Masked Love (Uta x Y/N)

Chapter 1: Job Hunter

  Y/N let out a sigh of relief as they set their last moving box onto the tile ground of their new kitchen. Sweat dripped down their forehead as they sat up and brushed the hair out of their eyes.

Their new apartment may have been small, hot, and cramped, but it gives them a roof over their head. Wiping the sweat from their brow, they smiled at all the boxes scattered around the living area. Saving up the money was all worth it in the end. Y/N looked into the little magnetic mirror on their fridge and saw a tired face look back at them.

Their (Eye color) eyes gave off a small shine of hope, and their hair was frizzy and jumbled from the long day of driving a moving van.

"Excuse me, (sir/ma'am)? I believe those are all of the boxes."

One of the moving men they hired called from the door. Y/N turned, flashing him a happy grin. "Thank you so much!" they walked over to him and signed his papers, waving him goodbye. The two men trudged down the hall with their equipment, being surprisingly quiet and graceful.

The new resident of the building closed the door and took one final look at the cozy apartment. It wasn't pretty, but it would work out just fine as far as living goes. Now for their next decision.

They picked up their art satchel and yawned, walking out and closing the door. Locking it behind them, Y/N looked down the hallway. It looked nice and clean, which gave them a ray of hope for the future. Letting out a sigh, they walked down the stairs to the lobby area where two glass doors sat propped open and giving the room a gentle, inviting breeze. Y/N walked out of the building and checked their phone.

"No one bothered to text, of course." They murmured to themselves.

Ever since they moved out they had been alone. Which was scary to them yet gave them a strange sense of calm.

Cars and people moved through the streets of Tokyo, creating a city buzz. The glow of the setting sun bounced off the buildings and windows of cars. It was lovely, but that'll be gone in a short while and replaced with blinding neon lights, night owls, and city lamps.

Their eyes flicked in between the city and back to the lobby door. Better late than never. They thought. At this point, even though the sun was going down and the crime rate was going up, Y/N was determined to go job hunting.

Getting a night job would be perfect for them. They were a night owl themselves, after all. Nothing had really changed in the city at night besides the scenery and culture. The smell of fresh Japanese culinary arts filled Y/N's nose. Of course, there were other smells, like the rain-dampened cement and the night air. Maybe I should work in a night kitchen. They looked around and noticed people walking by, trying to be polite and scooch by without bothering them. Instead of standing in the way of walking bystanders, Y/N decided to join the swarm of people walking down the street. The people walked down the wide sidewalk like rookie soldiers just learning to properly march.

Conversations clashed together, jumbling words and throwing them in different places. One conversation was louder than the rest, it struck Y/N's attention from their thoughts.

"Have you heard about HySy ArtMask Studio? There's a guy that sells wicked masks, apparently, they're all homemade." A man said as he passed Y/N. He wasn't speaking to them, just talking loudly. Y/N was kinda surprised that they could hear what the man was saying over the busy city. "In the 4th Ward?" The other man asked the first. The first nodded. "Yep, no ghouls should be living in the area. The shop owner has to be human."

Y/N had heard these terms bounce around the city ever since they moved here from America. Ghouls? Ghoul Hunters? What was this nonsense?? They scoffed. What am I in, an anime? They thought, chuckling to themselves quietly.

The air around them was dense as they traveled a bit, dancing around other people as they slipped past. That art studio...hm... Y/N tapped their chin. Maybe the manager would take them on for a job! They smiled at the thought of working in a mask shop, they couldn't wait to show their artistic talents off in a public display.

So...the man said it was located in the 4th ward... What ward am I in now? They thought. Pulling out their phone, they hummed as they opened the Maps app and looked to see. Then, they smiled brightly. "Oh! I'm in the 4th ward! Thank God-" they wiped their brow of sweat.

"Alrighty," they opened a speech to text and said into their phone, "HySy ArtMask Studio." The phone chimed happily as it found its target area. Y/N zoomed out a little on the small device and began looking around.

"Hmm...oh! There's the road!"

Things were hopefully going to get better for Y/N. Ever since moving out, they only seem to have bad luck. Y/N put a hand against their stachel as they walked down the wet concrete ground of the brightly lit sidewalk they were on. They barely even noticed the sun was disappearing. It seemed like only a minute ago it was greeting them with warmth, giving them a small hope for the future.

As they got closer to the studio, the city around them changed. There were fewer people and fewer lights. At least the brightly colored ones anyway. They arrived at a small park area with an adorable symboled bridge going across a stream. Bamboo shoots sprouted from the ground, illuminated by the orange street lights.

Y/N took a moment on the bridge, taking in a small moment of silence in their crazy world. The night breeze was nice on their face.

Distant car honks and traffic echoed into the sky. Another short moment passed before their phone screen lit up, breaking them out of their daze. It was just a notification from the Maps app they were using. "Hmf." They unlocked the screen and continued their small journey.

They managed to head back into the city, almost like the app knew they needed a detour moment of peace before this hopeful last-minute interview or at least meeting. No way were they going to stop trying to land a job like this. From what the man previously said, they hoped that the studio was as great as freely advertised.

The area almost seemed to change once they got to a checkpoint. Looking at their phone, Y/N raised a brow.

They had to go down a car-sized alley, and at the end was a wooden door with a window on the left. A huge sun-like symbol with the letters 'HySy" was painted on the right, along with a sign with written Japanese on it hung under the sun and on the left side of the door.

Anxiety spiked up their back. What if this was the wrong place, maybe the app was just wrong? They took a deep breath and held in their fear, walking to the small pathway to the entrance. As they stepped up, their phone pinged. "You have arrived at your destination. Save in favorites??" The phone asked. Y/N didn't respond though, fear-stricken.

The stone pathway was chipped and worn from years of shoes and boots. For being in an area not so common, and honestly a little sketchy looking, a lot of people seemed to come by. How did so many people know this place was even here? Is the art that good?? That was fortunate, more customers means more money. Or so they hoped.

Y/N's hair fell to their face as they walked down the small path. Y/N clutched their satchel a little in fear. They glanced at their shoes, "You can do this. You're worth getting a job you deserve." They whispered softly to themself. They lifted their head, looking up with a smile.

"Let's do this."