Chapter Text
Lacked of inspiration, he just drew the cup that was standing in front of him. He waited for his best friend to come and go the club they intended to go for a while. He was sitting in the small apartment owned by his father who adopted him when he was a baby. He finished drawing the cup- it was a lot easier to draw than angels or any other creatures. Fantasy was fascinating for him, but his father didn't allow him to draw or read fantasy.
Yamaguchi Tadashi was a regular teenager, about to turn sixteen. Though he was adopted, his father insisted for him to keep his last name, so he wouldn't forget about his roots. He had a normal appearance, though he was taller than most guys and his cheeks were covered with freckles- there were few of them, but it didn't stop from others to make fun of him. His hobbies were simple. He liked to read and to draw. He had one close friend, Yachi Hitoka, whom he had known since they were little kids. Just like him, she was a bit dork, sharing his hobbies and interests.
His father wasn't home, which was a good sign. For some reason, his father forbade him from going to the club, "Pandemonium". Yamaguchi never understood his father's peculiar taboos. His father never read him fairy tales. He wasn't allowed to watch Disney movies, so he had to go to Yachi's place. His father never wanted his to watch cartoons, not even anime, which was ridiculous a little bit, since they lived in Tokyo. Obviously if Yamaguchi bought merchandise with his own money, his father just frowned.
He heard someone unlocking the door, which meant his father was coming back home earlier than expected. Yamaguchi grabbed the nearest book to pretend he was reading it. It was unspoken rule between his father and him that reading time was important and it couldn't be disturbed. The grey-haired man walked into the apartment, with a distressed expression on his face. There were dark circles under his brown eyes, but the beauty mark under his left eye was still shown. A taller dark haired man followed, holding groceries bags. Both man headed towards the kitchen, ignoring Tadashi.
He heard his father's voice. "We have to move. We can't stay here any longer."
"Calm down, Koushi," spoke Sawamura Daichi, a friend of the family, who was always there ever since Tadashi could remember. He was almost like a second father to him. Daichi worked at a bookstore underneath the building he lives in, and Tadashi was always fond of visiting Daichi's store. However, Daichi spent a lot of his time visiting Koushi and Tadashi. "Just somewhere else for awhile, it would be good for both of you."
Tadashi cleared his throat to let the two older men know he was there. His father was relieved to see him. "Pack your things; we are going to Daichi's summer house," his father ordered. He checked Tadashi and noticed his clothes. "You can't go out tonight, you won't have time packing."
"What?!" Tadashi was bewildered. "When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow, first thing on the morning," Koushi said with no farther explanation.
"For how long?" Tadashi asked carefully. He had plans for his vacation, alongside with his friend. He planned on going to art school to work on his drawing skills. He took a park time job to finance the school- mostly since his father banded his from going- and he work hard to save enough money.
Koushi sighed before answering. "We will return after the vacation is over."
"But-" before Tadashi could continue, the door was opened again, and a small figure entered the room. Yachi Hitoka was Tadashi's cute childhood friend. She had a petite figure and beautiful brown eyes. Usually she had a small pony tail on hair side, however that evening her short blond hair was loose. She wore a black dress and matching short high heels that made her a little bit taller.
She could come in without knocking. She was also like a family member. "Good evening, everyone," she greeted all three men with a smile. She was a smart girl and probably noticed the tense mood in the room. "Shall I wait outside?"
"No," Tadashi grabbed his belonging from the table and put them inside his pocket, "I was on my way out."
"Tadashi, wait-" Koushi tried to stop him, but Tadashi already grabbed Hitoka's hand and dragged her out of the apartment. The minute he closed- or, more correctly, slammed it- he let go of Hitoka, worried he might have hurt her. "I'm sorry," he said as they were climbing down the stairs.
"I'm fine," she replied. "But is everything okay with you and your dad? It sounded like you two were arguing."
"Because we were," Tadashi sighed. Usually, he got along with his father. It was rare for the two of them to act like that.
They were waiting outside "Pandemonium", waiting in line with others who were eager to enter the club as they did. Hitoka required from Tadashi to tell exactly what happened. "He announced we are going on vacation."
"That doesn't sound so bad," she frowned. "His intentions aren't bad, you know."
"You should have seen him," Tadashi explained himself. "He was all nervous and shaking. He was hiding something. He always lets me know things ahead. He storms into the apartment, tells me to pack my things and that we are leaving first thing tomorrow for the whole vacation."
"That… does sound weird," Hitoka agreed with him. "What about your-"
"He didn't explain anything," Tadashi cut her off. "He also never wanted me to go to that school. You know how-" Tadashi stopped his sentence when he noticed a handsome man passed by, his hair dyed in blue, dressed up in Goth style. The man walked pass the line and was allowed to walk in immediately.
"Why could he skip the line?" said Hitoka.
"Well, he does look good," he commented. "And he seemed to know the guard."
Hitoka jump in excitement. "I can't believe we are finally going to the hottest club in the city." Tadashi smiled. They both wanted to go badly, especially Hitoka. The only thing they were worried about was whether the guard would allow them in. Tadashi could easily lie about his age, he was tall enough. Hitoka, however, was short even for her age, even though she was actually older than Tadashi. She looked younger.
When their turn came, the guard said, "You can't go in."
Hitoka showed her ID. "Fine, you can, but the boy can't."
Tadashi was surprised. "Why not?"
"Where is your ID?" the guard smirk. He liked his job, including not letting people in.
He didn't know Tadashi came prepared with a fake ID. The guard's smile turned to a frown. He let them both in.
The music was loud and he could barely listen to anything Hitoka was saying. There were many people around them; it was amazing there was space to dance. She was dancing, Tadashi trying to cope. He felt he looked ridiculous, so his movements were minimal. He noticed the handsome guy he saw earlier, sitting next to the bar. A beautiful woman approached to him.
She had a long silky black hair, with figure any girl would dream to have- tall, slim and breasts larger than average. Her beauty was more erotic, even Tadashi thought. She was wearing a long white dress with long sleeves, which was a little odd for the season. He could hear Hitoka screaming, "What are looking at?"
"Nothing," he lied to her. The guy also thought like Tadashi, since the two were flirting with each other.
"This is really cool," Hitoka yelled.
"Yeah," he said. "Though it's packed."
"There aren't many people here," she said, "just on the dance floor."
He was surprised she couldn't see the amount of people, or maybe it was because she didn't care. Either way, he felt a little less tense. The argument he had with his father earlier, left a bitter taste on his tongue and he knew he would have to face him the day later.
He noticed the man and the woman walking away from the bar. The man looked as if he got lucky, whereas he couldn't read the woman's expression. He guessed she wasn't that much exciting for her. They walked towards a door at a far end of the club. Tadashi wanted to ignore that, until he noticed two men were following the couple. They were both tall; the blond was taller than the black-haired one. They wore black clothes, their arms covered in tattoos. Then, he could see both men were holding knives. He stopped dancing and he got worried. The men didn't look like the good guys. He panicked, trying to think what to do. He couldn't stop it by himself. He wasn't sure he could fight the other two guys.
He turned to Hitoka, who noticed his reaction. "Are you okay?"
"Call the security guard," he ordered her and walked towards the location the couple headed. Hitoka tried to stop him, but he ignored her protests, not leaving any explanation.
He had to fight the crowd of people, which wasn't easy. He hoped the guy would put up a fight. He doubted that, since the men looked strong. He himself couldn't do much, but he could install them. He finally reached the door, after many apologizes and sometimes pushing people rudely. He opened the door and walked into the storage room. It was a little lighter than the club and he could see well. He heard a scream and rushed towards the sound. At the end of the room, the blue haired man was bruised, leaning against the wall. He could see the three people surrounded him clearly, noticing they were about his age. All three teens were gorgeous, fitting for modeling rather than murder.
The blond, who was the tallest of them all, took his knife and stabbed the man in his eye. Tadashi screamed and then the teens noticed him. The man, instead of lying dead on the ground, slowly started disappearing. There was no trace left of him, except some mud splashed on the wall. The blond guy stared at him and Tadashi got lost while staring at the teen's gold eyes- he had never seen eyes in that color and it was beautiful.
It was the other boy's voice that got him back to reality. "How the hell can he see us? He is a mundane." The other boy was also good-looking, about Tadashi's height. His hair color and blue eyes were dark and the frown on his face made him look a little bit scary.
"Maybe he has the sight?" wondered the girl out loud.
Tadashi didn’t know what to do or say. He witnessed a murder, yet there was no body. The door opened out loudly and two security guards along with Hitoka burst into the room. The two guards approached Tadashi. "What did you see, kid?"
His throat was dry and he just pointed at the three teens. They didn't look alarmed, they were just standing there. The guards were looking at each other, confused. "There are three of them," was all he managed to say. The two guards still stared at each other, not doing anything to arrest the teens. The blond one looked satisfied, as if he was enjoying the situation. Tadashi had to admit it, but he looked kinda cool. Hitoka approached to him, taking his hand. "Tadashi-kun… there is no one in here except us," she said softly.
Tadashi shook his head violently. He continued pointing at the teens. "They are here; right in front of me… the body just disappeared."
Hitoka turned to the guards and bowed. "I'm so sorry for troubling you, I'll take him home." She dragged Tadashi outside the club.
Tadashi wasn't sure of many things and he didn't know much. There was one thing he was sure about- he did witness that murder and he didn't imagine anything. He breathed deeply. "I'll walk you home," he declared. "You live near here anyway."
"Are you sure? It's not that late, I can-" she started saying.
"I'm sure," he cut her off. "I don't feel that well, maybe I should go home. But I want to make sure you're safe first."
There was a silence between them. None of them talked about what happened inside the club. Hitoka probably thought he lost his mind. They reached the building where she lived and said their goodbyes.
"Try to settle things with your father," she advised him.
"I will," he promised her.
He walked back to the club. He didn't plan on going inside; he just wanted to figure out how to come back. His father was still awake and after everything that happened, he wanted to avoid him.
"You'd make a terrible accomplice," he heard a voice from behind. He turned around, only to face the blond guy he saw earlier. He took a step back, thinking about running away. "It's not nice to accuse someone with murder."
Tadashi didn't know if he was dreaming. The man who was standing next to him was real. His voice was real. Tadashi pocked his arm- his touch was real. "What the hell are you doing?" asked the other teen.
"You are real," he said.
"Or maybe just your fantasy," the blond teased.
"Why am I the only who can see you?" Tadashi ignored the teasing.
The teen got serious. "The real question is what are you that make you able to see me?"
"I don't have time for this," Tadashi stepped aside. He took his phone out of his pocket. There was an unanswered call from his father. He should head home.
"He went back to his dimension," the boy said. "It's what happens when demons die. They go back to where they came from." And the boy walked away.
When Tadashi got back home, Koushi wasn't alone. Daichi was there too. Both of them scolded him for coming home late and going to the club.
"Do you have any idea how worried we were?" his father said.
Tadashi wanted to claim that they knew where he was, however he knew better. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"We will discuss this tomorrow," his father said.
He just nodded and went to his room. Usually he told his father everything. However, he couldn't bring himself to talk about the weird murder or about the guy he met. He could hear his father and his friend whispering. "Doesn't he act a little bit weird? Do you think he saw something he shouldn't have?"
"I think you're worrying too much, he is just tired."
He wanted to fall asleep, but whenever he closed his eyes the image of the beautiful blond appeared. Unable to fall asleep, he took out his sketchbook and drew the boy. Even after all that happened, he still wanted to run into him again. He imagined the boy as an angel with wings of gold, with a lonely expression on his face.