paint it red // haikyuu x tokyo ghoul

9

by the time we finally arrived in tokyo, i found myself wanting to sleep more than anything, as opposed to suga and kageyama who were now nicely energized from their power naps. we made our way out of the shinkansen station, and kageyama and i followed suga as he led us down the street. i felt very self conscious among the business people walking past us with briefcases and full dress suits on. and then, there was us, two lanky teenagers and a short one, carrying duffel bags in our school uniforms.

the two of us didnt ask suga where we were going. i knew it was because i personally trusted him, now with every part of my being. although, kageyama probably had most trust in himself, since he was able to defend himself with his kagune.

we walked down the streets for a while. the farther we went along, rush hour traffic seemed to cease. i felt the cold air surrounding me, seeping in through the fabric of my cream school sweater. suddenly, suga turned down an alleyway. kageyama followed along. i hesitated, glancing between the dark, covered alley to the street. on my last whim of trust, i hurried after the two of them.

we continued in for a few meters, until we could turn around a corner out of the view of the street. suga dropped his things and began pulling off his clothing, exposing his pale, nicely toned torso. this time kageyama was with me as we watched him undress there in the cold air. he dropped his school clothes into a pile on the floor, and turned to open his bag for a change of outfit.

"ah.. suga, what exactly are you doing?" kageyama asked quietly. suga pulled on a pair of black joggers and a dark red pull over before replying.

"we're getting rid of everything that can tie us to our old lives. so, in this case, our school uniforms, our identification, and our cell phones." suga explained. his regularly harmonic and soft voice wasnt like normal. it was low, commanding, intimidating, and made me immediately copy his actions.

i crouched down beside my bag and pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and a crewneck sweater. i turned away from them to change, and once i had turned back kageyama was also changed. i tossed my clothes into the pile.

suga lit a match, and then another one. and he threw them both onto the clothes. we watched the fire slowly spread, and all of the sudden it had taken over the pile. even from where i stood, a metre or so away, i felt the heat envelop me.

"id and phones." suga murmured, finding them from his duffel bag. the two of us did the same, and then it was done. there was what was left of our old lives, burning themselves to a crisp.

from the bitter look on his face, i could tell this wasn't the first time that suga had done this. i thought briefly that maybe i saw his eyes welling up with tears, but i didn't have a change to tell as he changed his expression extremely fast. worryingly fast.

a smile graced his face, and he looked between me and kageyama. "okay, get your bags and follow me. leave your school bags here." he said, and we did as we were told, and then we were lead out of the alleyway system leaving everything behind. it must have been just in time, because the last glance i got of the burning pile, it was starting to spread and take over our book bags.

we walked for a while longer. the streets we had started walking on which where once bustling were now practically empty. it was only about two or three minutes more that we walked before stopping once again. this time, we were in front of a little coffee shop.

"what's this? 'anteiku'?" kageyama muttered as he examined the building from afar. i glanced over at him with furrowed eyebrows.

suga walked up the stairs, and the two of us continued to follow him. the warm air of the coffee shop soon enveloped us, the scent of coffee filling my nostrils and comforting me. only one patron sat in the cafe; a young girl who sat at a table with one of the workers. the jingle of the door chime announced our arrival.

"sugawara, is that you?" 

all three of us turned at the use of our senior's full name. the words came from an older man, standing behind the bar, who was swirling hot water into a coffee filter. the rest of the cafe fell quiet as well, and all eyes suddenly turned to us.

"it's me," suga hummed with a lopsided grin. "we started running into trouble up north." he explained, glancing back at me with a little chuckle.

my face went red hot as i gained everyone's attention, now.

"well, you're always welcomed here; that much will never change." the old man said with a smile. "and who are these two?" 

suga looked at us, expecting us to introduce ourselves. i glanced up at kageyama, who looked wildly nervous to be around all of these new, older people. it was kind of funny to see him so out of his element. he gave me a rough jab in the side to tell me to go first.

"gah- um.. i'm hinata shoyo.." i said, my voice quieter than normal as I tried to figure out who to make eye contact with. i almost settled on the worker with the young girl, but the two of them were giving me weird expressions. a mixture of bewilderment, confusion, and grief. i decided it was best to just look at the floor.

with my eyes trained on the pretty stained wood flooring, i heard kageyama's voice, still as barky as ever, although i knew he still was nervous, "i'm kageyama tobio." he said, from my peripheral, i saw that his demeanor had changed and his stature was once again high and mighty. the king.

"well, it's nice to meet you both." the old man said. "i am yoshimura," he said. he gestured to the table, where the two were still staring me up and down, "they are touka and hinami," and finally, he tipped his head to the bar, "and that's nishiki."

the nisiki fellow was already trying his best to intimidate kageyama, who was only returning burning eye contact. i should have suspected that kageyama would already be picking fights. 

"touka, take them up to suga's old room." yoshimura said, pouring the coffee from the pot and into a mug."

the girl sitting at the table glanced across it to the older one; she stood up, locks of purple hair covering her face. she walked over past us and behind the bar, just walking without looking at me or kageyama. a certain look crossed her face as she looked at suga, although it didn't seem like he understood either.

suga walked upstairs, and kageyama and i hurried after him. we walked down a hall, and the girl pushed a door open before turning and walking back the way we came.

i watched her practically storm off, down the hall as suga and kageyama walked into the room. inside, it was very spacious. there was a fridge, a bed, and a table in the middle of it, as well as practically empty shelves along the sides of the walls. a few loose volleyball trophies and books sat on them.

"when did you live here?" i asked suga, as i went closer to read one of the book titles. it was written in kanji, and i could already tell it would be hard to read.

"i moved in here around third grade.." he hummed, dropping his bag on the floor by the bed and looking around, "and i left at the start of high school. the CCG were picking up on me, so i moved up north and stopped killing for fun."

i glanced over at him with wide eyes, although kageyama didn't look surprised. only sullen.

"you were.. a killer?" i asked quietly. a nod was all i got from him, although a sad smile covered his soft features.

"but, it's all in the past now. i've grown. i think that's why mr. yoshimura was so surprised that i showed up." he said. "i would have called, but we shouldn't use technology like that anymore."

i nodded, and the conversation fell off. it wasn't long before we started laying out blankets on the ground to sleep. suga refused to sleep on the bed while we were on the floor, so kageyama and i ended up curled together on the bed while suga bundled himself into a burrito below us.

"goodnight. we have a big day tomorrow." suga murmured. 

"what do you mean?" i asked, peeking over the side of the bed. he was already asleep.

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