Twenty-Six

All he wanted was some peace and fucking quiet. Actually, it was more than a want, but a vital requirement for his very existence. He was tired; he had had a long day, and tomorrow was his day off. What he required was to sleep for as many hours as possible the following day, maybe get some kendo practice in to diffuse his nerves, and order some take-away. After all, he deserved some rest after a month without a day off whilst doing overtime and dealing with fucking morons at a minimum wage shitshow of a job. That wasn’t too much to ask for, was it? He didn’t think so, and he’d be damned if he was going to be deprived of a well earned sleep because some shithead had to have karaoke night on a fucking Tuesday.

However, this could all be considered his own fault since it was his decision to take on a double shift thus rendering him completely incapable of returning home at such time before the obnoxious antics broke out. He would remember to apologise to the world, to himself, and to the jackass across the hall that was going to be dead within the hour.

“Fuck!” Kanda Yuu, a twenty-four year old sales associate at Whateverthefuck Departmentstore (he was just biding his time until his pointless diploma could be put to use, promise), threw his blankets off in a huff, flinging his cat, Mugen, across the room. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and gripped the edge of the mattress with white knuckles, gritting his teeth while trying to find the right words to say to his fucking insufferable neighbour. I’m going to fucking kill him.

Infuriated with the screeching vocals and nauseating giggling, as well as heavy bass music pulsing through his walls – and throbbing skull, – Kanda stomped through his room, grabbing his glasses on the way out. Grumbling about various murder methods, he stepped out of his flat and in to the desolate hallway.

“Hey, you! Open up your fucking door, jackass!” Kanda slammed his fist against the door to apartment twenty-six, red paint chipping off and sticking to his hand. He wasn’t entirely expecting a response since this isn’t the first time the delinquent had a late night gathering. Although, he was usually passed out before the blaring music and shenanigans ever began. I’m going to kick down the fucking door if he doesn’t answer.

The horrendous singing stopped abruptly and murmuring could be heard… although vaguely since the damn music was still blasting. The chain slide was removed and a pale, well built, handsome redheaded man opened the door.

“Hu-“

“Fuck you! Stop fucking singing at fu-“

“Whoa, calm down there. Please don’t shout in the hall; you’ll wake someone up.” The man widened his eye, opened his door, and motioned for Kanda to come inside to talk since it was quite late. No fucking shit it’s fucking late, asshole.

“Fucking…” Kanda dragged himself in to what looked to be a full-blown party, red solo cups thrown about, mass quantities of liquor on a small coffee table in the centre of the room. A younger boy and girl sat on the rather clean couch, still giggling and chatting away, oblivious to the two older guys talking.

“Nice tattoo. You want a drink?”


“Wha- No. Fuck. That’s,” Kanda groaned, “Will you fucking turn off this god-awful fucking music for five fucking seconds?!” He rubbed his temples with his free hand as the other man moseyed over to his stereo system and lowered the music slightly. Yet another groan escaped Kanda’s mouth in response.

“So…what can I do for you, neigh-“

“I want you to fucking turn off your shitty fucking music and stop fucking singing so goddamn fucking loud across from my fucking room at two in the goddamn morning!”

The other man stepped back, hands in up for surrender. “Hey, yo, I didn’t kno-“

The two on the couch were now paying attention to the scene in front of them. The Japanese man had the redhead by the collar and seemed to be snarling at the other. “I’ve had a long fucking day and the only reason I’m not telling the landlord is-“

“He’s a useless piece of shit who don’t do nothin’ for nobody. You’re telling me.” The other rolled his eyes as Kanda violently let go of his collar. With a scowl and a hiss, Kanda turned his heels and walked out of the apartment.

He snarled at the neighbour! How animalistic and base of him. Kanda swore he’d never do something so inhuman again. Though, he might not be able to hold himself back if that jackass pulled a stunt like this again.

Now fully exhausted, Kanda went in to his pocket for his key and… Shit, where’d his key go? Well, this was going to be the worst night of his life for a few very obvious reasons. He had two options, well, three, but one: go back to the jackass’s room and ask to spend the night and deal with everything tomorrow, or sleep in the chilly hallway, or attempt to wake the landlord. Well, wait, no, he couldn’t wake the landlord without his cell phone, which was coincidentally inside his locked apartment. Well fuck me sideways with a rusty spork. I’m not going back in to that apartment.



There was a reason he was knocking on door number twenty-six at three-thirty in the morning, and it was a very good one. Kanda had tried sleeping outside of his flat, really, but his doorframe wasn’t a great makeshift pillow (who the fuck was he kidding?), so about forty minutes in a chill spread throughout his body; since then he couldn’t get warm enough to fall asleep. That was his reason for knocking on the douchebag’s door even later than that guy was ever awake. Though, he couldn’t be entirely sure since no one actually left the flat since he’d been in the hallway, but no music was playing. Well at least he fucking listened…

After a number of times knocking, Kanda was about to give up and try sleeping against his doorframe again when the chain lock slid apart and the door creaked open once more. A heavy yawn escaped the now boxer-clad man, who leaned against his doorframe, messy hair covering one eye. He smiled lazily.

“Hm?”

“I-“ Oh god put on some clothes before you answer the damn door. Kanda couldn’t help but look at the other man’s body. He turned away, face flush.

“Is there a reason you woke me up?”

“I, fuck,” Kanda pointed past the redhead to the now vacant couch, “that.”

The other man craned his neck, jabbing his thumb behind him. “My couch?” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Don’t make me fucking say it you cocksucker. “I fucking locked myself out of my fucking room, okay? Can I use it or not?”

The other shrugged and moved aside. “Sure. Wait,” he closed the door behind Kanda, “have you been outside this whole time?”

Kanda sat down on the couch and crossed his arms. He was in less of a mood to talk than he was before, which was negligible the first time. “Shut up. Whatever.” He began to lean towards the arm of the couch, preparing himself to sleep when the other man tapped his shoulder and smiled.

“It’s a pull-out. I think you might like that better. I can also get you a pillow and blanket.”

“Fine.” Kanda begrudgingly removed himself from the couch, dragging his feet and almost tripping over an empty bottle of vodka. “Fucking clean up your shit, asshole.”

A slight chuckle came from the direction of the other, “Sorry. So,” he began to move the coffee table to make room for the pull-out, “what’s your name, neighbour?”

Kanda just grumbled and crossed his arms. It’s not as if that actually mattered since he was never going to talk to this guy ever again. He let his eyes wander around the dark room, the only light coming from a cracked door to the back left of the space. It was probably the redhead’s room. Somehow thinking about bedrooms made him realise he desperately needed to use a toilet. He began walking towards the other end of the flat, when the other grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, you are in my apartment, you know. At least some common decency of a name, yeah?” He turned Kanda around, a dark look over his face - which quickly turned to a smile - and, “I’m Lavi.”

“Kanda. Gotta piss,” he stated flatly. He pulled himself from Lavi’s grip, and continued towards the back of the dark room, noticing a hand pouting at a door in the back left. Kanda entered the decently sized bathroom, flipped the switch on and relieved himself. Lavi was finishing pulling the couch at when he came out. The light from the bathroom illuminated more of the room and Kanda spotted a rather large bookshelf in the direction of where he was walking earlier. I nearly slammed in to a bookshelf…great.

Lavi left the room briefly, returning with a blanket and two pillows. Kanda was cleaning his glasses when the other man cleared his throat and gestured towards the bed. Of course, being as blind as he was, Kanda only saw darkness and maybe the faint blob of a human being doing something in the distance. Once he put his glasses back on, he manoeuvred his way towards the bed, watching the floor the whole way as to not trip over the various bottles. “Fucking ridiculous,” he mumbled to himself.

“Huh?” A light came on from somewhere to Kanda’s left as well as the sound of glasses clinking. He glanced up to see Lavi in his kitchen, back to him and walking towards the other counter. His eyes strayed a tad downwards, though he immediately cast his gaze back to the floor. However, it wasn’t fast enough since he rammed his shin against the metal frame of the bed.

“Fucking goddammit motherfucker,” he swore a bit louder than anticipated. He leaned down to rub his leg as Lavi came back out of the kitchen and whistled. Kanda nearly snapped his neck looking over at the other. “What?”

Lavi was leaning his shoulder against the kitchen doorjamb, legs crossed at the ankle with a smirk upon his face. “’s nothin’,” he murmured, taking a sip from the glass of water in his hand.

Kanda sneered in response. He removed his glasses and sat on the edge of the bed before sighing.

“Want water or something?” Lavi asked.

“No,” Kanda said as he placed his glasses slightly beneath the bed so they wouldn’t get stepped on later. He pulled his legs up and reached behind him for the obnoxiously orange pillow. He placed it behind him and grabbed the blanket. As he was unfolding it he realised that the other man was still standing in the doorway, watching him.

“What the fuck?” Kanda asked, just a bit perturbed that this stranger was still there.

“S-sorry, I zoned out. Uh,” Lavi answered a tad flustered and quickly shut off the lights. He sped off to his own room, mumbling a “night” as he passed by.

Confused but not really caring, Kanda shrugged it off and fell against the pillow in a heap of exhaustion and annoyance. Within minutes he was in a dreamless sleep.