#virusweek

Trip warns Virus before he tosses a dangerously conflicting chemical into the beaker in their shared science class to cause an explosion and they both quickly duck under a table before it can go off.

They steal a packet of laxatives out of their teacher’s desk and put it in the guards’ coffee to watch the ensuing disaster. While they’re there, they sample booze for the first time from the teacher’s private stores in the bottom drawer.

And finally, they let all of the lab research animals out of their cages and stay put just long enough to see if the snakes will eat the rats if they’re all set free in the room together. This story was actually the most important part of the original plot and everything else came later, so I’ll definitely be writing this one in more detail. Spoiler alert: was it all Toue’s idea from the beginning? oooh

[Bonus Dialogue: Driving Sequence]

Gradually, they began to gain the respect and even the admiration of their fellow yakuza for their quick thinking and effective combat style. They were given their pick of less dangerous jobs, sent on profitable collections and to extortion meetings, and taught how to blackmail, all of which required very little effort on their part.

For a while, their usual haunts were outside classic pachinko parlours and underground brawling rings. They would push through the crowd, taking bets, and then sit back to watch the matches, collecting interest from anyone who couldn't afford to keep gambling with them and preventing the mass of onlookers looming outside the ring from getting too disorderly.

Virus didn't find it to be his favourite environment - he preferred the bright, flashing lights and deafening cacophony of trillions of sound effects going off at once inside the pachinko parlours, where he could at least escape into the cold, fresh air of the street if he started to develop a migraine - but Trip got very into some of the fights himself. He would forget that they were supposed to be keeping the peace and would even start jumping up and down in place, caught up in the roar of the crowd and shouting "get him in the face!" while he punched the air vicariously. It was one of the few times Virus ever heard him raise his voice at all. To his surprise, he thought it was fairly interesting to watch, definitely moreso than the boxing matches themselves.

Once, Trip had even climbed into the ring himself. It was the beginning of an impromptu free-for-all. He had knocked two opponents out cold, for which he was very proud of himself, but had also suffered a nasty split lip and some internal bruising in the process.

"Hey.. did you see the way that guy almost did a backflip to get away?" Trip reminisced lowly afterward, dodging a few times on instinct before Virus could manage to pat the tip of a handkerchief against his bloody lip. He was grinning widely, seemingly immune to both the pain inside his ribs and the sting of the disinfectant on the cloth. "He should've just ducked, then I couldn't have hit him."

"Mmn," said Virus vaguely. "Do you want me to go find you some ice? For the swelling."

"I don't want any. Ohh. For the swelling." Trip paused, wincing. "...yeah."

He stayed at home for the next few days.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Though they would not be ascending in rank any time soon, Virus and Trip were proving themselves to be a worthy asset to the yakuza. To an extent, they were trusted. They had never felt any real need to pocket more of their earnings than was their fair share (due to the extra income they received on a regular basis from Toue Inc.) and they had proven they could safely hold onto the yakuza's goods (drugs, guns, and vehicles) without running wild or stock-piling any of it for themselves. They had established themselves as semi-loyal to the group - not because they particularly wanted to be, but because they really had nothing better to do. This opened new windows and doors for them where ever they were tempted to look.

[I hesitated to write the human trafficking chapter of this story and as a result I haven't had time to finish it so I'll insert that here later. sorry in advance.]

They operated in a sort of rotation. One week collections, the next week patrol. Then sometimes, when they got bored, they would switch it up and go back to running pachinko scams for a while, accept bribes for protection from local businesses, or delve into the seedy underworld of human trafficking whenever their libidos started creeping up on them again.

But mostly, they liked to stick to being low-level enforcers. It kept them moving on to new and interesting things, seeing the sights, hearing the local gossip as they collected the rent. Being put in charge of a number of streets gave them a sense of pride and accomplishment. They officially had their own turf now, even if they had already controlled other areas as part of Morphine before. No longer did they hesitate to break up a fight if they stumbled across one by themselves.

[Bonus Dialogue: looks like that needs a good patch-up job]

At the end of a day working for the yakuza, Virus and Trip still had to file their reports to Toue. When they went home after dinner at their latest favourite restaurant and took off their shoes, work discussions would often follow them into the bedroom, gradually turning from yakuza activities to the latest Rhyme and Rib statistics.

[Say ‘Goodnight’ with the dirty rotten not-twins]

From where he sat reclined in his desk chair, playing a pencil between the fingers of his left hand as he poised it over the paper he had ready in front of him, Virus turned his head to look over at his neighbour in some puzzlement. Finding no answers nor confirmation there, he looked back to the teacher and raised his hand.

"Excuse me," said Virus, with the usual polite but indifferent tone of respect (the one he reserved for authority figures he was not impressed by). "What is the occasion, if I'm allowed to ask?"

His teacher's smile grew even wider. "Did you not know? Today is the 14th of February."

There was a slight murmur of understanding among the other children. Ohh. Valentine's Day. How strange that of all holidays, this was the one being acknowledged by the staff.

Meanwhile, several rooms apart, Trip's group was hearing a similar explanation as to why they were being given a reprieve from both school work and the program's routine testing. He listened with his chin resting on his folded arms upon the desk, although the stare directed at his teacher was blank, his bottom lip jutting out with disinterest.

"This is a day for enjoying the company of others and expressing what they mean to you. So, in addition, chocolates and candy grams will be sold in the cafeteria for the duration of the break. Give them to the people you like, or anyone you think is special," their teacher continued. His eyes seemed to be glittering with amusement. "You can also just write them a note yourself if you don't have any pocket money left for purchases."

"When can we go to the cafeteria?" some other kid was asking, but Trip was already distracted with his own thoughts. He wondered what he was supposed to do with this new information - who did he like? He didn't like anyone. He hated the brat that had just spoken; their voice was too loud and uneven and their nose was running. He could see the wetness glistening at the base of their nostrils. Every breath they took rasped on the inhale and fogged up his air. If he were closer instead of sitting across the room, Trip would have punched them. Or maybe not. If he hit them, they might start breathing more heavily and he didn't want to get any on him.

What had he been thinking about again? Oh yeah. Valentine's Day. The day when you were apparently supposed to pass candy and notes to people you thought were special. Nobody was special to Trip. Not in this room anyway. Everyone in here was dirty, raucous and false, and they all moved too fast. Even now, most of the other children had already left their seats and were heading out at the dismissal of their teacher and he had barely noticed. His mind turned to Virus, whose classroom would now be open for him to visit during the break. He wouldn't even get in trouble.

Gradually, Trip snapped open the lid of his desk and looked inside for some paper and a pencil. It seemed only natural that if he was going to give a note to someone for Valentine's Day, it would have to be Virus. Virus was the only person such an effort wouldn't be wasted on.

Trip wasn't sure how long it had been since he had started following Virus but the more time they spent together, the more he was quickly learning from him about all kinds of things. Virus had taught him (not quite intentionally but through Trip's own observations) that participation could yield some interesting and valuable results.

Ah, but now what were you supposed to say in a Valentine's letter? The teacher hadn't mentioned that part. Now that Trip thought about it, that seemed like a massive oversight. He had never done this sort of thing before, after all.

It took him most of their first free period to decide and then to make up his mind to go, so that when he finally arrived at Virus's classroom most of the older students had already returned to their seats in anticipation of the next lesson. Trip lingered in the doorway with his hands in his pockets to wait for permission to come in, ignoring the looks he was beginning to get from the other creatures in the room. He stared at the back of Virus's head as though the force from his gaze alone could penetrate his senior's skull but Virus didn't turn around. His fair, flat locks stayed firmly in place, unmoving, placing a barrier between his cold blue eyes and the boy standing at the back of the class seeking them out with a bored expression.

His teacher noticed Trip first. "Ah, Virus. I think you have a visitor."

Once acknowledged, Trip sloped into the room and made his way over to Virus's desk. It wasn't the first time he had come to visit his classroom - this was a regular habit of his, so Virus wasn't any more surprised than usual to see him here. He was smiling vaguely at someone else as Trip came to stand beside his chair. They didn't greet each other. Virus understood it that Trip didn't speak very much in front of other people and rarely pressed him for formalities. They didn't spend enough time with each other for him to feel comfortable doing that. He wasn't Trip's keeper, after all.

Still, it was often on Virus's mind that he might have been somewhat embarrassed by Trip's silent presence if he were the kind of person to care more about what other people were thinking. Having a younger admirer was both good and bad for appearances, in a way. Virus could see how his classmates eyed the red-haired kid with half smiles, just barely hiding gossip and giggles behind their hands. Their gaze linked Trip with Virus by association, and so he gave them the slightest small smile, imitating sheepishness he didn't truly feel. He then turned in his chair to try and read Trip's face without quite expecting to find anything. There were a lot of times when he wasn't sure what Trip was thinking.

Trip met his gaze briefly before his eyes trailed down Virus's nose, then made an indistinct sound and looked down as he pulled a folded square of paper out of his pocket. He had almost forgotten he had come to deliver this dumb Valentine's note thing. Trip set it down in front of Virus, who almost reached out to pick it up. He looked back at Trip, nonplussed. Trip watched him without saying anything. He was able to tell when Virus was confused by the way his eyebrows arched slightly above his glasses and his lips parted open. It was the expression he was most familiar with.

"What's this?" Virus finally asked, pulling the note towards him.

"It's for today," said Trip. He shoved his hands back into his pockets. "Valentine's."

Virus stared at him. There was a fresh wave of coos and giggles from the girls visiting at the desks in the corner of the room but he was too busy trying to work out Trip's intent to pay any mind to them. Whispers reached their ears nonetheless as the other students said things like, "Aww, that's so cute! That little boy has a crush on Virus!" and, "Heh, looks like Virus got himself a small admirer. I knew it had to be something like that. Look at how small he is. You're small, kid!"

Trip felt moderately uncomfortable as his eyes roamed the classroom, avoiding their smirks and knowing glances. He didn't really understand what they were saying but apart from the way he was still looking at Trip, Virus seemed to be cool with him being here, so Trip continued, "They said to give them to people who are different from everybody else." He watched as Virus hesitantly began to open the folded square of paper. "..I think that's what he said anyway. So, thanks," Trip added, remembering what he thought was the correct phrase in Japanese. Still slightly perturbed, Virus didn't correct him.

[FYI:  Trip said "domo," a colloquial "thanks," when he meant to say "dozo," or "here." Since my headcanon is that it's not his first language, that seems like it would be an easy mistake for someone still learning Japanese. Good jorb there, Trip.]

Virus read the note with some difficulty; Trip's handwriting was fairly awful. His eyes were a little wider than usual as they traced over the wide, sprawling letters.

The message was simple:

"Hi.

Hope today is good for you.

p.s. we could eat lunch together, if you want."

Virus looked back up at Trip, perplexed, and squinted to tense his facial muscles just enough to nudge his glasses back into place from where they had slipped down his nose an infinitesimal amount.

"Teach didn't say what to write in the notes though..." Trip mentioned lamely, looking away as he spoke. Oh, so he was self conscious, Virus realised to himself. He smiled a little, pleased to think he finally understood what was going on. He could also still feel the eyes of their many classroom onlookers and knew this would make an interesting story to relate to them later.

"Ah, I get it. Thanks, I guess," Virus said to Trip, folding the letter back over tidily. "But.. you know, girls are supposed to give these to the boys they like. That's what today is about."

"...like..." repeated Trip, rolling the word around on his tongue in an effort to remember its specific connotations. "...like?" His teacher had said that, hadn't he? Trip felt his face redden slightly. "That's not what I meant by it. I don't like you-" He said it too quickly and the others laughed. Trip cast his eyes down to the floor, thoroughly dampered. "Like... that..." he finished slowly.

Virus kept smiling and released the quietest breath of mirth through his nose at Trip's obvious discomfort. Trip glanced back up at him sidelong when he heard it.

"I know. It's fine. I'm just telling you," said Virus easily. "Now you know. So, isn't there someone else you'd rather give this to?" he asked, resting his elbow on the desk and holding up the folded note.

"No."

"Ah. Really?" said Virus in surprise.

"I don't like anyone."

"Well I don't have any use for it," Virus pointed out straightforwardly, his tone becoming a little more clipped. He was getting tired of holding out the slip of paper.

Trip paused while looking at it and pushed his tongue into his cheek, creating a bulge under his lip. "Okay," he said when he had made up his mind on what to do next. He took the paper back from Virus. "Sorry. Bye."

"Yep. See you later."

Virus turned back to face the front of the room again and Trip headed for the door, crumpling the balled-up note in his hand. He dropped it in the bin on his way out.

It wasn't until he was standing in line for the cafeteria, staring blankly at the pink cards and candy grams stacked on display (to be sold to the children who had demonstrated good financial planning skills - or a penchant for thievery), that it occurred to Trip what Virus had said about girls giving notes to boys to show they liked them on this holiday. He had seen one of those on Virus's desk, lined up neatly with the upper left corner.. No one had given Trip any. Not that he particularly would have wanted to receive one. Although, he saw as he slid his tray closer that some of them came with small chocolates and candy boxes. That wasn't such a bad deal, he thought, picking up a blank note with a lollipop attached.

Pulling out his standard issue wallet from the pockets of his shorts, Trip bought one of each with the money he had collected from mugging any students who looked at him or Virus funny in unattended halls and then stole another handful while the cafeteria workers weren't looking. He ripped off the cards and threw them out before even sitting himself down at a table to eat lunch. When Virus joined him shortly thereafter, he wouldn't share.

"Did you buy all of these yourself?" Virus inquired with raised eyebrows as he sat his tray down next to Trip.

"Sure did, so don't touch. You got your own," drawled Trip, lazily watching Virus from the corner of his eye. He spoke with one side of his mouth smashed full of chocolate. Virus did not lower his eyebrows (in fact they may have even heightened a bit more) but also did not protest, merely looking down at his plastic utensils to unsheathe them from the clear casing. Trip decided after lunch that he was full anyway after all, and let Virus have the last piece of chocolate wrapped in blue foil. There were still plenty of other candies left to stuff into his pockets for later.

A month passed. As he was packing up his desk in preparation for the lunch break, Trip unexpectedly found Virus leaning up against the edge of it, holding out a juicebox and a simple slip of paper. He was smiling. There was a glint of amusement in his eyes, behind the glasses.

"What's this?" said Trip.

"Happy White Day," Virus answered cheerfully.

"..eh..?"

"Read it," said Virus, nodding to the piece of paper he had pressed into Trip's hand. "It's an answer, a call-back to what you did on Valentine's Day. I think that's a tradition here in Japan, isn't it?"

Trip shrugged as he unfurled the slip. The message was even simpler than the one he had written to Virus, and penned by a much more precise hand, albeit with a slight left slant.

"Thanks for thinking of me."

That was all it said.

Trip looked up at Virus disbelievingly. Slowly, he broke into a lopsided, open-mouthed smile. From that angle and with the position of his dead eyes, he almost looked a little threatening. Virus wasn't too worried. That's how Trip was; it just meant he had found it funny. Or so he hoped. Virus returned the smile twice-fold just in case, narrowing his eyes shut briefly.

"Right?" he chuckled. "Come on, I think I heard there's a chance the cafeteria is selling marshmallows and white chocolate chip cookies today. I'll buy some for you, if you want."

Oh yeah. There were a few reasons he didn't dislike Virus.