And Without You

[what_the_factor]

Who: AU!Sanae Hanekoma lovemesomebeans and AU!Sho Minamimoto what_the_factor
When: Some generic time in November. Winter is beginning. Perfect time for some coffee.
Rating: UH. R, just in case, because Sho is crazy
Warnings: Crazy Sho is very crazy. Except vulgar language, maybe gore, maybe sexually explicit content.
Summary: Based situationally if Sho and Hanekoma met(again) in

Comments

[lovemesomebeans]

It had been a difficult decision to come here- to leave the streets of Shibuya. But the phonecall from his fanboy, and the news of this so-called abusive situation that his charge was in had been too much for the barista to handle. Joshua was as good as his son- maybe more than that. A son and a friend, and after his sweet mother had passed away, Sanae had taken him in fully. He had never liked Joshua's father much, and even now had decided to do what he could to let the boy make something of himself.

As was Sanae's typical style, he'd come in to claim his post late. Teaching art would be something that would expand his own horizons, and if he were to keep up with his own motto, maybe it was a good idea. Even if CAT was anonymity personified, he was the man behind the mask, and that made him the driving force. Slipping into the art room, his arms loaded with blueprint plans and canvases, he was a bit surprised to find a student in the room. Hanekoma was perceptive- someone who was an expert at people. There were two things he knew instantly, and it made his stomach sink.

This was the boy who Neku had told him about. And it was Sho Minamimoto: A child's face he hadn't seen in years. Putting his things on his desk, the barista turned to watch the strange sculpture that was twisting into being.

"You got it, kid. That's pretty good. What is it?"

[what_the_factor]

"It's a...tribute," he answered, still caught up somewhat in his work before turning his head to look at whoever it had who had asked.

Shit. He was not expecting to see Mr. H again. He had worked so hard to avoid the Wildkat, worked so hard not to see him. Sho knew that if anyone would be genuinely disappointed in the things he had done, it would be Mr. H and he didn't want to live with that guilt. And now here he was, watching him make--dammit, of all things--a sculpture that would represent Yoshiya, in his own twisted and morbid style.

Hoping that Mr. H hadn't already recognized him, he decided to go with the way of pretending not to know him. "What do you want, old man?" Sho asked, frowning.

[lovemesomebeans]

Was he wrong? That was unlikely. Sanae Hanekoma was rarely if ever wrong, and the moment of bemused confusion showed on his face. Maybe he really was just getting too old for all of this.

"Huh. I'm yer new art instructor. Mr. Sanae Hanekoma." He said his own name clearly, as though hoping to jumpstart the disgruntled teenager's memory. Maybe he just didn't remember him. That was fair to assume as well.

[what_the_factor]

"I'm in the art club, but I don't have time to take the class, so logically, you aren't my instructor," the teen said, turning back to his work. He picked up the earmuffs on the table and put them on, then grabbed a piece of metal and started hammering it out of the shape it was into a flat one, to hide the shaking in his hands. Sho accidentally hit his thumb in the process, but simply swore numbers and kept on going.

The scene was somewhat similar. When Sho had first met Hanekoma, he had rudely asked what he wanted, and the tried to ignore him by returning to his math homework, writing quickly so the shaking in his nervous hands was less noticable.

[lovemesomebeans]

"That's a shame." He said simply. "Still my room, kid. So you ain't gettin' ridda me." He drawled, and tilted his head at the sculpture. It was...eerily familiar and he couldn't place why. Giving Mr. H. the heebie-jeebies wasn't an easy task. He eyed Sho warily.

"Heeey, ain't you that Sho kid? The one that used to come around my cafe?" He decided to try this approach instead.

[what_the_factor]

Sho visibly tensed and set down the hammer. "You got the wrong person," he said, rubbing his sore thumb. He thought over and over again, 'Don't ask for my name. Don't ask for my name.' Mr. H's perceptiveness reminded him of Yoshiya.

Dammit, why was he so easy to figure out for the both of them?

[lovemesomebeans]

"Huh. Alright then. Nice to meetcha anyway." Something was very not right here. The boy had unnatural golden eyes. Contacts, maybe?

"Well, we'll be seein' a lot of each other. Wanna introduce yourself?" The barista shifted, leaning against the wall as he eyed the sculpture.

[what_the_factor]

Shit. What the digits was Sho supposed to do now? If he didn't answer, it would be suspicious, if he did answer, he would know. How many people even had the name 'Sho Minamimoto' anyway? Probably not enough for him to pass it off as a coincidence, especially in America. And the scars on his cheek? He'd had those as a child too. No way that could be coincidence either.

Factor this, looks like he was screwed either way.

"Sho Minamimoto," he mumbled, refusing to look at Hanekoma. Instead, he grabbed some steel wool and started polishing spots of the metal scuplture before he added more to it.

[lovemesomebeans]

"Figured." But he didn't have any harsh words for the guy. Seemed like he'd had it tough since back then. Whatever had happened had made him one hell of an artist though.

"Hey. You know, you're pretty good."

[what_the_factor]

"Thanks..." Sho was not expecting the reaction he got. Praise? He hardly deserved that. Sure, so he'd gotten pretty good at his sculpting, but did he really deserve the positive attention. Still, it was better than the negative opinions people had on his work.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. This was one of the last places Sho had expected to see Hanekoma. Meeting again like this would have been more logical if they were in Japan.

[lovemesomebeans]

"Ah, see. Some kid Josh knows called me. Said he was having some trouble. And they needed someone to fill the position so... Here I am. Who better than Sanae Hanekoma? I'm not just a barista, kiddo."

He smirked and shrugged.

"Mind if I watch you work?" He was more than just curious about the art- he wanted to know more about what was up with this kid.

[what_the_factor]

Sho frowned. "Sakuraba-chan. Never called for help before. But when he did, he got the best kind..." He went to a cabinet and grabbed another pair of earmuffs and returned to his workstation to hand them to Mr. H.

"Do whatever you want Pops. You'll want these if you stay."

[lovemesomebeans]

"What do you mean by that?" Sakuraba-chan? He was definitely talking about Phones- erm. Neku.

He took the noise-cancelers in a non=chalant manner and turned them over in his hands. Mr. H. wasn't about to put them on just yet. He planned on pumping him some more.

"You sure got tall, kid. I remember when you were just a little scrawny thing." He started.

[what_the_factor]

"Him and I have a history of altercations. It's a complex equation though. I don't feel like talking about it." Last time he had, he ended up a giant puddle of misery and rage. The parallels between Yoshiya and Hanekoma were annoying. As much as Sho didn't want to talk about it, he had a feeling that he would end up telling eventually.

Sho pulled the Black Uranus pin out of his pocket, and started melting plastic to the back of the it stick the pin to the head of the sculpture.

[lovemesomebeans]

"Alright, you don't have to, kid." That seemed like a touchy subject. Something that he might have to work on later. He just watched the young man work, his expression unreadable.

Something had happened to Sho. He just didn't know what. He seemed to have gained a backbone somewhere along the road... Mr. Hanekoma moved from where he was standing and slowly edged to the other side of the statue so he could look at it, could see the strange, haunting figure gain a single violet eye. He didn't say anything about the pin. It was a rare one, but Sho didn't seem to mind using it for this.

[what_the_factor]

Well, he wasn't quite as persistent to know as Yoshiya was. That was nice. "Thanks..."

Sho turned the sculpture and melted some plastic around the head of it, setting the blowtorch nearby so the heat would keep the plastic from hardening completely as he took the roll of wire and started cutting it into pieces. He started at the back of the head, curling the wires a bit and then sticking them in the melted plastic.