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When Arthur left District 44 that day, he had ended up having to sneak out in order to avoid taking a gaggle of his underlings with him. Being that he was the gang leader, it made sense that his little underlings wanted to tag along- there were more than a few people that would have liked to put a bullet through his skull or a knife in his chest, and all of that was far less likely to happen if he brought his people with him. Still, Arthur knew that he couldn't possibly take his men with him today- after all, the leader of District 81 hated noise, with a particular disdain for crowds.
…So, he left them all behind. Sure, his underlings would probably freak out a bit (or a lot, perhaps) when they discovered he wasn't in his office like he always was, but they would get over it when he came back later.
However, when Arthur arrived in District 81, he was surprised to see that his beloved business partner was not around either.
“Is Iemoto here today?” Arthur had asked a man who, to his understanding, was rather high up in District 81’s rankings.
The man had seen Arthur around plenty of times in his life, and wasn't at all surprised by the head of District 44’s sudden presence in their district. “Well, he's not inside today, and probably won't be for a while.”
Arthur picked up on his choice of words. “Not inside today?”
“No, he won't be coming inside for a while.”
It sounded like Iemoto was here, but he was outside. The phrasing was a bit strange, and the man's expression was a touch somber. It seemed like there might be something to it.
“Would it be a bother if I have a look around?” Arthur asked, doing his best to sound casual, as if he wanted to give the image that he wouldn't be disappointed if he were asked to leave.
However, the man from District 81 did not seem put out by his request. “If it was anyone other than you, Lord, it would be. But, being that it is you… well, the Boss might be more angry if I just let you go home without seeing him first.”
Arthur laughed at that, because he thought it was a joke. The man just smiled slightly and shook his head. Of course he would never tell District 44’s head this, but some time ago, Iemoto became quite angry when he discovered that Lord had visited his district and 81’s men had chased him off without his permission. Even though that event was quite a while ago now, it was not something easily forgotten by those at the top of District 81. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of Iemoto’s silent anger, and for some reason or another, he was very touchy when it came to dealing with Lord. Chasing the (technical) outsider out of District 81 was a big no-no, even when chasing other district gang leaders was expected (or rather, it was even preferred).
That was to say, when it came to Lord…
Well, it was best to just let Iemoto deal with him.
But when had the two become so close? They had been friends for a while now. Their relationship hadn't just started because the two district gang leaders had wanted to rub shoulders.
Before Iemoto had become Iemoto, he had been known as Kiku- and it was as Kiku that Arthur had met him.
Just over twenty years ago, the two boys had met each other. Several of the district's gang leaders were attending a large party held in District 1, and those gang leaders would of course bring their district’s intended successors (if they had one). Who wouldn't want to show off the future MVP of their district? Everyone wanted to show how talented, how crafty, and how vicious their little successors were. After all, these (potential) future gang leaders were going to make or break the entire district in the future. It was important they made a name for themselves now, even if they were still children.
At the party, Arthur had already met quite a few of the other successors, such as the successor of District 1, who at the time was still a toddling baby with chubby cheeks, and District 33’s successor, who had been a thorn in little Arthur's side since the day he had learned to walk. But the grandeur of that night's party had attracted almost all of the local districts, and Arthur was seeing new faces left and right. It was that night Arthur had first seen people from District 81.
District 81 was quite far from 44, and Arthur was not so well traveled back then. When it came to District 81, he truly didn't know much about it. Even though Arthur couldn't be called social by any means, he was a bit curious and a bit bossy by nature, and when he first saw the other boy, dressed up neatly in a small hakama that was somehow still too big for him…
Well, Arthur got curious. No matter what, he definitely had to find out about the stand-offish seeming boy.
So, he introduced himself.
When Arthur first met Kiku, he immediately made two incorrect assumptions about him. He had assumed that, one, Kiku was younger than him, when in fact the boy was actually a few years older than him. And two, he had assumed that Kiku was a very mousy and timid boy, because he was standing rigidly still next to the Boss of District 81’s leg, as if he was afraid to leave his side. Surely such a mousy boy wouldn't be able to lead something like a gang in the future- even little Arthur had thought so back then.
…Long story short, he has been wrong.
Very wrong.
As Arthur would come to learn, timid was not really a word that could be used to describe Kiku. Sure, even as a boy he was stoic and unemotive, but timid?
…Not so much.
Of course, after two decades, the two Gang Leaders now understood each other on an intuitive level, and they could be considered something of friends now. A lot had happened between then and now, and the two had grown into an oddly close relationship. Although it was a bit strange for two opposing district leaders to get along so well, in the end, it's not like District 44 and 81 ever stepped on each other's toes. For the most part, both districts were competing for different parts of the market, so 44 and 81 could get along quite harmoniously, supporting each other without their people getting into skirmishes. This kind of peaceful balance was more than Arthur could have asked for.
ー 〇 ー
Arthur wandered around the grounds of District 81’s headquarters. It was a rather sunny and warm day, and District 81’s men kept their headquarters well-kempt and quiet, just like how Kiku and his predecessors liked it. If you didn't know any better, you wouldn't think that this place was headquarters to one of the most vicious gangs around.
Having checked all of the usual places without finding anyone, Arthur began to wonder if maybe Kiku had snuck out of his own district without his people knowing. If that was the case, it wasn't like Arthur could complain, considering that he had just done the very same thing to his own people, but he would be disappointed if he had come all this way and couldn't find him.
He was just about to throw in the towel and go home for the day when his luck finally turned around.
As Arthur walked along the edge of the headquarters, following a packed dirt path, he was led into a small forested area of bamboo. The bamboo itself was as tall as trees, and walking through it was a bit like walking into a maze, because you couldn’t see too far through the thick stalks that were scattered around. It wasn't really a deep bamboo forest per se, but Arthur had never really been over on this side of the headquarter’s compound, and the bamboo had always shielded what lay inside from outside view. And now that he had entered said bamboo, Arthur was quite surprised to see just what was inside: rows and columns of stone plaques and monuments, lined up neatly one next to another.
Ah... It was a graveyard. It seemed that this thicket of bamboo was surrounding a graveyard for District 44’s most important members. Arthur read a few of the plaques to the best of his ability, but he couldn't recognize any of the names engraved on the headstones. As he walked in a bit further, he saw a familiar silhouette at the end of a row.
The man was not wearing his colorful sukajan as he normally would, and instead was wearing a rather muted tone suit. Not once did he turn his head away from the monolith in front of him, his gloved hands clasped tightly behind his back. Arthur walked slowly up to him, not really needing to see whose name was on the grave in front of them to know who it was.
Arthur spoke first. “It's been about fifteen years now, hasn't it?”
Kiku spun around, apparently having been startled by Arthur's voice. “Lord, it's you!”
“Sorry I came by unannounced,” Arthur said.
Kiku took a deep breath to steady himself, relaxing a bit. “It's alright. I heard your footsteps, but I thought you were just another member who had come to pay their respects. I didn't expect it was you, Lord…”
“Ahh, well, I had just wanted to come by and visit today. I wouldn't have bothered you if I had known-” Arthur cut his voice off short.
Kiku smiled a bit sadly, and nodded. “It's okay, I'm still glad to see you. And you were right- as of today, it will be fifteen years since he's passed. It's been a long time now, hasn't it?”
“Yes, fifteen years is a long time,” Arthur nodded in agreement.
Fifteen years. It had been fifteen years since the previous Boss of District 81 had died, leaving a teenage Kiku to become the new boss of District 81. It was that day he took on the name Iemoto.
It had been one of the worst days of Kiku's life.
Although District 81 had tried to keep the passing of their previous gang leader quiet, once word had spread to the surrounding districts, the news exploded, and soon there wasn't a person who didn't know District 81’s leader had passed. Kiku had become Iemoto overnight, and being that he was still so young, the higher ups of 81 had wanted to keep his succession quiet for as long as possible, but it was futile. Kiku would be sitting at the head of their table from that point on until his own passing, and when a decision needed to be made, all eyes would be on him- and everyone everywhere knew it.
…Looking back on it now, Kiku considered it a miracle he had made it this far.
“I didn’t really know the previous Boss of your district so well, even though I had come to visit you a few times,” Arthur said, “I knew he had passed around this time, but I didn’t know today was the anniversary. I would have brought something, if I had known.”
Kiku laughed a bit. “It’s alright. I wouldn’t have wanted you to bring anything.”
Arthur never brought the subject of the Boss’s passing up around Kiku, as he hadn’t wanted to upset him, so there was never a great time to ask him about the previous Boss. He figured if Kiku had ever wanted to talk about it, he would have mentioned it. Not once had Kiku mentioned it. And even though it had been fifteen years since the previous Boss’s passing, Kiku had still dressed up and visited his grave with such a serious expression on his face. In his heart, Kiku must have remained in mourning the entire time.
Arthur tried for a minute to think of words he could offer him. In the end he settled on, “You must have really been close with the previous Boss.”
“No, not especially.”
Kiku’s response completely gobsmacked Arthur. Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Kiku smiled a bit guiltily. “Even though all of the gang leader’s of the other district’s probably knew, I don’t suppose anyone ever told you…”
“Told me what?” Arthur asked.
“That the previous head of the district was my father,” Kiku said flatly.
If Arthur was surprised before, then he really didn’t know how to feel now. He could only form a simple utterance. “He was?”
“He was,” Kiku said, turning back towards the monolithic headstone. “I suppose you’ve seen my mother a few times before, but she was simply one of the many women the Boss kept around back then. There was a forty year age gap between them, and I don’t think the Boss particularly valued mother for more than the fact that she produced me. Well, I don’t think that mother particularly valued the Boss, either. Once his health was getting bad, I’m not sure where mother went, but I don’t see her around here anymore. I can’t say as I really blame her, though. You would have probably thought that the Boss was my grandfather, if you knew we were related at all.”
It was a lot to take in all at once, and such a dry deliverance of something that teetered between unfortunate and tragic was… Well, it was just like Kiku, mentioning that something horrific had happened to him with such a laconic expression on his face.
Even still, he knew that Kiku preferred not to be pitied, and so he could only stuff the pity that had welled up inside of him into the depths of his throat, and offer his own lackluster response.
“Ah, I see…”
Arthur nodded a bit slowly. Kiku’s family history had remained a mystery to him as he had never felt the need to pry into it- it was never his business in the first place. Of course, considering that Kiku had not once brought up his family, Arthur had always presumed that it mustn't be a happy story, but it was still a bit difficult to hear his suspicions had been correct.
“The Boss wasn’t a good person. Not to mother, not to me, not to anyone,” Kiku said, his tone and expression unreadable, “But, it’s hard to be a good person in a bad situation. There's just some things that can't be avoided in life... I learned it, too. If you want to survive up here, you have to do disgusting things. I don’t suppose there’s a single gang leader of any district that hasn't done something abhorrent.
“I understand it, why the Boss was the way that he was. I even respect him, I think. But just because I understand it… doesn't mean I love him any.”
There was silence after Kiku spoke. His expression was rather dull and cold, even for him. Arthur suspected that he was schooling his expression even more than usual, because he didn't seem to know how to express what he was feeling. Even if Kiku felt something negative towards the old Boss, he would never show it- it wasn't in his nature to do so, or perhaps, it was better to say that it wasn't in his district's culture to do so.
Arthur wrapped an arm around Kiku's shoulder, doing his best to act casual, afraid that his attempts at comfort might be taken as condescension. It seemed to work, as Kiku leaned into him a bit.
“Still, you became the Boss of District 81 much too young. I only became the Boss of my place three years ago, and it's wayyyy too stressful for my liking- and I was eased into the position. I don't know how you've been doing it all these years,” Arthur said, shaking his head.
Kiku could only shrug. “Well, it wouldn't have done if I couldn't do it.”
“That's a very unusual and polite way to say your situation was shite.”
Kiku laughed loudly, which was probably a breach of etiquette when standing in a graveyard. Even though it just seemed to be the two of them, that didn't mean that others weren't coming to visit. But if it bothered anyone, they still probably wouldn't have the guts to bring it up to Iemoto.
Kiku smiled, wiping the corner of his eye on his sleeve. “You know, I still remember picking his bones out of the ashes at the kotsuage. They wanted me to be one to pick the hyoid bone up. I kept thinking, ‘Ah, I don't know how I'm going to do this. I don't know how I'm going to do any of this.’ Ahaha…”
Had Arthur not known him, he would have thought that Kiku's laugh didn't betray a single drop of agony within it. Such a cheerful and soft laughter paired with that clear and peaceful expression wouldn't reveal a keloid covered heart, and even those that were close with him could only guess as to what the man was really feeling. But as Arthur had his arms wrapped around him, feeling his shoulders shake with laughter, it somehow felt more like he was weeping.
…It seemed like becoming the boss so young had stressed Kiku out more than he liked to admit. Arthur had never been to a kotsuage before, but he could imagine that such an event paired with the newfound reality that you would be the District leader was rather… anxiety inducing, for lack of a better word.
“Speaking of which, I never went to your Boss’s funeral back then, but you ended up going to my Boss's funeral. I suppose I should apologize for that,” Arthur started slowly.
Kiku shook his head. “There's no need. The Boss’s funeral was closed to outsiders in the first place, you couldn't have come even if you wanted to. Besides, you would have been just a boy, at the time,” Kiku said it like he hadn't been just a boy, either. As if to change the subject , Kiku continued, “But your Boss's funeral, Lord… it was very lovely. Almost one befitting of royalty.”
If Kiku's Boss's funeral had been a closed event with only a handful of close members and monks in attendance, then Arthur's Boss’s funeral was the polar opposite. It had ended up with a funeral procession that had looked more like a parade than anything else. If you didn't see the hearse, you might not have even known it wasn't a parade. Another difference was, Arthur had been a wreck at his Boss's funeral, and not just out of anxiety over the inheritance of his new position in the gang. District 44’s gang leader’s death was through illness, and had been expected for a while. With that being the case, the old gang leader began delegating Arthur with more and more responsibilities. By the time the old gang leader finally passed away, Arthur had already taken the mantle as District 44’s leader in all but name, and he had grown quite used to the duties of a leader at that point.
Rather, Arthur had been a mess because he really and truly loved the previous Boss of District 44- he couldn't have had a better predecessor. The old gang leader had been the only person in his life who Arthur had considered a mentor, and losing that person has not been a light blow to him.
“Oh, but I remember seeing you at the viewing,” Arthur said, turning to look at Kiku, their faces only a small width apart, “You were so very nice to me, back then. I had actually cried so much that I threw up on my shoes that morning… I was a mess.”
“You say that, but you looked very composed to me,” Kiku said.
“Trust me, I wasn't. I wish I could have supported you back when you were younger, as much as you supported me during our Boss’s passing.”
“Well, there's nothing that can be done about it now,” Kiku said with a shrug, “But, let's continue to support each other in the future.”
He smiled in a way that made Arthur's heart skip a beat.
“Yes, let's.”
ー 〇 ー
Kiku decided that he had spent enough time at the old Boss’s grave, and he decided to walk out. He led Arthur back around the winding dirt path. Arthur had yet to remove his arm from around the other man's shoulders. The whistling of the wind muffled the crying of cicadas, but the breeze offered relief from what might be an otherwise hot day. The wind blew the vibrant purple streak dyed in Kiku's otherwise dark hair, and it ended up looking unusually tangled. Arthur resisted the urge to reach out and smooth it flat for him.
“By the way, I haven't picked a successor yet for District 81…” Kiku said casually.
“Well I sure hope you haven't picked a successor yet! How soon are you planning on kicking the bucket?” It sounded like Arthur was scolding him.
“I'm not planning on going out anytime soon, but you never know, do you? I mean, that's just how being in a gang is, isn't it?” Kiku said it like it was the most common thing in the world.
“If you die anytime soon, I'm never forgiving you,” Arthur deadpanned.
Kiku laughed a bit, feeling Arthur's glare burning through him. Guilt twinged in his heart.
“I’m sorry, I hadn’t said it because I wanted to upset you. I was just thinking… Well, I was thinking, funerals for the Boss’s of District 81 are normally closed to the public. And then I thought, maybe, if, for example, you were to want to come to my funeral- no matter how near or far something like that is in the future- you ordinarily wouldn't be able to. But, I figured that something like that would upset you.”
“Well, yes, Iemoto, it would upset me if you died suddenly,” Arthur’s tone was clipped, but Kiku ignored this.
“But, in theory, would you want to come to my funeral?”
“...Yes, in theory, I would want to go to your funeral.”
It seemed like that was all Kiku had wanted to hear. “Then, I'll ask my people to make sure you can attend. You can even come to the kotsuage, if you want… I'll instruct them so that you can pick up whichever bones you'd like from my ashes to put in the urn. Even though ordinarily, the successor would be the one to do most of it…”
Suddenly, Arthur stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed Kiku's arm. He spun him around until they were looking eye to eye.
“I'm not joking. You're really not planning on dying anytime soon?”
Arthur sounded like he was on the verge of yelling, but Kiku only shook his head gently. He felt guilty- he hadn't meant to upset Arthur any, but to Kiku, death was a fact of life, and it couldn't be avoided. To him, it was better to bring it up now, then to avoid it and pretend like it wasn't a possibility.
“No, I'm really not planning on dying anytime soon. But it's just that if I did, I wanted to be able to offer you one final comfort.”
Arthur wasn't sure his idea of comfort was picking the bones out of the ashes of the man he loved, but it seemed to be an idea that Kiku was quite keen on. Of course Arthur would perform any funerary ritual that Kiku desired, but when push came to shove…
“You know what would comfort me? If you lived, Kiku.”
Ah. He had called him Kiku, not Iemoto. That meant he was in trouble.
“Aren’t I alive right now?” Kiku said a little coyly.
“You know damn well what I mean," Arthur jut a finger at him, and gave him a look that was actually a little threatening, "If you die anytime in the next fifty years, I'll be angry.”
“Fifty years is a long time," Kiku said simply.
“Fifty years at least!”
“And then after that, it's okay to die?”
“Well, no, it's never okay for you to die.”
“...I feel like I can't win here.”
“Then stay alive,” Arthur commanded, “And stay alive for a long time.”
When Kiku heard such a thing, he could only laugh- a genuine happiness spreading across his face.
“If it's what Lord wants, then how can I say no?”
Arthur's face turned a bit pink. Both of their faces were flushed completely- one from laughter, and the other from bashfulness. That rosy pink color a sign that they were both still alive. Arthur spoke quietly, “It's not what Lord wants, it's what Arthur wants…”
“Then, it's even more impossible to refuse.”
If the predecessor’s of their districts could hear the things they said to each other, they would be turning in their graves.