Chapter Text
Junpei counted the cracks in the sidewalk as he walked. He could only get to thirty before it got too hard to keep track and he needed to restart, but he didn’t mind. Simple counting is much better than the times tables they started teaching in school. Junpei tripped over his feet and lost count.
Darn.
Kanny giggled from where she walked next to him.
They’d been out playing at the park all day. It’d been really fun! Talking about anything and everything as they swung on the play sets. Junpei had wanted to sit on top of the monkey bars, but he was still recovering from when the older kids beat him up, those evil bunny killers, and didn’t want to press his bruises.
Now, the sun was setting softly and both of their stomachs rumbled, so Kanny suggested going back to her house for a snack. The world was painted gold, comfortable and warm, so Junpei didn’t mind the short walk. Plus Kanny’s mom always had the best cookies.
He’d only been to her house a few times before, to play Super Mario Bros and work on school projects, but he recognized it as they walked down the street. A cute one story house with a white swinging chair on the front porch. Junpei, although not being here often, loved that swinging chair. He and Kanny sat on it and drank fresh lemonade one summer, kicking their legs that were too short to reach the ground.
Kanny split into a grin, one of her front baby teeth missing (she’d gotten a whole two quarters from the tooth fairy), and dashed up the steps to her house. Junpei followed.
He tripped up the stairs, making Kanny laugh again.
“Jumpy! You gotta be more careful!” She giggled between her mismatched teeth. Junpei just blew a raspberry at her and moved to mash at the doorbell. They took turns on who got to press the button and this time it was luckily Junpei’s. He smashed it with all his might, laughing with Kanny like it was the funniest thing in the world.
Eventually, the door was wrenched open with enough force to make the hinges scream.
“I swear if it’s another-!” A young boy with stark white hair glared down at them. Kanny just cackled louder. The boy’s cool gaze flicked between the two of them. Junpei didn’t recognize him.
The Mystery-Boy sighed.
“Akane, there’s a reason you know the garage code, you don’t need to use the front door.” The boy looked exasperated, or as exasperated as an eleven-year-old could. Junpei giggled. This must be a common occurrence.
“But Aoi!” Akane protested, mouth split in a grin.
“Oh, don’t ‘but Aoi’ me. You made quite the racket. You’re lucky I’m the only one home.” The white-haired boy rolled his eyes, but Junpei could see the twitch of a smile on his lips.
He turned, still leaning on the door frame, and fixed his gaze on Junpei. Junpei had to look up to make eye contact. Not only was he older, but he was also taller than Junpei. It made the short boy grumble.
“Who’s this then?” He narrowed his cool eyes.
“Who’re you?” Junpei accused, crossing his arms. He didn’t know who this guy was, but he did know he had to be tough. Older kids always wanted to pick on those who were younger, weaker. His still aching black eye was proof enough of that.
The older boy just blinked and laughed. His whole body shook when he laughed, mirth flooding through his voice. There was nothing derisive in the noise, just genuine joy. Finally, when he stopped laughing, the white-haired boy flashed a smile at him. It was sharp, canines pointed amongst pearly teeth.
“I’m guessing you’re Jumpy.”
Although not wrong, the nickname coming out of someone else’s mouth that wasn’t Kanny made him flush.
“Yep! That’s Jumpy! And Jumpy, this is my brother, Aoi!” Kanny hopped foot to foot, looking at the two of them with a sunshiny expression. She was overjoyed they were getting along.
Wait.
“Brother?!” Junpei exclaimed.
Aoi rose an eyebrow. “Uh yeah. Last time I checked.”
Junpei’s face scrunched up. This guy was rude. He wasn’t allowed to swear, but he’s sure his dad would have some choice words that described this guy to a tee. Like “jerk” or something similar.
“But you don’t look anything like her! Siblings are supposed to look alike!” Junpei pointed, glancing between Akane’s brown hair and warm eyes compared to her so-called brother. That made Aoi scowl though.
“Doesn’t matter what we look like! We are because we are!” His eyes flashed, but he was basically pouting. “We have the same blood, makes us family.”
He crossed his arms petulantly.
Well now Junpei felt kinda bad. The guy may be tall and cold looking, but his bottom lip was jutted out and he had turned his face away from them.
Kanny, luckily, took pity on him.
“Aoi’s got a condition that makes his hair white, it’s why he’s paler and his eyes are that light too.” She smiled that kind smile at Junpei, trying to soften the guilt. Still, his stomach clenched.
“Yeah. ‘S called albinism,” Aoi grunted.
Woah, big word. Junpei tried rolling it around in his mouth. Albinism.
Aoi reached up to tug a lock of his light hair, brow furrowed and frown prominent.
“That’s…” Junpei started and Aoi sighed. “…so cool!”
Kanny’s brother startled and stared at him with wide eyes. Junpei stared back just as earnestly. Wow, his eyes were grey!
“I’ve never met anyone like that! So awesome!” He was practically vibrating in his place and Kanny giggled. Aoi just looked at him in shock.
“Awesome, huh?” He mumbled under his breath before shaking his head. He turned on his heel and waved his hand over his shoulder.
“Whatever, just get in here before the sun goes down. Mom made cookies earlier.”
“COOKIES!” Both kids shouted as they dashed inside the house.
And that was the first time Junpei officially met Aoi Kurashiki.
--
Junpei didn’t go over to Kanny’s any more often than he did before he met her brother, but he enjoyed the days he did. Aoi was great at Super Mario, which Junpei appreciated because Kanny died too often. Their mother made tasty cookies and somehow always managed to have a fresh batch when he was there. Their dad told super funny jokes too and it always made Junpei laugh.
His own parents were nice and he liked them a lot, but they were gone to work most of the time. They didn’t have time for homemade cookies or funny jokes. So Junpei liked the Kurashiki house, even if he wasn’t there much.
So that’s why when those older kids found him again, he ran to straight to Kanny’s house.
His nose had yet to stop bleeding and his knees were all scraped up. At least he didn’t have a black eye this time and he’d gotten his own kicks in as well. Still, his shoulder hurt where they’d punched him, sure to bruise, and he struggled to keep his tears in.
He dashed right up to that familiar swinging chair as fast as his feet would take him. He stumbled up the stairs again and had to press his palms to the cold concrete to avoid falling. Junpei grit his teeth. Drops of blood hit the ground and he swiped his sleeve under his nose.
Finally reaching the door, he mashed his little fingers against the doorbell as fast as he could. He imagined the repeating dinging sound inside the house and it was almost enough to make him smile.
“Okay OKAY!” The door swung open. Aoi was grimacing on the other side, glancing over his own shoulder. Junpei’s birthday had been only a couple days ago and he liked to remind Kanny’s brother at every opportunity that he was catching up to him. Of course, Aoi had explained that wasn’t how age worked to which Junpei had stuck his tongue out at him and they’d gotten in a yelling match. Aoi was still simmering over that anger it seemed.
“You need to learn how to ring a doorbell normally, because-,” Except then he turned around and paused.
“Why do you look like a bruised apple?” Aoi asked.
Junpei huffed, mindful of his split lip. “Got into a fight.”
Kanny’s brother narrowed his eyes.
“Weren’t you all beat up the first time I met you too? You some kinda delinquent?”
Now, Junpei didn’t know what de-lin-quent meant, but he was pretty sure it was bad.
“No I’m not!”
Aoi snorted.
“Yeah whatever, come in. ‘Kane’s upstairs, but I’ll get you the first aid kit.”
Junpei followed Aoi into the house, politely toeing his shoes off first.
“Just no blood on the carpet, Jumpy.” Aoi taunted and Junpei scowled. He held a hand under his nose anyway.
Soon, he found himself in a bathroom, sitting on the sink. His feet dangled in the air and he resisted kicking against the cabinets below him. Aoi pulled out a first aid kit and started rummaging around in it.
“You know what you’re doing?” Junpei asked, tissue shoved up his nose.
“No.” Aoi smirked, pulling out a bottle of…something. It sloshed around and he poured some onto a cotton ball.
“How can you not know? Aren’t you supposed to be smart?”
“Hey! I am smart!” Aoi frowned indignantly, stomping his foot. “You’re just a kid, what would you know?”
“You’re a kid too!” Junpei shouted.
“Nuh uh! I’m a whole eleven years old!”
“That’s still a kid, dipshit!”
Aoi stared at him with those grey eyes, wide and shocked.
“Dipshit?”
Junpei flushed. “I…I don’t know. That’s what one of the old kids called me.”
Aoi’s eyes went wider.
“That’s a bad word,” he whispered. Junpei gasped.
“It is?!”
The other boy nodded, very seriously. Before he cracked one of his signature sharp grins.
“Badass.” He gave Junpei a clap on his shoulder, making him wince. “I learned that one from my dad, it means cool.”
Something bubbly filled Junpei’s chest. He beamed, despite the pain in his face.
He didn’t have many friends, aside from Kanny, so Aoi was his only friend who was a boy. Sure he was a few years older, but it didn’t matter to Junpei. Fighting and talking about bad words like this was something Junpei couldn’t do with Akane, and it was fun! He felt like they had a secret, as Aoi had shared a new word with him.
Aoi continued cleaning up his scrapes, dabbing the wet cotton ball on his knees. It stung terribly, but Junpei tried to be strong. Apparently it was to make sure his injuries didn’t get infected, Aoi explained since his mom used it on him whenever he got into fights too. Or fell off his skateboard. Or the jungle gym. Or when he got too competitive in gym class.
As Junpei found out, Aoi got injured a lot, but he supposed that was part of childhood.
Eventually, all his scrapes were messily bandaged and his nose had stopped bleeding. He thanked Aoi, but the older boy just brushed him off.
“No problem. Akane told me the only reason you were injured in the first place was because those boys killed all the school’s rabbits.” He was frowning heavily as he packed up the first aid kit. “She cried a lot over that. So, good job on teaching those morons some sense.”
Junpei smiled. “I was badass.”
That startled a laugh out of Aoi.
“Sure, though you also got hurt doing it.”
Junpei just shrugged. It had been worth it, and for Akane, he’d do it again.
Speaking of…
“Jumpy?” Kanny appeared in the doorway. She rose her eyebrows, no doubt surprised to see him.
“Hey Kanny!” He beamed, hopping off the counter. Aoi smiled at his sister too. “Wanna go play?”
Kanny started to nod, but then paused. Her eyes scanned over Junpei’s face and moved down to his bandaged knees. She looked sad all of a sudden.
“Jumpy…,” Her voice wobbled and both boys jumped.
“Oh no, Kanny don’t cry!”
“Yeah Akane, everything’s fine!” She still started sniffling and Aoi’s face got tight. “I’ll get you a juice.”
He dashed from the room, leaving just Junpei and Akane.
“D-did you get hurt again?” She asked. Her voice was small and her large brown eyes shimmered with tears.
“No!” Junpei yelped. “Well, yes.”
“How?” A single tear escaped her eye and Junpei was on the verge of panicking. He hated when Kanny cried. And he hated when he was the cause of it.
“Um the older kids found me after school.” He started, blinking at the memory. “But! I’m okay! I even got one of them in the eye this time!”
Another tear joined the first, but Akane scrubbed at her eyes. “You shouldn’t be fighting them at all, Jumpy!”
Junpei disagreed. Those stupid boys had killed those small defenseless bunnies, they deserved everything coming to them. Even if Junpei had to take ten hits for each one he gave. Plus, Aoi had said he did a good job.
But he didn’t want to make Kanny cry.
“Okay.” He said, nodding his head as earnestly as he could. “I won’t anymore.”
“Good. Good.” Kanny sniffled. They both rose their arms at the same time and Junpei lightly hugged her. At the very least, she stopped crying. She was warm and Junpei felt his heart beating. He’d heard some of the older kids talking about things like “crushes” and romance. He wondered if this was what it was. Comfort. Friendship.
“Hey guys.” Aoi emerged from the stairs holding two juice boxes.
Junpei and Kanny separated. Her eyes were still red rimmed, but a smile played on her lips. He smiled with his own split ones too.
--
Junpei and Kanny were inseparable. Or at least it felt like it. He never ran into the older kids again, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have his fair share of scraps. For a nine year old, he was surprisingly tenacious. He enjoyed the puzzles in the morning paper, sitting and eating his cereal alone. And then he got to go to school and see Kanny. Afterwards, they’d either go to the park or back to her house. Sometimes, if they were lucky, Aoi would come with them and they’d all play pirates or something. Aoi liked to take charge in the game, making himself pirate king or the leader of whatever they’d made up, but then Kanny and Junpei just had to look at each other and they’d team up to take him down. Aoi, as Junpei discovered, was very weak when it came to his sister. He’d do anything for her, including intentionally losing just for her to win. Junpei used it to his advantage whenever he could, but he was pretty sure Aoi was catching on.
Other times, Aoi would kick them out of the house or be out with his own friends. He tried very hard to establish the fact that he was a “big kid”, stating he was too old to hang out with little kids. Junpei would try to punch him, yelling that he was a big kid too, and then they’d end up tussling in the yard. Akane seemed to think their bickering was funny.
But afterwards, when they both had new bruises, they’d sit on the porch steps and split a popsicle.
So maybe their friendship was a little rocky, but Junpei didn’t really have any other scrappy guy friends, so he’d take it.
All in all, it was going pretty well. His multiplication was getting better and he was learning how to spell even bigger words.
Until Kanny stopped coming to school.
For the first few days, Junpei just assumed she was sick. So he powered through eating lunch alone and instead tried to integrate with the other kids. But then a few days became a whole week. The weekend rolled around and he was busy with his parents, going to a soccer game. It was fine. She’d be back on Monday.
But she wasn’t.
She wasn’t back the next week.
So finally, on the third week of her absence, Junpei walked to her house. It was harder to find the way without her to guide him, but he’d memorized the cracks in the concrete and found his way easily enough. Seeing those familiar popsicle steps with the lemonade swing made him smile.
He ran up to the door and mashed the doorbell as he was known to do.
Someone would open it eventually. Usually it was Aoi who would, but one of the parents would probably be better. He could ask why Akane’s been gone.
So he continued mashing the button. His finger was getting a little sore. He wondered if the doorbell was broken.
But no. He could faintly hear it dinging through the door.
Junpei kept pressing. And pressing. And pressing.
For a full minute, but no response.
He frowned. Maybe no one was home. He hoped no one was home.
--
Junpei went back the next day and the next.
No one answered for a full week.
Until Friday.
He was mashing the doorbell like always, one step away from straight up banging on the door, when it finally opened a crack.
Aoi Kurashiki looked awful.
His hair was uncombed, white tangles curling around his face. Dark bruises smudged under his tired eyes. He was wearing an oversized blue hoodie that swallowed him up. The smallest eleven-year-old Junpei had ever seen.
He stared at Junpei, his expression a mix of exhaustion and irritation.
Haunted. His cold gaze was haunted.
“Junpei.” His voice cracked around his name. “Stop.”
He was almost pleading and Junpei’s heart splintered in his chest. Aoi looked like he wanted to be angry, fists at his sides, but he couldn’t muster it. Was too tired to conjure up his normal temper. Or his sharp smile. His stupid jokes.
His fingertips were cold and his stomach ached, but Junpei still had to ask.
“Why hasn’t Kanny come to school?” He asked. Hesitantly. Like Aoi would shut the door on him and never look back.
Aoi swallowed, eyes red. “Uhm,” he sniffled and looked at his bare feet. “She’s been sick. She’ll be back next week. Probably. I need to go talk to the school about our absences.”
He gave a bitter laugh. “Not like anyone else will do it.”
Tears were gathering in the corners of his eyes. Junpei froze. He’d never seen Aoi cry. He’d seen him wipe out on his skateboard more times than he could count, scrape his knees, and get grounded for stealing. He’d watched him fight over food with Kanny and explode when his dad told him he couldn’t hang out with his friends. And through all of it, he never cried.
Even now, he blinked his eyes and the wetness disappeared.
Junpei didn’t know what he was talking about or why he was so upset.
He did know that Kanny would be back, but that something bad happened in between. Was she really just sick? Has Aoi been taking care of her? Is that why he’s so exhausted? Where’s their parents?
“I’ll bring soup! Tomorrow.” Junpei quickly thought back to if they had any mix or cans in the pantry at home. He was pretty sure they had tomato soup that he just had to heat up, maybe he could bring some bread with it. Kanny always did like those Hawaiian rolls, even if Aoi thought they were too sweet.
Aoi’s entire body slumped.
“Sure kid, you do that.”
“Hey! You’re a kid too!”
Aoi just looked at him. Gaze full of more sorrow than Junpei could ever imagine. Goosebumps rose over his skin and his lungs stuttered in his chest.
“Sure, Junpei.”
Then he shut the door.
Junpei’s hand hit the wood. He had reached out, for what? Not sure. He knew Akane liked hugs when she was sad, so maybe he’d thought Aoi would like the same. But it didn’t matter, he’d already shut the door.
So instead, Junpei went home. He searched for that can of tomato soup and pulled out the rolls for tomorrow and waited. And waited.
When tomorrow rolled around, he brought a big container all the way to the Kurashiki house, full of warm soup and bread. Aoi answered the door before he even rang the doorbell. If it was possible, he looked even more tired than yesterday.
But he just took the soup and ruffled Junpei’s hair.
True to his word, Kanny was back in school on Monday.
--
The year was nearing its end, but Kanny and Junpei were still thick as thieves. She didn’t say a lot about those weeks she was sick and not much changed with her afterwards. Maybe she was a little lonelier.
It sounded like Aoi was busy all the time. Always out, disappearing at nights and never having time to play. He’d turned 12 recently, which Junpei only found out through the grapevine. Junpei’d wanted to celebrate or bring him a cupcake. Anything. But he couldn’t.
Aoi was always gone and Junpei no longer went to the Kurashiki house. Whenever him and Kanny played, it was always at the park. And there was no more staying out until the sunset, Akane suddenly had a very strict curfew and she was very serious about following it.
He didn’t see the white-haired boy very often. Junpei missed the fighting, the tackling in the yard, and the quick jokes. Junpei didn’t want to admit it, but his humor had developed mostly from Aoi. It’s not like he talked to a lot of the other boys in his class.
But he loved every second he spent with Kanny.
They ran through lush grass fields, talked over packed school lunches, and giggled under the slide at recess. Days passed in quick succession. Junpei’s affection for Akane grew. He started talking to some of the others in class during their last month before summer. He branched out, became loud and extroverted. He passed his math class and it felt like flying.
Akane’s score was higher than his, but she cheered right along with him.
The last time Junpei saw Aoi Kurashiki was in a grocery store. He looked skinnier than the last time Junpei saw him, hair cut short, and dressed in an old t-shirt. He was pushing a grocery cart by himself, just tall enough to move it without issue. It had a few ingredients in it, and he was staring intently down at a list in his hand.
Junpei had been with his mother and was sent to grab a loaf of bread. He clenched the bread in his hands.
The boy looked as tired as the last time Junpei’d seen him. Maybe a smidge better, but it didn’t mean much when he looked like death on his feet.
His heart clenched in his chest.
“Aoi!” He called.
The white-haired boy glanced up, looking surprised.
“Junpei,” he breathed. He wheeled the cart over, one of the wheels squeaking and spinning the wrong way.
They both stopped in front of each other for a moment.
Junpei’s mouth opened and closed. What did you say to someone who you hadn’t seen in months? What did you say to a ghost?
“Happy birthday,” he choked out. Aoi grinned. Sharp and unassuming, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes like it used to.
“Thanks.” His voice was a little lower and it threw Junpei. His friend didn’t sound like his friend anymore. Not the same boy who'd bandaged his scrapes and let him win at tag and grin with cherry-stained lips. He was different, he was more and yet empty. Wasn’t that just sad?
“D-did you want to play pirates with me and Kanny? Next time?” He squeezed the loaf of bread to his chest, feeling it squish. Aoi’s smile didn’t change but his eyes tightened.
“Can’t. Busy.” Junpei frowned at his response. How busy could a twelve-year-old be?
He said it too casually. Like the bruises under his eyes didn’t give away his exhaustion. Like the line of his shoulders wasn’t slumped under an unbearable weight. Like he wasn’t painstakingly counting the price of the groceries and comparing to the coins that rattled in his pocket.
But Junpei was nine and he didn’t know any of this.
So he left his old friend with a smile and ran back to his mom.
He used the last of the school year to make memories with Akane.
And then, she transferred schools and those memories were all he had left of her.
Yet even those faded in time.