Since he was little, Zanka’s been able to see them.
“Zanka? Come on, we’re leaving.” Goka calls, but Zanka’s fixated on the man lying on the floor of the tailor, his breaths laboured as he stares back at him.
No-one else has noticed him. Not Kyoka, not Goka, not the shopkeepers. The man’s eyes are hollow, and it’s scary– but Zanka’s seen it before.
“Can you… no, you can see me,” the man says, his voice distorted and distant, like Zanka’s listening to him through a radio in the next room over, “H-Hey, boy, you can see me, right?”
The man reaches out a hand. Zanka flinches.
“No, no,” the man hushes him, his voice a desperate plea, “I won’t hurt you. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Too many of them say that. Too many of the ones that have hurt him say that. Zanka only dares to look away for a split second to find his siblings amongst the racks of fabric, because he knows if he isn’t careful that–
He bites down on a cry as a cruel hand wraps around his ankle. “Please,” the man begs, “I– I left it under my bed. It’s– You have to make sure he doesn’t find them.”
Always, these people have requests. They can’t move on until they’ve been fulfilled, which isn’t so terrible until their motives are things that Zanka just can’t do. He’s only nine– these people can’t be helped by him. He can go and find hairpins and trinkets or write a letter or free a pet locked up inside, but he can’t kill people, or steal things, or report someone who he doesn’t know to the Hellguard.
“I’m sorry,” Zanka whispers, trying to tug his leg away, “I can’t– n-not now. Please ask later…”
“Zanka? What are you doing?” Goka asks, poking his head around the corner as the man’s nails dig in deeper to Zanka’s ankle, “Come here.”
Zanka can’t. He can’t move– he can only stare, terrified, at the man on the ground as his nails break through skin, sending bolts of sharp pain up Zanka’s leg. It hurts. He wants to tell the man to stop, but he can’t, not when Goka watches.
He’s tried to tell his siblings before, and they’ve punished him for it. Zanka must suffer in silence, else he’s punished further. But that ultimately leads to times like now, when Zanka can do nothing to free himself from a trap he’s entered and his siblings see only his disobedience.
Goka looks at Zanka strangely, because Zanka has yet to make eye-contact with him, and that’s not something Zanka does. Usually, Zanka’s always trying his best to be attentive. “Zanka, Kyoka’s put in the order for your clothes now, we’re done.”
“Mm,” Zanka nods, doing all that he can to suppress tears, “Okay.”
It hurts. It hurts even worse when the nails drag down, slowly, opening the welts into wounds and drawing blood that already begins to soak through the cloth wrapped over his skin.
“Goka? Zanka, come on,” Kyoka says, clicking her tongue as her steps echo closer, “I thought you two wanted to go for lunch?”
She rounds the corner, then, and there’s a mildly irritated expression on her face as she takes in the scene– Zanka, frozen still, Goka watching confusedly, and the man only Zanka can see pleading for him to do something Zanka cannot do for him.
“Zan–” Kyoka interrupts herself with a gasp, and Zanka feels relief wash over himself as finally, someone has noticed. “Zanka?!”
It’s funny, having a big sister– she’s so much stonger than him, which means it’s not an issue for her to pluck him up by the collar, tugging him free of the man’s grasp, before settling him in her arms.
“What the hell!” She barks, not at Zanka, not at the man who did this to him who has started to wail, but at the shop assistant, who is wide-eyed as they stare at Zanka’s ankle.
Zanka dares to glance at it, and suddenly understands why Kyoka is mad. Zanka, for once, wasn’t being dramatic; there is blood dripping down his ankle in vivid red rivulets, much to Zanka’s relief.
“I’m so sorry, I don’t know what–”
“I don’t care that you don’t know what happened! There’s– This is absurd!”
He’s relieved, because this time, the pain is real and tangible and no-one’s going to tell him he’s a liar for collapsing during training or being unable to sleep because those people are trying to get him to do things for them.
“–A child of the Nijiku family, mind you! If your store can’t abide by even the most simple of safety guidelines–”
“Sister, let me take him–”
“We spend our lives dedicated to securing peace, and if you cannot repay us in turn–”
Zanka feels himself being passed over to Goka and he makes no resistance– his leg hurts too much to think of anything other than the pain. He can hear his sister making threats towards the shopkeeper, and Zanka feels guilty for someone taking the blame for his own actions.
After all, Kyoka never even asked if he was okay.
He blinks away tears and curls in a little closer to Goka’s chest, but his eyes are still trained on the ghost curled up underneath the shelf. It looks truly sorry with its eyes downturned and bottom lip quivering, as if it is as close to tears as Zanka is.
“I’m sorry,” it trembles, “I can’t– you need to get those rings. In a silk bag, under my bed. There’s ten– I took them from a boy, but then he–”
“Please, forgive me. I am truly sorry– I will give you a generous discount on the clothes! I cannot afford more than that, but I swear–”
“–Relentless. I was hunted like an animal.”
Zanka feels a shiver run down his spine. Though a little overwhelmed by the cacophony of voices, he finds himself listening intently to the sorry-looking ghost… even if he is a thief. Even if he was a bad person, he didn’t deserve to die. Zanka believes that no-one deserves such a sad ending, but he knows Kyoka thinks otherwise– that’s why he keeps his mouth shut.
“Those rings… When your ankle heals, I want you to go to my home…” the ghost rattles off an address, and Zanka repeats it over and over in his head until it sticks.
It’s somewhere outside the main city, he quickly realises, and he feels a little ill for it. He’s not really supposed to leave the city, given that the outer ring is dangerous; outside the safe, clean air of Kamuatari, the outer city Kabe-gaichou is where a lot of sick and poor people live. Zanka hasn’t ever been out there without his family before, so the request from the ghost is a little daunting.
His ankle hurts. He feels tired. He wants to go home and think on it. Goka is walking away, and Zanka– knowing that he cannot bid farewell to the ghost– throws it a little hand signal and hope it catches the meaning.
Zanka is going out of the city on his own for the first time tomorrow, and he’s going to find that ghost’s stolen rings. After that…
…After that, what is he supposed to do with them?
“Just don’t let that monster get them! Anyone but him!”
Maybe Zanka could give them to his siblings. He wonders if Kyoka likes rings. Goka might wear one on a necklace. Maybe they could all have matching ones, and Zanka would be able to feel like he really fits in with the two of them. They’re both so much older than him, after all, so if Zanka can do anything to get them to look at him as an equal, he’ll take it.
“It’s alright. We’ll head back through the city centre and to the clinic. I’ll bill it to the estate.”
“Understood. He looks close to passing out, though…”
“Is he pale?”
When Goka replies, Zanka, with his ear pressed to his brother’s chest, feels the vibrations rumble through his entire body. “Not really.”
“Then let him rest. It’s only a short walk.”
Zanka feels a bit sick. He doesn’t complain, though– his sister seems quite on edge and he worries that if he says something, she’ll get madder. Thus, he keeps his mouth shut and his head down and tries not to think about the throbbing of his ankle as he repeats the address given to him by the ghost over in his mind like a mantra.
////
lowkey... I've had this idea for a super long time (I checked, and i wrote this october of last year?!), but I've had no idea what to do with it. I was clearing out some drafts and sorting them into documents when I realised that this could be zanjab !!! lmk if u have thoughts or enjoy this 'cause i might continue it, i might not. need ideas to get this idea off the ground ahah. It'd be really, really cute to see little zanka and little jabber interact, wouldn't it?!
also! have a lil music rec from Atom that I've really been wondering could be an inspiration for this fic... such a nice listen, i recommend!!
