ɢᴀɴɢ-𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗦! [ ᴛʀ x ᴍᴀʟᴇ! ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ]
CH.8
Real man — Beabadoobee
And I already told you I'm not part of the band
Please forgive me just for thinking it's a fleeting romance
I guess no one ever taught you how to be a real man
Rindou leaned against a lamppost, chewing gum and looking suspiciously at Ran.
“Okay, explain it again. Slowly. In human words.” He squinted.
“Not whatever alien language your brain uses when you’re being stupid.” Ran rolled his eyes dramatically.
“This isn’t stupid. It’s brilliant. Listen.” He grabbed Rindou by the shoulders like a cult leader about to recruit a new believer.
“We are going to frame Shinichiro.”
“…Excuse me?” Rindou blinked.
“Frame him for WHAT?! Tax fraud?”
“For hitting you with his motorcycle, idiot.” Rindou’s jaw dropped.
“Ran, that’s literally illegal—”
“Yeah. So is half the shit we’ve ever done.”
“…touché.” Ran smirked.
“Listen. Shinichiro is completely weak to one thing.”
“What, his bike?”
“M/n.”
Rindou raised a brow.
“Oh right. He is a M/n simp.”
“Exactly. Shinichiro worships M/n. If we tell him, ‘Our father is gonna find out…’” Ran smirked even wider, leaning in like a villain.
“—he’ll fold. Instantly. Cry, apologize, spill everything.” Rindou crossed his arms.
“You think he’ll just… give us information about M/n’s past because you name-dropped that old fart?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Shinichiro has negative resistance to anything involving M/n.”
"Okay, how long have you've been stalking Shinichiro to even know that—"
"That doesn't matter" Ran starts pacing like a general planning war.
“He panics when M/n frowns. He evaporates when M/n compliments him. If we say Dad will get mad?” Ran snaps his fingers.
“He’ll break like a cheap toy.” Rindou sighed.
“So what’s my role in this genius-level stupidity?” Ran pointed at him.
“You’re the bait.”
“…I beg your fucking pardon?”
“You run into the road. You pretend his motorcycle hit you. Then you fall. Dramatically. Like… telenovela dramatics.” Rindou stared.
“You want me to pretend to get hit by a moving motorcycle—”
“He’ll be going slow. Probably.”
“Probably?!” Ran waved him off.
“And then I burst out like a dramatic older brother and I accuse him. Loudly and Aggressively. I’ll say things like ‘DO YOU KNOW WHO OUR FATHER IS?!’ and ‘M/N WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!’” Rindou blinked.
“…you’re literally weaponizing M/n, huh?.”
“Yes. Beautiful plan, right?”
"It is when im not the bait."
"Don't you want to know M/n's secrets or not?"
Rindou sighed, massaging his temples.
“Let’s go. Time to manipulate a grown man.”
Rindou muttered under his breath.
“M/n's gonna kill us.”
The plan was simple.
Well, simple for Ran, which meant it was probably stupid.
“Okay, Rindou. You run dramatically, fall dramatically, cry dramatically. Got it?” Rindou nodded, stretching his neck like a professional actor preparing for Broadway.
“Got it.” They waited behind a street post until Shinichiro’s motorcycle approached the quiet road.
“Three… two… RUN, YOU LOSER—” Rindou sprinted across the road just as Shinichiro slowed down.
He put on the most Oscar-worthy performance: a dramatic gasp, a limp, then an exaggerated dive to the ground.
“Oh my god—!” Shinichiro immediately hopped off the bike, panicked.
“Kid, are you okay?! Did I hit you?!”
“N-No… I mean—OW—MY LIFE FLASHED BEFORE MY EYES,” Rindou said, grabbing his knee like a telenovela star. Ran stepped out from behind a tree, pointing accusingly.
“YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?!”
Shinichiro blinked. “W–wait—your brother? I didn’t even touch him!” Ran puffed up his chest like a territorial rooster.
“DON’T LIE TO ME. You almost killed him. You know who our father is?!”
“I… don’t even know your father,” Shinichiro muttered, confused.
“This is manslaughter!” Ran declared, absolutely confident even though he didn’t know what the word truly meant.
“HUH?! That’s not even—listen, kid—" Shinichiro lifted his hands in surrender, trying to calm him down.
Ran—because he is Ran. took the gesture as aggression.
“What, you gonna fight me now?!”
“NO?? I’m literally apologizing—” And that’s when Ran shoved him.
Not hard. Just a dumb, teenage “I wanna be intimidating” shove. But Shinichiro wasn’t expecting it, He stumbled backward. And his back hit the parked motorcycle behind him.
Which tipped sideways.
And Rindou, who was unfortunately still on the ground doing his dramatic rolling-around-in-pain acting, didn’t have time to move.
—WHAM!
The motorcycle fell straight onto Rindou’s hip and leg.
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH—RAN!!! WHAT THE FUCK—THIS ONE’S REAL!” Shinichiro’s soul left his body.
“Oh my god! oh my god! kid! KID! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Ran froze, Rindou screeched in agony, Shinichiro tried to lift the motorcycle with shaky, panicked hands.
A neighbor watching from their window thought a mugging was happening and immediately called the police.
I guess Ran's plans didnt work.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The room was painfully quiet.
Ran and Rindou sat on a metal bench, both looking like puppies caught chewing on the neighbor’s slippers.
Shinichiro sat beside them, stiff as a broom, hands folded on his lap like he was ready to fold anytime soon.
SLAM!
The door burst open.
“M/N—!” Shinichiro yelped. Ran and Rindou flinched. M/n stormed inside with the aura of a disappointed parent.
“WHERE. ARE. THEY?!” Everyone in the room, even the officers point towards the three. M/n inhaled through his nose like he needed divine patience to prevent murder.
He walked toward them slowly, each footstep echoing like a death sentence.
“You two,” he pointed at the twins,
“and YOU—” he pointed sharply at Shinichiro, who squeaked.
“—are going to explain, CLEARLY and CALMLY, why the hell I was told my son is injured and why you three geniuses are inside a police station instead of literally anywhere else.”
Shinichiro swallowed. Ran was about to speak
But M/n held a hand up.
“No. Not you.”
“You. Start. Because if these two explain it first, I swear I’m going to jail.” He pointed at Shinichiro who deflated like an old balloon.
“Okay… okay, M/n listen—this is going to sound really bad—”
“Bad?” M/n repeated slowly.
“Worse than me being told my CHILD is injured?” Ran and Rindou shrank in their seats. Shinichiro flapped his hands like a panicked pigeon.
“I-It was an accident! They—uh—they kind of… orchestrated something?”
“Wow, snitch.” Ran muttered, M/n turned to Ran with the speed of a hawk.
“Do. Not.” Ran shut his mouth immediately.
Shinichiro continued,
“I was riding my motorcycle and suddenly Rindou he RAN into the street! I braked! I didn’t hit him—I swear I didn’t! but he fell! And then Ran came out accusing me of attempted murder—”
“I DID NOT SAY ‘ATTEMPTED’!” Ran protested.
M/n shot him a death glare.
“Shut. Up.” Ran shut. Up.
“And then, um—Ran pushed me—” Shinichiro nearly cried. M/n’s head snapped toward Ran again.
“You WHAT.”
“It was a small push—”
“It knocked my motorcycle over!” Shinichiro squeaked.
“And it fell on Rindou!” M/n screamed inside but kept his face neutral. He turned to Rindou.
“Why were you ON THE GROUND under a motorcycle.” Rindou lifted his hand like he was answering a math question he didn’t study for.
“…method acting?” M/n inhaled sharply.
Exhaled, and then smiled.
That was the dangerous sign.
“Bro… he’s smiling…” Ran whispered, M/n clasped his hands together, voice trembling with anger.
“Let me get this straight.” He counted with his fingers:
“ONE: You two decided to throw yourselves in front of a man’s motorcycle.” Rindou nodded slowly.
“TWO: You involved a man who has done nothing but be nice to me.” Shinichiro’s eyes sparkled with hope. M/n shot him a glare.
“Don’t look happy about that.” Shinichiro immediately wilted.
“And THREE: You framed him. Got hurt for real. And dragged me out of work to fix this.”
Silence.
Ran and Rindou nodded. M/n slapped both hands over his face.
“I’m raising idiots,” he muttered, The door opened and the officer peeked in.
“Sir M/n? We just need your signature to discharge your kids. And the other… adult.” Shinichiro raised his hand with shame.
M/n groaned.
“I'll be there in a minute." M/n's dangerous aura completely did a full 360 and went to a calm and kind man, like he didnt just yell at the three idiots.
“And Shinichiro,” M/n said, voice soft but threatening. Shinichiro straightened.
“Yes…?”
“If you ever let my kids drag you into something stupid again—”
“They tricked me—!”
“—I will make you regret it.”
Shinichiro nodded violently.
“Yes sir. Absolutely sir. Never again sir.” Ran whispered to Rindou,
“Bro… M/n's scaring Shinichiro more than the cops.” Rindou whispered back,
“Bro, ? M/n's scaring ME more than the cops.”
M/n rubbed his temples before walking out of the room to sign the papers.
After signing the discharge papers with the kind of force that nearly snapped the pen in half, M/n grabbed both Ran and Rindou by the ears.
“OW—! OW—!! DAD—!!”
“WE’RE IN PUBLIC—!!” M/n yanked them closer anyway.
“GOOD. LET THE PUBLIC WITNESS WHAT I’M GOING THROUGH.” Ran’s eyes watered. Rindou was already repenting in his head.
The officer politely looked away, pretending this was normal parenting procedure.
“You two,” M/n hissed, “are grounded until further notice.
Rindou squeaked, “It wasn’t fake, the bike DID hit—OW!” M/n tugged harder.
“YOU. CAUSED. THAT.”
Shinichiro, who had been inching his way toward the exit like a fugitive, froze when M/n’s voice cut through the room.
“Shinichiro."
"Y–Yes, M/n…?”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“N–Nowhere.” His voice cracked.
M/n crossed his arms.
“Good. Because you’re not done.” Ran and Rindou perked up, glaring at Shinichiro like two wolves spotting a limping deer. M/n continued, “As punishment… you’ll look after my sons while I’m at work.”
Shinichiro’s soul visibly left his body.
“W–What? NO. M/n, they hate me! look at them! They’re plotting something! M/n, PLEASE—” M/n raised an eyebrow.
“Do you want to be forgiven or not?”
“Yes.”
Shinichiro answered instantly, without breathing. Not even a pause. Not even a thought. Just pure simp instinct.
Ran smirked. “Wow. That was fast.” Rindou clicked his tongue. “Pathetic.”
M/n patted Shinichiro’s shoulder like blessing a sacrificial lamb.
“They’re your responsibility until I get home.” Ran and Rindou grinned at Shinichiro like demons in a horror movie.
M/n then turned to his sons, voice dropping into a warning.
“And you two. Behave. No scamming people. No pretending to be injured. No framing innocent men.” Ran and Rindou rolled their eyes.
M/n twist their ear once more.
"I didn't hear 'yes' from you two..." M/n glared.
"OW—OKAY, FINE! YES WHATEVER!" M/n finally releases the twin's red ears.
Then with one final, sweet-but-deadly stare, M/n said:
“I better not get another phone call from the police today.” Ran, Rindou, and Shinichiro all nodded in synchronized terror.
M/n left the station, The door closed. Then Ran slowly turned his head toward Shinichiro.
"So..." Ran started, "Nervous?" Rindou smirked.
“…I want to go home.” Shinichiro whispered.
.
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.
.
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As soon as they got home, Ran and Rindou immediately took the couch as soon as they entered the house, sprawling across it with the dramatic heaviness of two people who believed they had survived a war.
They grabbed the remote, turned on the TV, and pretended Shinichiro didn’t exist.
Shinichiro, meanwhile, hovered awkwardly near them before choosing the safest place possible: a separate single chair across from the twins, as though he instinctively knew sitting beside them might get him murdered.
He cleared his throat softly.
“So… um,” he began, hands clasped tightly in his lap,
“I didn’t know you two were M/n’s adopted sons.” Neither twin looked at him. Both kept watching TV like he was just background noise.
“And… well… I definitely didn’t expect to meet you under… that situation.” He laughed nervously. Still no reaction.
“Why did you even do something like that? The whole… stunt? I assumed you were just doing it for fun. You know, boys being boys.” He waved a hand, trying to lighten the mood.
“M/n has told me plenty of stories about your antics, so I figured…” That made Ran and Rindou finally pause, Barely noticeable unless Shinichiro was paying attention.
Shinichiro continued, oblivious:
“He told me about the day he adopted you two. You apparently jumped him right away. Broke his arm and everything.”
The twins both subtly froze.
“He said he didn’t get hurt, of course, because of his condition, not feeling pain and all. but still! It shocked him.” Shinichiro chuckled at the memory.
“He ranted about it to me for hours.” Ran and Rindou slowly turned their heads toward each other. Not speaking. Just exchanging a loaded glance.
Shinichiro kept going.
“And then the time you disappeared during dinner. He was so worried, drove all night looking for you both. When he finally brought you home, you refused to eat anything he made. He was really stressed about that.” The twins blinked. Another long, quiet look between them.
“And then—oh, right—” Shinichiro snapped his fingers.
“He also told me how hard it was because you wouldn’t warm up to him. He was really trying. He even asked me for advice.” Ran’s expression sharpened, just a little. Shinichiro sighed softly, smiling gently.
“M/n and I are pretty close. He vents to me all the time, so… I guess I’ve heard more than most people.” That sentence did it.
Ran and Rindou turned toward each other again, their voices quiet but their expressions darkening ever so slightly.
They didn’t have to talk.
Their looks said enough:
So M/n told him all of that?
M/n talked about us?
To him?
Shinichiro, still unaware of the storm he’d accidentally stirred, clapped his hands once to break the silence.
“Well! Anyway! I’m sure we’ll get along just fine. Your dad trusts me, so—”
He stopped when he finally noticed the way both twins were staring at him from the couch.
A chill crawled down Shinichiro’s spine.
“…right?” he added weakly. Ran blinked slowly.
Rindou tilted his head. Shinichiro swallowed.
He should not have said any of that.
“How close are you and our dad?” Shinichiro’s face lit up, completely misreading the situation.
“Oh, very close!” he answered instantly.
“M/n and I talk all the time. He trusts me a lot, actually. I’ve been his go-to person for years.” Ran nodded slowly, like a shark circling after smelling blood.
Rindou tilted his head.
“For how long have you two been friends?”
“Oh, since we were teenagers,” Shinichiro said proudly, relaxing in his chair.
“About… well, decades. We grew up together. He was always wild, but we clicked. There's not a day where were not together, so—” Aha, That was all they needed.
If Shinichiro had known M/n that long…
If he’d known him when he was younger…
Then he must know something.
Something from before M/n adopted them, before the calm café owner image,
Something from M/n’s past.
Rindou sat back, suddenly much calmer. Much more collected.
“Since you’ve known him that long,” he said casually,
“you must know a lot about who he was back then.” Shinichiro chuckled, missing every red flag in the room.
“Well, of course. We practically grew up together!” Ran laced his fingers together, staring at him with a polite, almost gentle smile.
“Oh?” he said quietly.
“Then you won’t mind telling us.” Shinichiro blinked.
“T-Telling you… what exactly?” Rindou leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand.
“Everything.” A pause. “About our dad. The real him.” Shinichiro’s smile faded.
A visible chill ran through him.
Something in their eyes told him this wasn’t innocent curiosity. This wasn’t bonding. This wasn’t even about their earlier stunt anymore.
No.
This was an investigation. And the twins, like M/n, were predators when they wanted answers.
Ran tilted his head slightly, voice soft but firm.
“You said he trusts you, right?” He gestured with an open palm.
“So. Start talking.”
“Well— uh— M/n was… he was definitely… a… normal kid?” he said with a tiny, squeaky laugh.
Rindou raised a brow. Ran tilted his head.
“Normal?” Ran repeated.
“Our dad?” Shinichiro nodded aggressively.
“Yes! Very normal! So normal it’s— it’s almost boring! He was practically a wall!” Ran didn’t look convinced. Rindou didn’t look convinced.
No one was convinced. Not even Shinichiro, and he was the one saying it.Rindou’s tone dropped.
“Really.” “Yes!” Shinichiro squeaked.
“Totally! Normal!” Ran tapped a finger on his knee, expression unreadable.
But then, Shinichiro slipped.
“But I mean, he didn’t get that nickname for nothin—” His eyes widened. His soul left his body. His hands flew to his mouth so fast he slapped his own nose.
The twins froze. Ran leaned forward.
“What nickname?” Shinichiro shook his head violently, hands still clamped over his mouth.
Rindou narrowed his eyes.
“You just said he had a nickname.”
“I—NO—he did NOT— I mean YES— I MEAN—” Shinichiro flailed.
“It’s not what you think!” The twins stared at him. Hard.
Shinichiro remembered something in that exact moment— M/n’s voice from weeks ago:
“Don’t tell them anything, Shin. It’s fun seeing them struggle.” Shinichiro internally screamed.
Fun? FUN?! I’m about to DIE because you want entertainment?!
M/n, please, this is not friendship. This is bullying. Stop being cute for once and save me—
He imagined the future:
M/n standing under a spotlight, staring at him with betrayal.
“Shinichiro… I can’t believe you told them.”
“We are no longer friends.”
“Also? I will never marry you.”
“NOOOO!” Shinichiro accidentally yelled out loud. Ran and Rindou both jolt. Rindou squints. “…Who are you yelling at?”
“N-NO ONE!”
Shinichiro tried to stand up, maybe escape, maybe faint, maybe launch himself out the window, but Ran casually stepped forward and planted his boot firmly on Shinichiro’s foot.
Shinichiro bit his lip to hold in a scream.
Ran leaned down with a pleasant smile.
“Sit down.” Rindou cracked his knuckles.
“Tell us.” Shinichiro began sweating like he ran a marathon in a sauna while wearing three winter coats.
“I really don’t know anything!” he said weakly. “M/n never talked about his past! Not once! I swear!” Ran picked up his baton, twirling it.
Rindou cracked his knuckles again. Shinichiro panicked.
“I MEAN— HE DID— BUT— I DIDN’T— I WASN’T LISTENING—” Ran’s eyes narrowed. Rindou tilted his head. And with all the pressure crushing his brain, Shinichiro slipped again.
“He only mentioned that incident that one time—”
All three froze. Ran slowly lowered his baton. Shinichiro realized what he said too late. He slapped both hands over his mouth again.
But the damage? Already done.
Ran leaned forward first, elbows on his knees, voice deceptively light.
“So, Shinichiro… what incident were you talking about awhile ago?” Shinichiro blinked.
“Huh?” “That thing,” Rindou pressed, eyes narrowing.
“You said something about an incident that involved M/n. What incident?” Shinichiro stiffened. Shit.
He hadn’t meant to reference it. It just slipped out when he was oversharing like an idiot.
“I—It’s nothing serious,” he lied quickly, waving his hands.
“Just—y’know, something from the past! A little scuffle! Not important!” Ran and Rindou exchanged a knowing look.
“Not important?” Ran pulled his baton from his waistband and casually aligned the tip with Shinichiro’s forehead.
“Then you won’t mind explaining.”
Shinichiro’s smile trembled.
“I—I don’t know much, actually—” Rindou grabbed Shinichiro’s hand. Hard. Fingers wrapping around his like a vice.
“If you don’t know much,” he murmured,
“then you won’t mind if I break a few of these.”
Shinichiro squeaked. Oh god oh god oh god—
His mind split into two screaming halves:
Demon Shinichiro:
Bro just tell them. Snitch. Snitch for your life. That baton is metal.
Angel Shinichiro:
“No! M/n trusted you! He said never tell them! Think of the reward! Think of the FUTURE!”
He imagined it, A fantasy sequence playing in his brain: M/n, glowing like a saint, cupping his face.
‘Thank you for being loyal, Shinichiro. Let’s get married.’ Real Shinichiro sobbed internally.
“I-I can withstand torture,” he whispered to himself. Ran pressed the baton harder.
“No, I can’t,” Shinichiro immediately corrected.
Angel Shinichiro slapped him.
“We must hold on! THINK OF HIS LOVE!” Demon Shinichiro rolled his eyes.
"He won’t love you if you’re dead, idiot."
Rindou’s grip tightened.
Angel Shinichiro: “NO! DON’T SAY IT—!”
Demon Shinichiro: Say it. Say it now or you’ll be fertilizer.
Ran was slowly pulling back the baton like a baseball bat. Rindou’s grip tightened as he counted down,
“Three… two—”
“I’LL TALK!” Shinichiro screamed. Both twins paused.
“I’ll– I’ll say it, okay!? J-Just DON’T BREAK ME!” Ran lowered the baton a little.
“Then spill.” Shinichiro gulped, sweating bullets. He still tried, tried to protect M/n for one heroic second.
“I can’t! I promised him—” Rindou twisted his wrist a little.
“OKAY, OKAY—” Shinichiro blurted everything
"M/N WAS THE NIGHTINGALE OF EXTRAVAGANZA!"
The room snapped into silence. Ran’s baton stopped mid-swing. Rindou’s fingers uncurled, his grip dropping away from Shinichiro’s hand.
Both twins stared at him, stunned.
“…Nightingale…?” Ran breathed. “What—”
Rindou blinked rapidly.
“What do you mean Nightingale—”
“Shinichiro Sano.”
A cold voice cut through the room like a blade.
All three of them froze. The front door was wide open, but none of them heard it open.
M/n stood there, grocery bag still in his hand, eyes locked onto Shinichiro with a look that could kill a god. His voice was low, furious, and dangerous.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Shinichiro swallowed so loudly it echoed.
“…oh no.”
A/N: Fucking hell, I'm back.
(After not having enough time and the motivation to write because of school, I finally have the motivation to write again. I think it was the 'high honors' I got after 1st sem ended, that motivated me)
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