Chapter Text
Riku made a face as Iori forcefully wrapped a scarf around his neck, securing it to ensure that it wouldn’t be blown away by the wind. “Iori, it’s not that cold out today,” Riku grumbled, though according to the news it was actually only 6°C. “I’m going to get an attack because of how tight this scarf is, not because of the temperature. I’ll put the scarf on if the winds pick up, alright? Besides, we’ll be indoors for most of the day, so it’s fine.”
Looking at his boyfriend rather doubtfully, Iori sighed and loosened the scarf. “Okay, fine. I’m putting more heat packs in your bag too, just in case,” he said, folding said scarf before placing it into Riku’s bag. “Can you get two bottles of water from the kitchen?”
“I already brought them here just now,” Riku replied immediately. “You’re not my mum, Iori. You know you don’t have to keep on worrying about me like this. It’s weird because I’m older than you.”
“It’s hard not to worry about you, Riku-san,” Iori said, though he understood where his boyfriend was coming from. He looked over the contents of the bag once more before zipping it up and handing it to the alpha. “I think we’re all set.”
Heaving a small sigh of relief, because Iori could worry about him for hours on end, Riku grabbed his bag and opened the door.
It was the first week of February, just a few days after Iori’s birthday and a few days before Valentine’s Day. The couple hadn’t been able to go out and celebrate on Iori’s birthday itself, nor had they really had time in the week before it, and they wouldn’t have time to go out on Valentine’s Day either. The company had started a new project in which IDOLiSH7 would go out together on each member’s birthday and have a celebration, planned by the other members and the production team. The outing would be recorded and made into a DVD, and then the group would head down to said venue where fans would be waiting to celebrate with them.
They’d cut the cake and sing the birthday song in front of the fans, give some teasers about the things they did earlier in the day, and have a short meet-and-greet session with the birthday boy. There was also a photo taking session for lucky fans, and then they’d finally end the day and go home.
Much to everyone’s relief, though, the project would only be for this year. As much as they loved their fans, they couldn’t imagine having to spend every birthday working the day away. “We’re looking into something simpler next year,” Tsumugi had assured, “like doing a live radio for an hour or so.”
Riku wasn’t about to let Iori get away without a birthday date, so he’d been quick to plan something on the off day closest to Iori’s birthday. Despite all the times they’d been to zoos and animal cafes, the duo hadn’t gone to an aquarium together yet, which was why they were going there for their date today.
Walking down the corridor, Iori looked into the living area and called out, “We won’t be back for dinner.”
“You sure you don’t want to have lunch before leaving?” Mitsuki asked, already in the midst of preparing food for the rest of the group. It was only 10am, but he had to leave for a schedule before noon.
Iori shook his head in reply. “We’ll grab something to eat at the mall. See you tonight, nii-san.”
“Have fun at the aquarium.”
“Bye, Mitsuki!”
They stepped out of the dorm, had a strong gust of wind blow in their faces, and Iori raised a brow at Riku.
With a defeated groan, Riku opened his bag and took his scarf out once more.
---
Gaku frowned at himself in the mirror, running his fingers through his hair and spraying it with hairspray for the fifth time. His phone buzzed with a message on his dresser, and Gaku set his hairspray down before looking at the message.
I’m outside your house. It’s cold.
Eyes widening when he noticed the time, Gaku hurriedly threw his phone into his bag, shrugging a jacket on before rushing out of the house.
Leaning against the wall, Tenn looked up from his phone when he heard the gates open, nodding at Gaku and pocketing his phone. “Two minutes. That was faster than I expected.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t decide how I wanted to do my hair,” Gaku explained, earning himself a very unimpressed look from his boyfriend. Tenn always seemed to look good so effortlessly, and Gaku wanted to at least look decent standing beside the younger. “I’m sorry, alright? I’ll be on time next time.”
“It’d be great if you could be the one coming to my house, but,” Tenn shrugged, “Kujo-san can’t know.”
“Maybe in a year or so we can tell him. It’d probably be easier if we got through my old man first.”
Humming as they walked towards the train station, Tenn replied, “I can’t imagine he’ll be very impressed to find out that two of his top talents, one of whom is his only son, are dating each other. It’s good that Anesagi-san backs us up though, and Ryuu too.”
Gaku nodded in agreement, hands shoved in his pockets to protect them from the cold. When they neared the corner leading to the train station, Gaku stopped Tenn and nodded in the opposite direction. The younger frowned in confusion and asked, “Is this some secret back road I don’t know about?”
“Actually, we’re driving today.”
Tenn’s brows furrowed more. “I’m not riding a soba delivery vehicle again, Gaku.”
Only letting out an amused chuckle, Gaku led the way to their destination.
It was only a two-minute walk from where they’d been, a sheltered car park just two blocks behind the Yaotome home. The gears clicked into place in Tenn’s brain at the same time that Gaku took out a set of car keys from his pocket, pointing it at the black Audi parked in the corner and unlocking the car. He turned back to look at his boyfriend with a satisfied smile. “Will you ride in this, then?”
“You bought a car?” Tenn asked in disbelief. “Why?”
“It’ll be much faster than taking public transport all the time, and always taking a taxi made no sense to me financially. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t already have a license. This way, I can drive to pick you up near your place instead of us always having to meet here.”
“And you’re just going to park it here all the time?”
“Until I find a more viable solution, I suppose so. My old man doesn’t exactly know that I bought this, plus our parking space is being used by him now.” Gaku tugged on Tenn’s wrist, leading him to the car and opening the passenger seat. “Be honoured; you’re my first passenger.”
“Is that so…” Tenn trailed off, giving Gaku a cheeky grin. “What if I say I want to drive?”
Gaku narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend suspiciously. “Can you drive? I don’t want to die just yet.”
“I started learning how to drive in America, idiot. I got my license after coming back to Japan.” Looking at Gaku’s hesitant expression, Tenn snorted and climbed into the passenger seat. It was too easy to tease the elder, especially since Gaku was still worried that he’d accidentally offend Tenn somehow and end up getting dumped. “I was just kidding about wanting to drive. Hurry up, Mr. Driver.”
Sighing in exasperation, Gaku quickly got into the driver’s seat and locked the doors. The windows were tinted dark enough that people wouldn’t be able to see inside the car, so Tenn casually slipped his hand into Gaku’s as they pulled out of the car park. A small smile made its way onto Gaku’s face when he felt Tenn’s fingers interlace with his – they hardly ever got to hold hands when they were outside, not even when it was late at night for fear of being seen. It was only in the dark of cinemas that they’d allow themselves the luxury of linking their hands together under the armrest.
Tenn wore a smile of his own as well, still pleasantly surprised that Gaku had gone and gotten a car. It would certainly be more convenient for them to go out now, and they’d have a lot more privacy when they did go out. They hadn’t gone any further than the kiss on the cheek on their first date over six months ago, and Tenn would be lying if he said that he wasn’t at least a little bit frustrated.
He wanted to know what kissing Gaku would feel like.
Pushing his somewhat indecent thoughts away, Tenn looked out the window and said, “You never did tell me where we were going today.”
“Remember what you texted me after our first date?” Gaku asked in reply.
Head whipping back to look at his boyfriend, Tenn asked, “The aquarium?”
Ever since their first date in July, the couple hadn’t had time to properly go out again until today. Over the past months, they’d only managed to go out for a meal together before or after schedules, perhaps catch a late-night movie now and then. As ridiculous as it was, Gaku and Tenn hadn’t been able to have a common full day off for half a year now. If Gaku was off, Tenn would have a photoshoot. If Tenn was off, Gaku would have an interview. They had the occasional half day off, but there wasn’t enough time to go out properly before heading off to a schedule.
Gaku felt terrible for delaying this date until now, especially when it was Tenn who’d taken the initiative to suggest a date at the aquarium. Seeing the surprised delight on Tenn’s face now made it worth it; he’d probably expected Gaku to forget his request by now.
With a nod, Gaku confirmed, “The aquarium.”
---
Riku thanked the counter lady and took their tickets from her before heading back to where Iori was waiting. “Done,” he said, holding the tickets up. “We should grab some food before heading in. What do you want to eat?”
“Something warm and soupy would be great.”
“I think I saw an udon place on the ground floor,” Riku said, letting Iori keep their tickets before he inevitably dropped and lost them.
As they went one floor up, Riku caught sight of a familiar head of pink hair walking with a taller figure into the building. He couldn’t help but gape slightly, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. A quick look at Iori confirmed that the omega hadn’t seen the duo enter the mall. He could only hope that things stayed this way for the remainder of the day.
Just in case, though, Riku sent a quick message to Gaku to confirm his suspicions. Yaotome-san… by any chance, are you and Tenn-nii at Sunshine Aquarium?
His phone pinged with a reply barely a minute later. Yeah. How’d you know?
I’m here with Iori too. Do you think it’s possible to avoid running into each other? I don’t think Tenn-nii and Iori will be very happy if we end up seeing each other.
As much as Riku wanted his boyfriend and brother to get along, he knew that today wasn’t the day to start getting them to like each other. Besides, it was obvious that both couples were on a date, and it wasn’t easy to make time to go out like this. The last thing Riku wanted was for Iori’s belated birthday celebration to be ruined.
Luckily for him, Gaku seemed to agree with him. I’ll do what I can.
Resisting the urge to heave a sigh, Riku kept his phone and looked at Iori only to be met with a disapproving frown. “You were awfully occupied with your phone, Nanase-san,” Iori commented dryly, reverting to using Riku’s family name when they were outside. “What was that about?”
“I saw someone I knew and told them not to disturb me if they see me,” Riku said, trying his best to be honest. Iori was good at seeing through his lies, so it was better to just be vague with his reply.
Iori nodded in understanding, though his lips were still slightly pursed. “If it’s not urgent, maybe try not to use your phone?” he asked, trying not to sound like he was complaining. It had been some time since they’d gone on a date, and it was for his birthday to boot. The omega hoped he wasn’t being too unreasonable to want Riku’s attention on him. “I don’t like when you get distracted on a date.”
Instead of being irritated, Riku simply grinned teasingly. “I never thought the day would come when you’d be so openly needy,” he commented, laughing when Iori huffed in annoyance. Even though Iori didn’t show his embarrassment outwardly, he couldn’t quite hide it from his scent. “You’re the main lead of the day, alright? I won’t text anymore, I promise.”
“You’d better. I’m starving; let’s order our food.”
After placing their orders, Riku pulled out a brochure he’d snagged from the counter and handed it to Iori, having already checked out the aquarium’s website days ago. “There’s a bunch of performances throughout the day, most of which are repeated at least once,” Riku said, flipping the brochure to the schedule of performances. “But! There’s only one timeslot for the otters’ greeting time!”
Riku watched Iori struggle to conceal his excitement, eyes almost sparkling in anticipation. He knew Iori definitely wouldn’t want to miss that performance – Iori loved all small animals, but otters were near the top on his list of favourites.
“There’s also a special deep-sea exhibition,” Riku continued, pulling out a separate leaflet. “If we eat quickly enough, we might be able to finish one round on the first and second floors before the sea lion performance at 12.30. There’s also the underwater performance at 1, a fish feeding at 1.15, and penguin feeding at 1.30. I was thinking of going for the guided exhibition, but it takes a while and we might miss a part of the otters’ greeting time, so… why’re you looking at me like that?”
Iori hadn’t even realised he was smiling like a fool until Riku called him out; he was suddenly glad that they’d gotten a corner booth. “I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be with you,” Iori whispered, leaning forward. He took some satisfaction in Riku’s embarrassed grin, a small payback for the alpha’s teasing earlier. “I mean, for how clumsy you are every other day, you always put in a lot of effort when it comes to me. I don’t think I show my appreciation often enough.”
“And yet you were complaining about me texting someone just minutes ago.” Riku wiped an invisible tear from the corner of his eye, causing Iori to laugh at his ridiculousness. “Oh, right, I have something to give you. You were asking me about what it was the other day.”
Riku rummaged through his bag for the carefully wrapped present, something that Iori had seen since the day Riku had bought it. He’d wanted to give it to Iori on his birthday, but he’d already prepared a present for the omega. Getting Iori a cool and sharp, as well as slightly expensive, fountain pen with Iori’s name engraved had been a bit of a joke, and Riku had planned to give the other present as a backup in case Iori got offended, but the omega had liked it plenty.
It’d seemed a little weird to give another gift at the same time, so Riku had withheld his second present for today. “It’s a little something from our parents, Mitsuki, and me,” the alpha said, placing it on the table and sliding it to the omega. “Consider it a congratulatory gift for your further studies.”
“It’s just a private part-time degree,” Iori reminded with a small smile. “And it’s only for two years.”
“Just open it,” Riku urged, and Iori raised a brow in mild amusement before opening the present.
The moment Iori realised what it was, his jaw dropped. “You bought me an iPad?”
“We bought you an iPad. I also bought a keyboard case for it, so you don’t have to lug a laptop around with you to classes,” Riku explained. “It’s going to be difficult for you to bring a full-sized laptop to work all the time, especially since we don’t always have Manager to drive us around. This’ll make your bag a lot lighter, don’t you think?”
Iori shrugged and nodded, lips stretched into a grateful smile. He’d received his enrolment letter in the mail a few weeks back, had immediately told his boyfriend and family about it. It wasn’t really that big a deal, in his opinion, considering that it was just something he decided to go for to learn more about business management. He didn’t actually need the cert for anything. “It’s kind of an expensive gift, but I’ll do my best and use it well. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll be here to support you these next two years, too!” Riku took the iPad back to keep in his bag, just as the waitress came with their food and drinks.
---
Tenn raised a brow at Gaku as the elder quickly replied a message, being careful not to let Tenn see the contents of the chat. “Who’re you texting?”
“Oh, an acquaintance saw me when we entered the mall and wanted to confirm if he saw correctly.”
“Popular, aren’t you?”
Gaku stared at his boyfriend for a few seconds before asking, “Jealous?”
He received a snort in response. Gaku wasn’t sure why he’d even expected Tenn to respond in any other way. “You wish. I just don’t get how you deal with people texting you all the time. Doesn’t it get annoying? I literally only text in our group chats, you, and Kujo-san.”
“Aww, I’m honoured,” Gaku said, his tone only slightly teasing. “Doesn’t Nanase text you too? I know you don’t really like when people message you privately, but he’s always asking me to relay messages because you don’t acknowledge his texts.”
“I don’t reply him if it’s not important,” Tenn replied curtly, because it was true that he didn’t like to text people privately. He didn’t have a choice when it came to Kujo, and he didn’t really mind texting Gaku. More often than not, though, they only texted to confirm when and where they were meeting for their dates, opting to call when discussing everything else.
Nodding in understanding, although he didn’t actually understand, Gaku grabbed a brochure from the counter and handed it to Tenn. “Should we grab a bite first? I had breakfast already, but we might not have time to eat until dinner if we don’t eat now.”
“No problem.” Tenn opened his bag and took out two bento boxes. “We can eat these in the visitors’ room before going in, or we can wait until we’re hungry before coming out to eat. I checked already; we can re-enter as long as we don’t lose our tickets.”
“What’d you make?”
“Does yakisoba count as soba?” He snickered when Gaku’s lips curved into a grin. The elder had to fight the urge to bend down and kiss Tenn on the lips – they were still very much in public. “Yes, yes, you don’t have to tell me. I know I’m a great boyfriend, so be grateful that I’m dating you.”
“How about we go in and catch all the performances from 11 to 12, then walk around the first floor before coming out to eat,” Gaku suggested, glancing at the schedule of performances and the timings. “Then we can probably go to the second door and outside before coming back in by 2.30 for the otters’ greeting time. You do want to watch that, right?”
Tenn managed to hold back a smile, instead simply nodding. “I’ve seen videos before. They’re cute.”
Nodding towards the entrance of the aquarium, Gaku asked, “Shall we?”
---
Riku pointed to the small elevated platform a few metres ahead of them, hurrying to the only empty space he could find and waving Iori over. “You’re not a kid, so stop running,” Iori said flatly, making his way through the crowd to his alpha. They had about five minutes before the otters were due to make their appearance, but already it was crowded. “Thanks for finding a space though.”
Turning back with a grin, Riku started to reply, “Of course! Do you want to stand-”
He met Tenn’s gaze, his twin standing a few spaces to their left with Gaku. Please don’t come here, please don’t come here, please don’t… Riku heaved a sigh of relief when Tenn simply looked away, turning his attention back to the still-empty platform.
Iori glanced at his boyfriend curiously; he hadn’t seen Tenn. “What was that?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Riku assured with a too-bright smile, and Iori rolled his eyes at the blatant lie. He shifted Iori in front of him, even though the omega was just that bit taller. “I think we have a decent view from here. Do you want water?”
When Iori nodded, Riku uncapped a bottle of water and handed it to the younger. Iori took it gratefully, not having had a sip of water since after lunch. He’d been too caught up in reading the different descriptions of the aquatic animals residing in the aquarium; he hadn’t visited in years, and plenty had changed. “You should drink some too, Nanase-san,” he said, passing the bottle back to the alpha.
He looked to their left, where Riku had been looking at earlier, as Riku took a few sips of water, brows furrowing slightly when he saw two all-too-familiar figures nearby. Then he looked back at Riku, waiting until Riku had kept the bottle of water before stating, “You saw Kujo-san and Yaotome-san, didn’t you. There’s no point in lying, I already saw them too. You don’t want to talk to Kujo-san?”
“I was actually texting Yaotome-san earlier,” Riku admitted sheepishly, “to tell him to avoid us. Besides, it’s one of their rare off days together too. I doubt he’d appreciate it if we went to talk to them.”
“That’s surprisingly mature of you,” Iori commented, not intending it as an insult of any sort. That didn’t stop Riku from making a face, and the omega couldn’t help but smile. Just months ago, Riku would’ve jumped at any opportunity to talk to Tenn. He was quite glad that the twins had managed to work things out at the Music Festival, and rather pleased that he was clearly more important to Riku than Tenn now. “I’m sure we’ll have time to talk to them when we see them at work anyway.”
Humming in agreement, Riku pointed to the platform. “I think it’s starting.”
True enough, a staff member had walked onto the platform and introduced himself with a welcoming smile. He quickly ran through the do’s and don’ts for the session before looking backstage and calling the otters out.
Iori’s gaze was fixed to the handful of otters scurrying in front of the staff member, lining up neatly and looking out at the crowd. “Oh my god, they’re so cute,” Iori whispered, quietly enough that only Riku and the people directly beside him could hear. Riku could imagine the sparkle in Iori’s eyes despite not looking at the omega, could smell the happiness radiating off Iori’s scent.
Throughout the entire greeting session, Iori had his phone in front of him, videoing the entire ten or so minutes that the otters were on the platform. They ran around the staff member, allowing him to pick them up and use their paws to wave at the audience. They also performed a few simple tricks and played with toys as the staff explained their daily routine, habits, and characteristics, introducing each otter by name with ease.
Riku focused more on Iori than the otters; they were cute, he couldn’t deny that much, but he’d much rather watch Iori’s reactions to the furry creatures. While Iori no longer had a problem with showing his love for small animals in front of Riku, it was still somewhat of a rare occurrence. Even when they went on dates to the zoo or to animal cafes, Iori made sure to control his expression in case anybody else was looking.
Now, with everybody’s attention on the group of otters, Iori allowed himself the freedom to smile. Riku couldn’t tear his gaze away from his omega, falling in love all over again when he saw the innocent happiness in Iori’s expression. He didn’t think he’d ever tire of seeing Iori enjoying himself like this.
But soon it was time for the otters to return to their exhibit, the few of them lining up once more and taking a bow at the staff member’s command. Iori watched with mild dismay as they ran back down the platform, and he turned around to look at Riku as the crowd began to disperse. “Did you get a good video?” the alpha asked as they too started to walk away.
“I sure hope so,” Iori replied with a slight chuckle. He looked at where Gaku and Tenn had been standing, the couple already having disappeared from sight. “That was fast.”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? Like you said, I can talk to him when we see each other for work. Should we head to the outdoor exhibits now?”
---
Gaku and Tenn began making their way out at 5.30pm, half an hour before the aquarium closed. Their bags were in a locker in the visitors’ room, so they went back to pick their things up before going for dinner at Gaku’s grandfather’s place. “We already ate soba for lunch, and I don’t care what you want to eat, but can I have rice or something instead of soba again?” Tenn asked as they walked out, holding a hand out for the locker key.
“Fine, I’ll tell my mum to cook some rice for you,” Gaku conceded, already sending a quick text to his mother after passing the key to Tenn. He looked up from his phone when he heard someone coming towards him, wanting to move closer to Tenn in order not to obstruct them. He stopped short when he saw that it was Riku, Iori seated on the bench behind him. “Oh. Nanase.”
“Yaotome-san, Kujo-san,” Riku greeted politely, bowing slightly to the two. He was aware of the eyes on them now – while nobody had really disturbed them throughout the day, it was probably somewhat intriguing to see the members of IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER speaking together in public. “What a surprise seeing the two of you here.”
“Likewise,” Gaku replied, keeping up with Riku easily. “The rest of IDOLiSH7 aren’t here?”
“Everyone else has work. Are you and Kujo-san going for dinner now?”
Tenn closed the locker door with a slam, making both Gaku and Riku jump slightly. “We are.” Tenn looked at Gaku, earning himself a slightly confused frown from the elder, and added, “Would you and Izumi-san like to join us?”
“Huh?” Riku asked immediately, completely confused by the sudden turn of events.
He received a jab in the side from Iori, who at some point had gotten up and was now standing next to him. “Don’t be rude,” the omega hissed under his breath, though he wasn’t too pleased by the idea of having dinner with Tenn. Clearing his throat, Iori managed a smile. “That sounds lovely.”
Gaku still had no idea what Tenn was planning, but he took his belongings from his boyfriend and nodded to the exit. He didn’t particularly mind having dinner with Riku and Iori, though it was odd for Tenn to invite them at all. “Then… let’s get going,” he suggested, leading the way to the car park.
Expectedly, both Riku and Iori looked surprised when Gaku unlocked a sleek black Audi and Tenn got into the front seat. “I didn’t know you had a car, Yaotome-san,” Iori commented, opening the door and climbing in as well.
“I just found out this morning too,” Tenn said, glancing back as Riku shut the door behind him.
“So… were you serious about having dinner together?” Riku asked, evidently still confused.
Gaku turned to look at Tenn as well. “Yeah. I don’t mind, but why?”
“There was something I wanted to ask them in private,” Tenn explained. “Your grandfather wouldn’t mind us using the room upstairs, would he? I wouldn’t want to disrupt the business.”
Shrugging, Gaku replied, “I’m sure he’d be fine with it. You know they like you quite a lot.”
“Yaotome-san’s grandfather?” Iori parroted, brow raised. “From his mother’s side?”
“You guys are familiar with Yamamura Soba, aren’t you?” Tenn shot back, and Iori could barely hold himself back from rolling his eyes. For somebody who had something to ask them, Tenn sure was rude. “I was thinking we could discuss something over dinner. It’s not that I particularly want to spend my off day with you two, but we haven’t had schedules together in some time.”
Riku looked at Iori, the couple sharing a look, and Iori sighed before nodding. “Sure, we’ll eat.”
Satisfied, Tenn asked for Gaku’s phone so that he could inform his boyfriend’s mother to prepare two more portions of rice. This earned him a rather unimpressed look from Gaku, though Tenn only responded by sticking his tongue out at his boyfriend. “Stop trying to make everyone eat soba.”
“You didn’t even ask them what they wanted to eat,” Gaku retorted flatly. “Nanase, Izumi-otouto, would you rather have rice or soba for dinner?”
Tenn was looking at the couple expectantly now, and Riku wondered if he was going to start an argument by siding with either of them. “Why not one of us have rice, and the other has soba? Iori and I don’t mind sharing our food with each other.”
Tenn shrugged and sent the message to Gaku’s mother before slipping Gaku’s phone back into the elder’s pocket. He was silent after that as Gaku drove, leaving Riku and Iori to look over the pictures the omega had taken. He sent some of them to Riku so that he could have something to post on his social media; it wasn’t uncommon for them to post pictures of their outings together, the same way they did when they went out with the other members.
Of course, they’d received many comments from fans about how Riku and Iori seemed to hang out more often together than with others, but it was the same with Tamaki and Sougo. They always brushed it off by explaining that they just had more common off days whenever asked during interviews.
Before they knew it, Gaku was pulling up in front of Yamamura Soba.
Gaku let the others get off first before parking the car, and Tenn went ahead into the store with Riku and Iori trailing behind him. Kagura looked up when the bell chimed, her face immediately lighting up when she saw that it was her son’s boyfriend. “Tenn-kun! I have your rice ready; do you want me to serve it now? Where’s Gaku?” she asked, gesturing for him to sit down. There were a few other customers in the store, but they were mostly from the older generation and didn’t recognise the idol. Belatedly noticing the duo still standing at the door, Kagura added, “Oh, are these your friends? They look familiar.”
“I’m Nanase Riku and this is Izumi Iori,” Riku greeted. “We’re from IDOLiSH7. We’ve been in your care.”
“Oh! That’s the group TRIGGER lost to during the Black or White two years ago, right?”
“...right,” Tenn sighed, and Kagura shot him an apologetic smile. “Gaku’s parking the car.”
“I remember Gaku was pretty upset about the loss. Dad, can you get me the key for upstairs?”
Gaku’s grandfather, Jirou, poked his head out from the kitchen, squinting at the two males he didn’t recognise. “Do you boys eat soba?” he asked immediately, and Tenn couldn’t help the small chuckle that made its way out of him. He remembered being asked the exact same thing. Before either of them could reply, Jirou was already disappearing back into the kitchen. “I’ll make some for you.”
“Dad!” Kagura called out exasperatedly. “You only need to make two portions, one for Gaku and one for their friends. Tenn-kun already asked me to prepare two portions of rice for him earlier.”
“Nonsense. They can bring the rice home if they want.”
Riku and Iori looked between Kagura and the kitchen before turning to each other, unsure of how to respond to the situation. Luckily, Gaku finally came into the store, greeting his mother and calling out to his grandfather. “Did my mum pass you the key yet?” Gaku asked, and Tenn nodded. “Why haven’t you guys gone up?”
“You know how your grandfather is,” Kagura said, as a way of explanation, and Gaku pursed his lips.
“Of course.” Then, looking at Riku and Iori, Gaku said, “It’s fine if you don’t want to eat so much. I can just bring it home for supper. As long as you don’t let my grandpa find out that you didn’t eat the soba he cooked, you’ll be fine. Let's go up.”
The four made their way upstairs, closing the door and sitting around the table in the middle.
Gaku was the one who broke the silence, nudging Tenn and asking, “So what did you want to ask?”
Tenn shot his boyfriend a frown. “I was going to ask while eating, though.”
“It’d be good if you asked now, Kujo-san,” Iori suggested. “Let’s not waste time.”
“Iori,” Riku chided, “don’t be like that. What’d you want to ask, Tenn-nii?”
“You guys stay in the dorm together, right? The whole IDOLiSH7?” Riku nodded. “In the same room?”
At this, the redhead’s cheeks warmed. “Kind of, I suppose. Iori’s pretty much moved into my room now.”
“And the other IDOLiSH7 members are fine with that?”
“There’s not much they can complain about, though,” Iori said, uncapping his bottle to take a quick sip of water, “since the others are the same. Apart from Nikaidou-san, of course.”
Tenn blinked. “It doesn’t get noisy at night?”
Iori choked on his water, and Riku could barely reach over to pat the omega’s back, too busy staring at his brother with wide eyes. “What?”
Even Gaku was looking at Tenn incredulously, surprised by how forward the younger was being. “Isn’t that too personal a question?”
With a slight roll of his eyes, Tenn reminded, “Are you two forgetting that I know what went on the night after the Summer Island Music Festival? There’s nothing really wrong with it, as long as you’re being careful and using protection. You’re both old enough to know that.”
Still coughing, Iori managed to ask, “What does that have to do with anything?!”
“If you must know, Tenn-nii, we don’t really engage in those… activities in the dorm.”
“Huh.” Tenn’s brows furrowed. “Okay, I’ll just get to the point. I’ve been thinking about moving out.”
Gaku gaped at his boyfriend; this was the first time he was hearing of this. “What? Where to? And why?”
Tenn shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I was going to discuss it with you first, then with Ryuu. I figured we could work something out with the three of us, that way I can tell Kujo-san that it’s for TRIGGER. We could say that it’s easier for Anesagi-san to coordinate our schedules and pick us up that way.”
A knock sounded on the door, and Kagura came in with their food. She quickly put everything down on the table, telling the four to ask if they needed anything, and then she hurried back downstairs.
“So you want to move in with Yaotome-san and Tsunashi-san?” Iori repeated for confirmation. “Why?”
“I don’t want to keep sneaking out of the house every time I go out with Gaku. I’m sure Kujo-san suspects that I’m hiding something from him, but I’m also not ready to tell him that I’m dating Gaku. It seems a little cowardly, but I figured moving out was the next best solution.”
“I mean, it’ll definitely be better than sneaking around each other’s houses like we’ve been doing for the past six months...” Gaku agreed, brows furrowed in thought. “And I think Ryuu wouldn’t mind it too much either. He lives alone now, anyway. Are you sure Kujo-san will let you do that though?”
“He won’t be happy about it, definitely, but it’s much better than telling him that we’re together.”
“Wait – why did you need to ask us about our dorm life then?” Iori questioned.
“I guess I just wanted to get a rough idea of what it’s like to live with someone other than family,” Tenn replied with another shrug. “And living with friends aside, it’s a pretty big step to move in with your boyfriend, isn’t it? I wasn’t planning on sharing a room with Gaku, of course, at least not yet, but it’s going to be a big change for all of us regardless.”
Riku nodded in understanding. “We have a roster of sorts, for doing the chores.”
“If we’re giving advice,” Iori said, starting on his bowl of soba while casting a glance at Riku, “I’d say not to trust others with anything fragile. You might regret it when your cups keep getting broken.”
Tenn snickered as Riku pouted at Iori indignantly. “Hey!”
“Also, nii-san handles most of the cooking in the dorm, so he does less chores.”
“Are you really sure about this, Tenn?” Gaku asked, wondering if Tenn was just being rash. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move in with his boyfriend, because he too was tired of sneaking around all the time. He just didn’t want Tenn to make an important decision like this on impulse. “It’s not that I don’t want to live with you, but something tells me that Kujo-san won’t be too happy about this.”
“I know he won’t, but it’s alright. I think it’s about time I contributed more to this relationship, especially since you’ve been the one compromising most of the time,” Tenn explained, feeling only slightly uncomfortable at being so honest in front of Riku and Iori. “And we’ve barely done anything more than holding hands in movie theatres. It’s ridiculous how slow our relationship is progressing.”
Humming in thought, Riku commented with a smile, “You really like Yaotome-san, don’t you?”
“I suppose.” Tenn tried to be nonchalant about it, but his cheeks were dusted slightly pink. “I wouldn’t have agreed to date him if I didn’t like him at least this much, right?”
Riku’s smile widened; he really was happy that Tenn had found someone who made him happy. Tenn may have left the Nanase family years ago, but that didn’t mean he didn’t deserve happiness. Riku was going to do his best to help his brother in his relationship.
---
Throughout dinner, Tenn asked the fated couple about their day-to-day lives. One thing Tenn was concerned about was what they did when they had an argument, though Riku and Iori proved to be rather unhelpful when it came to that. They hadn’t had a big enough fight that they couldn’t apologise about before going to bed.
The topic of heats and ruts was also brought up, more out of curiosity than an actual need to know. Iori had been rather vehemently opposed to sharing that aspect of their lives, but Riku had smiled sheepishly and explained, vaguely, that their cycles were synced. At Tenn’s frown, the redheaded alpha hurried to add on that they didn’t spend their heat and rut together – not yet, at least.
Gaku had offered to drive them back after that, but the couple had politely declined in favour of taking the subway home. Iori had pulled Riku aside and complained that he didn’t want to have to spend the entire ride back in the car with Tenn. While Riku had been surprised that Iori was complaining to him about something, he supposed it wasn’t too strange considering the omega’s heat was coming up soon. He also couldn’t blame Iori for wanting to avoid Tenn; he also still remembered the incident they had during their shuffle unit practice.
They still ended up being dropped off at the nearest station, Gaku and Tenn thanking them for their advice before they headed to Tenn’s place.
“I can’t believe Kujo-san is thinking about moving out,” Iori commented after they managed to get seats at the end of the carriage. There were a handful of people nearby, but not close enough that they would overhear them. “It hasn’t even been a year since they started going out, has it?”
Riku nodded in reply. “About seven months, I think. But I am glad that he’s doing something about their relationship – it just means that he likes Yaotome-san that much, doesn’t it?” he pointed out. “I mean, not being able to hold hands or hug each other, not even being able to walk each other to their front doors because they’re afraid of being caught… it can’t be very nice.”
He couldn’t imagine not being able to have any physical contact with Iori before and after a date. Granted, they’d been staying in the dorm together since before getting together, and their relationship dynamics were vastly different as a fated pair, but surely Gaku and Tenn wanted to have more physical intimacy with each other. Riku had even met Iori’s parents less than six months after they’d gotten together.
“It’s good to know that our efforts in setting up that date for them wasn’t in vain. I still don’t like Kujo-san very much, though.”
“Have you thought about it before?” Riku asked. “Moving out of the dorm.”
Iori contemplated his reply for a moment – he’d be lying if he said that he hadn’t ever considered it. It wasn’t even a matter of ‘if’, but more a matter of ‘when’. He knew that they’d get mated, and married, at some point in time, and he knew that he wanted to start a family with his alpha someday. When that day came, they’d definitely have to move into a house of their own. “I suppose I have. I don’t think it’ll be any time soon, but we can’t stay in the dorm forever.” Iori lowered his voice further, fighting a blush. “I mean, we are going to be mated eventually, aren’t we?”
Even without looking at the alpha, Iori could tell that Riku was excited by the thought of becoming mates in the future. They hadn’t ever discussed it in detail, but mostly because they already knew that that was what they wanted for their relationship. “Is that even a question?” Riku asked, chuckling. “I do like staying with everyone, but I also can’t wait to have a place of our own. Maybe we should just get married soon and move out.”
“I haven’t even started school yet,” Iori reminded exasperatedly, though he couldn’t help but look forward to eventually getting married. He certainly wouldn’t mind if they did get married in the near future, even if it meant being busy juggling school and work. It’d be better if they waited a while longer, of course, and at least spent a heat or rut together before thinking about becoming mates. “Be patient, okay?”
“So… it’s okay after you start school?”
Iori raised a brow at his boyfriend, only briefly wondering if Riku was already planning something. He didn’t want to let himself look forward to it too much. “I suppose,” he allowed, a smile playing on his lips underneath his mask. He glanced around them; he couldn’t possibly talk about spending his next heat, which was also Riku’s rut, together in public. “We can talk about it more once we’re back in the dorm.”
Riku beamed, nodding. “Sure.”
As Iori closed his eyes, leaning back to take a quick nap before they got back, Riku stared at the sleeping omega as the wheels in his head began to turn. After Iori starts school, huh. His lips curved into a smile. I guess I can deal with that.