, because he doesn’t know what to do, and Tak eyes him again with those smart eyes that see right through him.
“Mmm. We’ll see,” he states, noncommittal, and, well. It makes sense. At least they’re hanging out now. Even if, in a minute, it means trying to defend his egg with chopsticks against a very determined Tak.
Putting together a mechanic (healing with record player songs) + a missing mechanic (karaoke) + my agenda to write a lot of characters who like music like me
started writing this post on time, finished very late...ehhhhhh it's fine....
Main Points:
pre-Judgment/Judge Eyes
Chapter Summary: Kaito tries to figure out why Tak won't agree to go to karaoke, only to find it's a touchy subject.
Word Count: 835
Rating: Teen (offscreen brief mention of canon death)
Spoilers: Tak's tragic backstory.
Karaoke is a time-honored yakuza tradition.
Kaito doesn’t know exactly who started it. Maybe it was the legendary Dragon of Dojima, maybe it was his mentor Kazama before him. That might just be a rumor, of course. It might not seem it from the outside, but yakuza are just as prone to gossip as the obaasans. True, the topics are different, for the most part, but they still love to talk. Still, it’s impossible to keep track of all the exaggerated stories—okay, maybe Tak could do it. Kaito can’t, so he doesn’t even try.
What really matters is that it’s tradition, and Kaito doesn’t question this particular tradition. It’s fun. Never mind the fact that he’s got a terrible voice, and only Keigo happens to be in-tune. Get all of them drunk enough and you can’t tell. (Honestly, he really should’ve known Hamura was up to no good when he acted like he was above these things. He only wanted to socialize during the painful moments, like when others getting disciplined. Particularly when he was the one getting to do it.)
It hurts a little when he can’t get Tak to go. Tak at least goes to drink with him, which is more than Hamura does. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if the guy even likes him, so it’s nice to have some proof he likes hanging around. He just says he sucks at singing, and doesn’t listen when Kaito tries to argue that’s not the point, just acts like his point has been made. He still glares when Kaito ruffles his hair, though. That’s fun. Matsugane-san tells him to drop it, too, so he does.
He kind of misses fighting the punk, as annoyed as he’d been at the beginning when this all started, which is probably why he tries to hang out with the kid so much, even without him having been adopted by Matsugane-san. So he goes looking for him one night when he’s bored.
He’s looked through pretty much the whole of Kamurocho when…well, he hears him first. Can’t quite believe his ears, really, because that’s definitely singing and it’s not the complete disaster he’d been told, but he wouldn’t mistake that voice anywhere. It takes him a bit to be sure, because he’s not used to hearing it like this, but no, he’s not wrong. He follows the sound to the roof and finds Tak, surrounded by textbooks, singing along with the love song playing from his phone. He kicks himself a little after the fact for interrupting. The younger man always looks so guarded, but right now all of those walls are down. But no, he goes ahead and interrupts.
“So. It sounds like someone lied to me. That a crime, Lawyer-san?” he asks, squatting down beside him, and from the way Yagami’s fist flexes as he starts a little and the singing instantly dies away, leaving only the instrumental still playing, he’s sincerely thinking about ignoring Matsugane-san’s order and going for Kaito’s nose.
“Not a lawyer yet,” he states, surly, and continues after a moment when Kaito doesn’t follow that up with more teasing. “Also, not a court of law, and you’re a bona-fide criminal. I don’t think it’d bother you.”
Kaito might be slower, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try to keep up. They’re not quite at the ‘acknowledgement’ stage yet, but Tak really grows on people, and since he’s been adopted into the Family, they’ve both really mellowed to each other. “Gotta keep up yakuza tradition somehow. Come on, I’d pay for your drinks.”
Tak looks away, tightening his jaw. It almost looks like he’s going to cry. “Stop pushing.” It’s lower, dangerous.
At least he’s good enough to catch moments like this. Because there’s a story here. There has to be. “The real answer’s something a lot longer, huh?” he asks, with absolutely no force behind it. He might not be too much older, but it’s times like this that have him thinking of the poor guy as a kid. Kaito’s seen a lot more, being a yakuza.
Tak sighs, glances at him, and then starts picking up his textbooks silently, finally remembering to pause his music.
“Come on, we don’t have to talk about it, but don’t give me that shit,” Kaito pleads, because he really is that bored and he might not look like it but he cares, and Tak snorts, the slightest trace of a smile on his lips.
“I am far too sober to be having this discussion,” he informs Kaito matter-of-factly. “Oh, and thanks for offering to buy. Wanna carry my books for me too?”
Kaito puts in a token protest all the way there, but it seems they’ve gotten better at reading each other than he’d thought, because it doesn’t put Tak off in the slightest.
The younger man takes a big swig the second the glass is in front of him, ignoring Masuda-san’s worried glance. Kaito tries to indicate with a glance that he’d die for Matsugane-san’s adopted son, of course he’s gonna take care of him, brat or not. Apparently it’s effective enough, because Masuda-san looks appeased.
“You probably know there’s a reason I was pretty much living on the streets,” he begins abruptly, after a minute of him draining his glass at a slightly slower pace.
The pause indicates it’s not a re—ret—it’s a question that’s meant to be answered, is the point. Kaito only briefly hesitates, worried he’ll say the wrong thing, but waiting too long wouldn’t help either. “It’s not like most people in Kamurocho have pretty stories,” he decides, because it’s true. He loves the city, but really.
That answer must’ve been a good one, because Tak eyes him thoughtfully and nods. “You probably heard the news about my parents. Yagami Ichiya and Kaemi.” His grip on the cup tightens, and his voice is purposefully light.
Normally, Kaito wouldn’t have known who the hell they were. It’s not like he reads the paper or businessman crap like that. But even he couldn’t miss the big screens showing the stuff about a successful innocent sentence or the murder afterward. “Shit sucks,” is the only response he can come up with that feels vaguely appropriate.
The chuckle is slightly hysterical. Tak contains it quickly enough. “You’re not wrong,” is his only response, voice still attempting to be light, but wavering just a little. “Sucks more that I found them.”
Oof. It’s hard enough seeing guys passed out. Necessary, usually, but still. Sure, he’s a yakuza, but he’s never personally killed anyone. Never even seen a human body. Well—nah, that came out wrong, of course he has, but not when, y’know, they’re just a body, a dead one.
“We both need to be more drunk for this,” he decides abruptly. Maybe he should actually order a bottle?
“Drunker,” Tak corrects. He’s not all superior about it, so Kaito doesn’t take offense. “I’m probably not getting any more studying in tonight, that’s for sure.”
Kaito waits a bit for them both to get through a third glass before asking the question. “So, what’s that have to do with karaoke?”
“I’ll give you one guess as to who I went with last.” Oh. Ouch. Kaito winces. The sad smile, he’s pretty sure, says ‘no hard feelings’, but he can’t be completely sure.
“Probably should’ve been able to—to work that out,” he apologizes.
Tak waves that off. “You’re not used to making connections like that. It’s fine. Practice helps.” He fiddles with his sleeves before going on. “It was…it was kinda a tradition after a big case. I get all self-conscious, but I think it was probably telling me I didn’t need to sing if I didn’t want to that actually got me to do it. Plus he’d buy me snacks.”
Oh yeah. Tak’s kind of a vacuum. It’s honestly how impressive how much he can eat and still be that slim. “You wanna go eat after this?”
This time, he’s being stared at with suspicion. “You’re being awfully generous, Kaito-san.”
“I feel like an ass.” No use hiding it.
“…Sure, I feel like food. We should go now, though, or we won’t keep it down.” Not even finishing off the glass, but hell, sure, he’ll let the man call the shots tonight. It’s a little bit of a struggle, because Tak’s definitely weaving a bit and distracted by absolutely everything, from the stars to ‘oh wait, if we go that way we could go to the arcade’, but they do eventually make it to Kyushu No. 1 Star, because they both could use a lot of broth to help with the hangover. Kagiyama-san down at the Poppo had told him that the other day, and he makes a habit of listening to the wisdom of the obaasans.
“I really like music,” he states, completely unprompted, before they’ve even found a seat.
“That so?” he responds, not sure where this is going.
“Yep. It’s relaxing.” Which probably explains the little study break. Kaito still feels a little bad. Though it seems the drinks and the prospect of food have perked him right up, too.
“…You could come and not sing,” he offers, because he doesn’t know what to do, and Tak eyes him again with those smart eyes that see right through him.
“Mmm. We’ll see,” he states, noncommittal, and, well. It makes sense. At least they’re hanging out now. Even if, in a minute, it means trying to defend his egg with chopsticks against a very determined Tak.