[team 2] foreboding not included

Kind of a prologue for my Nino/Yoko roommates 'verse.

The upside was that it would save him money, and he would be with someone who knew Tokyo well. Fresh out of Osaka and even fresher out of funds, Yoko could use all the help he could get.

The downside was that it was Nino.

The offer came at the end of their shift at the pachinko parlor one night. Yoko had never been shy about complaining to his coworkers, particularly because some gave as good as they got, and shifts more often than not ended as makeshift group therapy sessions. They were a motley assortment of slackers and dropouts and underachievers and broken overachievers getting together to air out their dirty laundry because no one cared enough to judge when they all had permanent stains on the clothes line. Yoko's favorite topic as of late had been the varied places he'd been crashing at night -- manga cafes, capsule hotels, even a couple of themed love hotels when he felt like pampering himself with porn and dirty thoughts to match the dirty sheets. The problem, of course, was that paying by the hour was a lot more expensive than he could manage on his modest budget of negative yen, so he needed to find a solution before his savings and future dried up completely.

"Live with me," Nino said easily as they were gathering their things to go. Yoko stood and stared blankly as Nino nodded at the workers coming into the staff locker room for the early morning shift.

Yoko had never gotten bad feelings about Nino -- it was clear that Nino was a decent guy who cared about people and meant well most of the time. It was also clear that Nino was a sharp fellow who would heartily and happily exploit your weaknesses to his advantage if you weren't careful. Sure, Nino wouldn't do anything to actually hurt him, but Yoko wasn't sure how much he wanted to always be thinking, just to keep up.

"Give it a try, at least," Nino said as they made their way into the main walkway outside of the parlor, "even if it's just temporary while you're looking for something else." The night air was crisp around them, and the local array late-night establishments exclaimed their wares in bright, stippled lettering. Yoko just wanted a place to warm his toes and close his eyes. "We could play a round of video games before bed."

And so it began. Yoko had only mentioned video games to Nino once in passing, weeks ago, but Nino pulled it out and hit Yoko with it expertly, right where it counted, like preloaded ammunition saved up for just the right moment. Yoko had a feeling Nino would be doing a lot of negotiating this way.

"Well," Yoko started. Some paces behind them, a group of drunk salarymen swooped out of an izakaya, crying buoyantly about all the drinking they still had to do that night. Yoko frowned, huddling closer to Nino as they walked. It would do everyone good to go to bed sooner than later.

Nino patted Yoko on the back. His jacket puffed around his shoulders with each touch. "Am I so terrible?" Nino said wryly. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Yoko chuckled, nodding. "I guess we'll find out."

un_sanzo, go~