Chapter Text
A flick of his thumb alights the flame of the lighter. Slowly, steadily, an inhale of hazy smoke follows. Upon the exhale, his twitching hand becomes still. The buzz of nicotine soothed the anxious body of an urgent morning.
Waking up at seven o’clock in the morning was still new to his routine. The entirety of being awake alongside the sunlight was new. Still breathing the fresh air of a renewed life, Touya allows his thoughts to still as he smokes. Music is roaring from the speakers of his car as he waits to spot his brother in the crowd of teenagers flooding from the school doors. He grins upon catching sight of his brother’s split dyed hair. He takes one last drag of his cigarette before snuffing it out in the ashtray of the car. The volume of the music decreases as his brother slings himself into the car, backpack on his lap. Once Shouto clicks the seatbelt, that is Touya’s cue to speed off.
“How was school?” He asks, voice raised to be heard about the loud music.
Shouto looks at his brother as if he were studying the other. Still new to the presence of one another, often Touya caught his brother doing this. He blinks once, then twice, and answers as he turns the music down. The conversation loops to an update about the morning’s court date, Touya being honest about everything. He explains their father’s wish to visit sometime with a grimace on his face, rolling his eyes.
“Anyways, good news is we have dinner with Natsuo and Fuyumi tonight.” Touya cheers. He glances to see his little brother with a soft smile at the idea.
He whips around the right angled turn into his parking space at the tattoo parlor, halting the car with a rough slam on the brakes. He laughs as he clambers out of the car. Jingling from his ring of keys around his finger spinning was heard before he stuffs the keys into the pocket of his leather jacket. Shouto trails behind him with his backpack slung over his shoulder. Onto the next part of their new routine- work.
Touya pays no mind to his brother as Shouto plops down to begin his homework at his brother’s cluttered desk tucked into the corner of his workspace. He instead turns his focus on preparing the space for his first and only client that day. The art requested was a large upper back piece that spanned shoulder to shoulder. Knowing the tattoo would take multiple hours long sessions, Touya had accepted it for the sake of a guaranteed income. Double checking each detail of the red wings he had spent the entirety of last night working on, he waits for the client to arrive.
A familiar ringing of the front door had Touya pushing on his rolling chair to greet his client. Flashing a grin, he greets the man. The grin quickly fades as he sees who it is.
“You.” He utters, standing from his chair. He crosses his arms as he approaches Keigo, cornering him by the door. His nostrils flared with anger and frustration. Ruffling a hand through his white hair, Touya takes a deep breath. “What the hell’s your deal?”
Keigo holds his breath as he stares in disbelief at just how much the man he once loved had changed. Inky box dyed hair had grown out to reveal a sheer platinum blonde Keigo did not recognize. Dark tips were all that remained of the hair he once carded his fingers through. His stunned state is eased as he catches a glimpse of a movement behind Touya, It does not take long for him to recognize the second figure immediately as Shouto, his ex’s little brother.
“Talk outside?” Keigo requests.
The only reason Touya agrees is for the promise of a cigarette.
He calls out to Shouto to stay inside and keep working on his schoolwork as he shrugs his leather jacket back over his shoulders, heading out the door behind the blonde man. The cool breeze of dusk began to take over the day’s warm air, bringing comfort to his racing mind. The earth below him is also welcomed, the slight dampness from the past day’s rain bringing him a sense of remaining present. His fingers dig into the earth as his arm extends to retrieve the offered cigarette. Quiet gratitude is given as Touya lights its end. By the time he blows out the smoke, the dreaded conversation begins.
“You stopped replying.” Keigo mutters, breaking the quiet of rustling leaves and distant cars speeding by.
“I had shit come up- you know this. The whole fucking world does.”
In the last year, Touya had revealed himself as the lost Todoroki child, exposing his high ranking celebrity dad as the abuser he was to the public. The fallout of the exposure left his family in tatters, only further terrorized by the media for their comments and stories. The following months consisted of him in and out of facilities centered around rehabilitation and mental health. He had endured the system’s pressures with the reminder it was for his siblings- the siblings he once abandoned and could not lose once again. No matter their anger at him for exposing what Fuyumi considered a ‘private family matter’, they had grown back together. Keigo had been lost in that turbulent transitional period of his life.
“I know.” The blonde responds, sighing as smoke billows from his lips. He pauses for a moment as he observes Touya’s neutral expression. “I just missed you.”
The expression on the ex-criminal’s features sours as he scrunches his nose and scoffs. Another drag. “You miss what? That bitter bitch I used to be?” He grumbles. “I wasn’t good to you, point blank.”
The response given is immediate, certain in his belief and unwavering in its weight. “I think you were good to me.”
A pause hangs heavy in the air as they held their breaths. Unsure thoughts led to unsure emotion, an emotion nearly touchable with how thick it made the space between them both. Wary gazes lingered as they revisited old memories, unsure of what to do with them in the current day, face to face.
“Tattoo me.” Keigo dares to speak.
‘Trust me’ is what Touya hears.
Flicking the butt of the cigarette into the grass, Touya pushes himself up from the damp dirt they had settled in. His eyes linger at the shop. Inside he could see his brother scribbling away at something. The money was needed either way, so he sighs. “Fine.” He agrees. Neither of their two minds could agree if it had been an agreement for Shouto’s sake or theirs.
As Keigo walks into the shop behind the other, he shrugs off his battered brown aviator jacket. He stretches his sore shoulders, leaning against the wall as his amber eyes catch the kid at the desk. Shouto Todoroki- the artist’s younger brother. A heart grows fond knowing they were reunited. Almost reminds Keigo of the reason he waited.
“So uh..” A small kick of his foot. “You know I want this on my shoulders, yeah?”
“I know.” Touya utters, focused on the task of printing out two rough sizes for the tattoo.
“There’s a kid around and I’ll have my shirt off.” Keigo points out.
“He doesn’t care- Shouto.” Touya nudges his elbow into his brother’s side. The moment the headphones move, Touya speaks. “You care if this dude's shirtless while you do homework?” Shouto shrugs, not even looking at the overly anxious person in the corner before turning back to his schoolwork.
“There you go.” Smugness is evident, proven by a grin.
Keigo rolls his eyes before turning focus to his shirt. His hands grip the hem of the battered t-shirt with a faded logo of some band, stripping it over his head. Touya despises that he watches every movement, recognizing the band t-shirt as being a Stevie Nicks tour shirt and the messy blonde curls left atop Keigo’s head, ruffled by the fabric. T-shirt now tossed to the chair, Keigo turns to show his back so the artist can look over the canvas.
Touya takes this as the perfect time to retrieve the size trials from the printer.
He can feel wandering eyes in every corner of his studio, it seems. From his brother to the taxidermied animals on his shelves to Touya himself. He still couldn’t make a decision if it were invasive or nice to be so seen. He takes this opportunity to wash his hands as well, looking upon the various tattoos decorating his knuckles. The four zodiacs of him and his three siblings, a moon under which he made the vow to himself to step up and be their big brother first and foremost, a carnation laying under the head of a snake that sprawled up his forearm; He had changed, all for them. He rolls his eyes at his own sentimentality and dries his hands before returning to his part of the studio with the prints in hand.
“How far do you want the wings to go?” Touya wonders. “The large ones would dip to the back of your arms.”
After brief talk to confirm both the size of the tattoo and its placement, a stencil is soon applied and left to dry as Keigo settles with his head in his arms on the tattoo table. Touya’s thoughts race as practiced hands follow muscle memory through setting up his supplies. The active effort it takes to not let his gaze linger on the flexed muscle of Keigo’s back as he works is frustrating. A click of a button and the dull buzz of a tattoo machine could be heard. Touya leans forward, hand pressed to Keigo’s back.
“You’re starting on my spine?” The blonde wonders.
“Yeah- getting the worst of it over first.” Touya utters as he presses the tattoo machine to Keigo’s skin.
His hand remains steady as he zones into his work. Silence remains between the two as the long hours dedicated to linework begins. For the first hour, Keigo keeps his eyes shut as memories return to the last time he saw the man who was now etching art into his skin. Worries of his turbulent mind rest as he turns his focus on the sharp flow of the tattoo machine as it slowly traces up his left shoulder. He blinks in partial boredom, nothing distracting him from the sting.
That was until the kid in the corner had finished his homework and turned to investigate the tattoo. “What’s with the outline? Why is it not black?” Shouto wonders.
“It’s what he wanted,” comes Touya’s blunt response as he keeps his focus on the linework.
“What’s with the wings? Seems pretty basic.” Just as blunt as his brother, Shouto voices his curiosity.
This question was directed to Keigo this time. A fond grin comes to Keigo’s face as he thinks on the memories leading to this decision. Though, he keeps the reasons to himself. “I dunno, red wings just seemed cool.” Satisfied enough, Shouto leaves the space in the search for snacks stocked up in the shop’s front.
Keigo sighs, settling back fully into the silence thrum of the needle working. His mind returns to the days of a relationship lost in the past, heart yearning in turn to speak with Touya about it. He keeps the quiet desires to himself until the burn of the raw skin was too much for him to sit alone without a distraction.
“Could you play music or something?”
Touya pauses his work to catch his brother’s attention. “Hey- go turn on the bluetooth speaker.” He utters the soft request before taking a glove off to connect his phone. Music switches off from his ear buds to the speaker.
“Better?” Sarcasm.
Keigo rolls his eyes and settles back against the worn leather of the tattoo table. At least now his mind could find something to occupy it aside from the drill of ink into his skin. Lyrics set to a soft melody conjure grand imagery in his mind- a future, one he wished to share with Touya. Thoughts linger on the distrust they held onto even after these months apart. It doesn’t take away the love they shared before it all fell apart.
“Why the sad music while working?” Keigo wonders aloud, having picked up on the sorrowful lyrics sung in a strained voice and a distorted guitar. “Seems like it’d be a bummer to be sitting in this all day.”
“It helps me focus.” Touya utters the words as he clicks his machine off and stands. “Outline’s done.”
Three hours since the tattoo began, Keigo is stretching his arms from the uncomfortable place they’d been curled under his head. Cool water being sprayed on his skin brings ease to the fresh tattoo. He doesn’t want to admit how he keens into the touch that wiped the tattoo free of excess ink and moisture. Flexing and flaunting in the mirror with a proud grin at how much he enjoyed the tattoo, even if it was still in its early stages. His gaze settles on Touya in the reflection. Arms crossed and gaze focused, the artist was staring at him like a work of art. Keigo tries to avoid the sparks of hope it lit in him.
“Looks great.” A dopey, friendly grin was on Keigo’s face as he praised the other’s artistry.
“I know.” Touya grabs his roll of Saniderm. His sapphire vision leaves the beautiful man who flaunted his art so proudly in an attempt to avoid thinking too hard on the feelings rising from the grave he had laid on their relationship. He huffs as he cuts the bandage into strips, otherwise silent as he applies it to the fresh ink. Memories stir of nights spent trailing the varying freckles scattered across the broad shoulders he had just tattooed. Something swells in his heart at knowing Keigo trusted him with this task, even after he had ghosted the other.
He strips the gloves off with a single motion and tosses them into the trash. Retrieving his phone, the music in the shop pauses.
“I’d give it three weeks at the least to heal before we can do color. That being said, when are you good to come in next?” Touya scrolls through the schedule in his phone to look at the dates available for the next session. “I have some dates in early April.”
“Whatever works for you, just text the time and date to me and I’ll be there.” Keigo responds as he shuffles on his shirt. A pause as he turns, jacket slung over one of his shoulders. “Will I see you before then?” He asks, proposing a terrifying idea for them both.
In the time it takes for Touya to select a time and date, he cannot come to a decision between his two minds. “We’ll see.” First, Touya wanted to discuss this with the therapist who was assigned to him through the court- a requirement for his legal guardianship over Shouto. When he looks up from his phone screen, Keigo is staring at him dead on with an unreadable expression. Touya cringes with guilt as he thinks it may be a silent plea not to push him away again. No further words are spoken to one another as they leave one another to return to their new, separate worlds once more.