Chapter Text
"Hmm hmm hm hm hmmhmm~"
Ryou hums to himself in his kitchen as he cuts his toast before putting a slice in his mouth, he puts another two slices in his toaster, these two for Riku. The clattering of condiments and spreads can be heard as he wonders what Riku would like on his toast, he decides on something sweet as he easily knows that Riku prefers sweet pastries like doughnuts, though decides against chocolate spread as he remembered seeing a fun fact by a fellow Riku fan that Riku couldn't have chocolate as a child, it wasn't elaborated on but Ryou uses that as a decider to put Raspberry jam on Riku's toast. He had put salted butter on his own. Also, the raspberry jam is a beautiful red like the red that Riku is usually wearing, casual or not, like the red hoodie Riku was wearing.
Yes. Riku WAS wearing a red hoodie, but Ryou had changed him. Ryou kept Riku in his own clothes till about an hour ago, while he was asleep, but Ryou decided to put Riku in some nicer and comfier clothes, especially for sleeping. He had unclothed Riku and stared at his chest, he had seen it before in amateur recordings of the group's first few lives, but seeing it this close and being able to touch it, without Riku knowing, and without any repercussions. He had to. He couldn't stop himself. He didn't stop himself. He now looks at his right hand, the one that had touched Riku's chest, it was as smooth as he thought it would be, especially putting his fingers over Riku's left lung.
The rustling of bedsheets brings Ryou's attention to the door that has Riku's and Ryou's bed behind it, Ryou doesn't move and stays silent, only for silence to return, with Ryou coming to the conclusion that Riku just shifted in his sleep. Another slice of toast goes into Ryou's mouth as he grabs his phone and pulls up an app, one that connects to any video cameras placed in a building, seven video feeds open up, at least one in each room, the ensuite bathroom, the bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room, though some have more than others. Ryou clicks on the one for their bedroom, the camera faces the bed on the same side that Ryou sleeps on, the left, with Riku, on the far side, being wrapped up in the duvet and throw. No movements have been made. Though Ryou knows that Riku will be waking up soon, the drug should be out of his body.
The phone is turned off and the toaster goes off, Ryou puts his phone down and gets Riku's toast ready. He must be hungry and Ryou can't wait to feed him.
///
"Nnnh..." Riku murmurs as he slowly wakes up.
Blurry eyes open to see a dark room, which is weird as Riku doesn't remember going to bed, getting back to the dorms, or even stepping on the train back home. He blinks a few times to see the environment around him better, which isn't his bedroom, anywhere in the dorms, or the train. Riku doesn't know where he is. From where he lies, sideways facing a wall, he sees a dark wall, the colour he can't make out, with a plant of some kind in the corner, and a nightstand next to him with something on it. Sitting up would give Riku a better look around and he puts his right hand down. Only to feel something warm and squishy in his right hand, and something holding his left hand. Riku brings his right hand to his face and realises what his right hand is holding, his left hand, and his wrists are bound with tape and his hands are holding each other.
Panic comes over Riku easily, he pushes himself up with his hands, and looks around the room. He's in a double or even king-size bed, with a TV mounted on the wall opposite, and a large picture on the wall opposite the one he was close to. Riku has no clue where he is as he tries to control his breathing, he doesn't want to have an attack in an unknown place with his probable kidnapper away, he can't hear anyone. Air comes through his nose and out his mouth as he sits in the large bed, his eyes wander to his restraints, he can tell that it's tape due to the stickiness he can feel. Though looking down has made Riku realise that he isn't in the clothes he remembers wearing, he remembers wearing a red hoodie with a white shirt that had red stars on it, brown trousers and white trainers, with a small gold necklace that had a double sharp on it. Now he was wearing none of it, now he now wears a set of red button-up PJs.
Riku's eyesight has gradually gotten better in the dark, he now sees that the walls are a dark purple colour and the duvet his bottom half is still under is red with a white fluffy throw, he looks over the room as a whole to make sure he hasn't missed anything as he realises that the thing on the nightstand that he couldn't recognise before was an inhaler. How much did his kidnapper know about him? Wait how was he kidnapped?
Riku sits with his eyes closed as he tries to think about how he got here, he remembers going to the studio, getting the photoshoot done, then leaving and walking to the station while talking to Yamato via texting, then he remembers a black expensive looking car slowing down and stopping right beside him on the nearly empty street, the man in the back of the car beckons Riku, asking about directions. The face that was in the back of the car flashes like a light in Riku's mind, Ryou Tsukumo, then after that, Riku doesn't remember anything till waking up.
"So I'm at Tsukumo-San's... maybe..." Riku whispers as he looks around, it looks fancy enough to be Ryou's room in Riku's opinion. He remembered Ryou always being in suits that always looked like they cost a lot.
In his thoughts Riku notices that his ankles have been pressed together throughout all of his wakefulness and tries to move them apart to sit more comfortably in the bed, only to feel tape similar to the one on his wrist, he uses both of his hands to grab the duvet and pulls it off his legs and sees that he is right. The same tape is on his ankles, he moves his knees, which he was to do with both at the same time, and pulls them up to him, putting his hands over his knees and putting his chest to his knees.
"What happened?... Why... am I here?" Riku asks himself as he looks just past his knees and to the white bed sheet. He sits there trying to think about everything, he was kidnapped by Ryou probably, he doesn't have any possessions, and he doesn't know where he is.
Riku had been looking forward to his day after going to the studio, he was going to go home and relax as it was Friday and he had no prior engagements for that day: IDOLiSH7 were going to have Omurice for dinner which is Riku's favourite, then Tamaki said earlier in the day that it was pudding night and was planning on everyone enjoying pudding after having a tiring week and a busy week next week. A new episode of Magical Kokona would be coming out that evening and Riku was going to watch it with Nagi and Mitsuki, with the evening ending with Riku sending Tenn a good night text and wishing him a good weekend before sleeping. None of that had happened.
He wraps himself closer into himself as he keeps his eyes on the still-dark room, with the only source of light coming from underneath the door of the room to his right.
"Tenn-nii... What do I do?" Riku asks the universe hoping that it reaches his brother in some way.
Before Riku can prepare himself, the door to his right opens, plunging the room into a bright light, Riku instinctively closes his eyes as he brings his arms from over his legs and uses the back of his hands to shield his eyes.
"Good morning Riku! I hope you slept well." A voice, one that Riku recognises as Ryou's, shouts happily into the room.
Riku barely can get his eyes open as he looks to the door the man came from, only seeing a faint outline of the man before he's hit with an even brighter light.
"Ah I didn't realise that it was so dark in here, I just had to turn the light on Riku." Ryou says very familiarly, although the man knows that they've only talked briefly a few times.
The sound of footsteps on the carpet can be heard as Riku, who still has his hands over his eyes, shuffles back till his butt reaches the pillow his head was on, he opens his eyes as he tries to see the surroundings, he can see Ryou getting closer, now not at the door that he came through but by the end of the bed on Riku's side. Riku strains his eyes as he starts to get more familiar with the light, he looks at the man who's even closer to him, now by the middle of the bed. Ryou's how he usually looks with his often worn dark purple suit that has white stripes down it, with its accompanying purple vest and yellow tie, though something that Riku does clock as odd is the plate that the man is holding, but unfortunately for Riku, he can't see what's on it. Riku now looks at Ryou who stares down at Riku with his small piercing eyes, he's smiling but it doesn't reach his eyes as Riku is squirming away from him. Ryou looks at Riku as he stands right next to Riku, he looks happily down at Riku as Riku looks scared up at him. A second passes in the suffocating silence before Ryou decides to start a conversation.
"How do you feel Riku?" Ryou asks tilting his head, he puts the plate down by the inhaler, Riku looks and sees toast with jam on it.
"O..okay, I feel fine. Tsukumo-san... what happened?" Riku asks, he's unsure if this is the best thing to ask but he wants to know, also why this has all happened but Riku wants to know the what first.
"Hm? Oh, that's simple Riku. I knew you would be at the Fumiko Studio in the Katsushika ward of East Tokyo and you would be getting the train back to the dorms as your manager was taking that one trio of your group to somewhere in West Tokyo. So, I waited till you were coming back and had the driver park by you and had you come over to the car, asking for directions.-" Ryou starts, all with a smile on his face and barely blinking as he recants his story barely taking any pauses. "-And you came to my window, you looked startled to see me, we didn't talk much as one of my men came from the alley behind you and put a sedative in you, right in your neck-" Riku touches the back of his neck as he feels the now healing area. "- and took you away in the alley and in another vehicle. We had to make sure no one was around, we had people fake being policemen and say that there was an issue and to take a diversion. And it all went off without a hitch." Ryou ends with a big smile on his face as he opens his arms like he wants an award for kidnapping.
Riku stares at Ryou as he takes in all of the information that was just dumped on him, and all Riku did was ask. Ryou looks down at Riku with a big smile as Riku looks more worried.
"Now don't worry Riku, I'm not going to hurt you. And I won't touch you if you don't want me to." A lie that Ryou say so easily. He continues as he grabs the plate and moves it into Riku's view.
"To show this, I've made you some breakfast, though it's more close to midday than morning. It's just toast with raspberry jam, nothing else I promise." Ryou says as he puts the plate onto the bed sheet, right in front of Riku, who looks at it before looking back to Ryou. He continues.
"Hopefully you like raspberry Jam Riku, you do don't you?" He asks as he tilts his head in a genuine way, wondering if Riku does. Riku looks at Ryou before looking back at breakfast in front of him, it's as he says. Two slices of Raspberry toast which have been cut on a diagonal, leaving four pieces.
"I do enjoy raspberry jam Tsukumo-san... I enjoy it in doughnuts a lot." Riku says as he realises how hungry he is, if it's noon now and he left the studio at around three in the afternoon then he hasn't had anything in nearly a day.
Riku puts his hands on the plate and brings it closer to him before he has his hands over the toast and wonders how he's going to eat it, as usually you'd eat it with one hand just fine but now bound at the wrist, his other hand would get in the way. So after a bit of trial and error he balls his left hand and moves it as out of the way as possible while using his right to hold it normally. He eats while his left hand sits under his chin while eating the toast. He finishes one slice before grabbing another, as he's eating the second slice, he wonders why he's bound, obviously it's so he doesn't escape but he can barely move, Riku remembers when they were doing Ainana police a while back now, he had fake handcuffs on his wrists which were behind his back. Which was obviously for the show as he wasn't supposed to be actually restrained but that also stops him from moving, but he could actually use his hands somewhat right now. Also, his bound ankles also confuse Riku, he didn't have any ankle restraints for Ainana police, but he remembers a show that Ryuu was in that had his right leg cuffed to a wall. Riku wasn't restrained to anything, but he still couldn't move far either.
He picks up another piece, as he wonders if he should ask why he's restrained, he chews and swallows as he thinks, he moves his gaze from the plate in front of him to Ryou, who's still looking at Riku from above, Riku quickly moves his gaze back to his food.
"How is it Riku?" Ryou asks. Riku gulps his food before looking back at Ryou.
"It tastes good Tsukumo-san." Riku says smiling at Ryou, hopeful that it eases Ryou off.
"Oh I'm glad to hear that Riku." Ryou says with his eyes still focused on Riku, who looks away and back to his toast as he bites into his nearly finished slice. "Though Riku, just then it looked like you wanted to ask me a question-" Riku stiffens and looks back to Ryou who gets closer to Riku by moving down, closer to his level, Riku instantly moves his top half away from Ryou as he continues "Do you want to ask me a question Riku? I don't mind. I'll answer any question you have." His ever-present smile is still on his face.
Uncertainty arose in Riku, he really didn't know if Ryou was telling the truth, would he respond truthfully? Well, he did before when Riku asked what happened. Riku looks at Ryou whose grin has stayed the same since he first saw Riku in the room. Almost painful for how long it's been there. Riku stays silent for a second, he has a lot of questions he wants to ask Ryou, his restraints being one and why he was kidnapped being another. Riku decides to ask Ryou, but only the first of his thoughts, for now. If Ryou answers his first question with little to no avoidance or questions, then Riku will probably ask about why he's here. Ryou seems to be weirdly ready to tell Riku everything.
"Tsukumo-san, why did you... restrain me like this?" Riku says whilst pulling his wrists close to his face to show what exactly he is talking about. As if Ryou wouldn't understand without the visual. Ryou looks at Riku for a second before pulling himself away for Riku and standing at his imposing height.
"Ah a good question, well I should probably start at the beginning. I restrained you so you wouldn't run away, though I'm guessing you knew that Riku. I know you're not dumb. But there is a reason why I restrained you like that, and that's because I won't always be here to look after you unfortunately and you'll need to get up and go to the bathroom. Which is through that door there." Ryou says as he points to the door closest to where Riku slept. "So I can't just keep you tied up on the bed, but I need to stop you from running away, I could've used handcuffs but they would go into your skin and won't be comfortable to sleep in. So that's how I came to the conclusion of using tape, I understand that's not the best but I hope you understand Riku." He beams looking at Riku.
The man divulged a lot of information, again. Riku looks at the man as he thinks about what he said, his eyes look to his wrists before he looks down at the tape around his ankles before he looks back at Ryou and decides to ask another question.
"Um, Tsukumo-san how will I be able to get to the bathroom? I can't walk with the tape on my ankles." Riku asks, the best he could do was waddle to the bathroom but that would take an eternity and he'd probably fall over.
"You can walk on all fours. Swing your bottom half off the bed before you let your top half move to the ground. Then you would throw your wrists forward and you would need your legs to either shuffle or jump forward. To get back into the bed or on the toilet, put your wrist on the surface and then try to stand up. It may be difficult but I know you can do it Riku." Ryou says, clapping his hands once when he completed his explanation.
The excess detail about how Riku would move about the room tells Riku that Ryou has planned this for a while and has made sure everything is planned out. Riku nods as he picks up another slice and bites into it, silence enters the air only broken by Riku eating his toast. Riku knows that Ryou is still looking at him. He doesn't know what to do, Ryou is just standing there looking at him doing nothing, still with his hands together. Riku finishes his third piece of toast and grabs the last one.
Riku wants to ask about why he was Kidnapped. Ryou has been honest with Riku with all of his questions and has divulged everything. But that's what Riku fears more than being reprimanded for asking a question, the honest and explored truth of why Ryou kidnapped Riku. Why he took him away from his friends, family, and fans. Why he damaged Riku's and all of I7's reputation with all of this. Riku can feel tears in his eyes, though they've not fallen. They've been welled up since Riku woke up, when he was confused as to where he was, when he was asking Tenn for help, when he missed the evening he never had, when Ryou told Riku how he got kidnapped. Practically everything about this whole situation. He feels his cheeks get wet, the damn has burst.
The toast that Riku was holding falls and lands on the plate below him as he uses his hands to hide his face as he cries. Riku cries and doesn't elaborate why as he continues, thoughts of friends and family come into his mind as he misses them, he misses Tenn even with their odd relationship that's slowly getting better, he misses the manager and how helpful she always is, he misses Momo and how upbeat and happy he usually is, he misses Toma and how kind he is even when he's putting up a bad boy façade. He misses everyone. Tears continue to pour.
"Why are you crying Riku?" Ryou asks, genuinely confused as Riku seemed happy a second ago. Riku didn't look at him, he doesn't know what face he has on.
Riku sniffles as he continues crying as he tries to ask Ryou why he took him. He doesn't care what the answer is, he wants to know.
"Why did you..." Riku stops to sniffle and cough weakly as he wobbles through his words "Why did you kidnap me Tsukumo-san?" He manages to get out as he opens his fingers to look at Ryou whose smile is gone and is now generally curious about Riku's sudden sob.
The room goes into silence broken by Riku's sniffles, Ryou looks at Riku for a few seconds before smiling and getting closer to Riku, he panics and shuffles away with his upper body and lower body slightly as he moves them closer to himself from Ryou, turning away with his wrist closer to his body. Ryou doesn't stop as he did before. He puts a knee on the bed as he gets closer and grabs Riku's left shoulder before shifting it, making Riku face him before applying pressure and pushing Riku down. Riku's back hits the bed as he holds his hands to his chest, more tears come down as he stares up at Ryou who's now directly above him and is still smiling. A firm hand hold Riku's shoulder in place, as the other hand is by Riku's face, but not touching, Riku's legs now lie horizontal with his body, like a straight line, and Ryou's legs lie on either side of his.
Riku looks up scared as Ryou's electric eyes look down at him, all over his body before looking up to Riku's face, his unoccupied fingers move to hold Riku's chin, with his hand practically on Riku's throat. Once Riku can feel it he tries to move away from it before the hand forces him to look at Ryou. A choked sob comes from Riku as he continues to cry. A nasty cough comes from his chest as he moves his hands and arms over Ryou's to cover his mouth as he coughs. When the rattling finishes Ryou's mouth opens as he begins to explain.
"Why I took you? Why that's another easy question Riku." Ryou speaks in an almost sing-song manner. "I love you Riku. I'm the only one who can help you, I'm the one who you need. I can give you anything, as you are my everything. I love seeing your stage performances, love seeing your little appearances on talk shows, or in a TV show, you always act like how you are. You're very true to yourself whether you're on stage or off stage. Do you know that? Most idols are so fake, it's nice to see one who acts so pure. Not unlike that brother of yours, oh so two-faced, unlike you Riku. As easy to read as a book, which is a good thing mind you don't take that the wrong way. Most idols don't treat you right, even in your own group, that dark blue-haired one treats you so coldly and almost as an experiment with your beautiful monster effect, your bother left you when you were a child and acts like he isn't your brother, I bet that bothers you immensely Riku. Even the members of my own group treat you like you're less than the dirt they work on, a pity really." Ryou ends his rambles as he sees Riku shake as he cries, he moves his hand up to Riku's left cheek and uses his thumb to stroke Riku's cheek, as he feels Riku violently cough again.
Riku needs his inhaler, but Riku needs to know what Ryou can do, how he can hurt Riku, how he can stop his career at the drop of a hat, and how Riku has to know that Ryou now owns him. That he will take care of him.
Riku hasn't said anything, as he can't. Tears rack his body as well as the coughs that come through his throat, he's having another attack. Ryou has his face in a hold and his hands can't reach his inhaler, so he leaves them by his mouth as he cough into them. He gasps for breath as Ryou won't get off of him and keeps on holding him, the hand on his shoulder tightens briefly catching Riku off guard as he struggles for breath again. He looks at Ryou, with tears blurring his vision, he doesn't know if he is staring at his eyes. he tries to get Ryou to get his Inhaler, from pointing to it and looking at it, to attempting to move his feet and shuffling his legs but Ryou's are right beside. He's too weak, he tries to tell him but all that comes out is a weak and raspy "...Please..".
"So just remember Riku, I love you so much it hurts and you need me to live." Ryou says with a wide closed smile and piercing eyes, he removes himself from Riku and off the bed, grabbing the Inhaler from the nightstand, taking the cap off and placing it on the nightstand before holding the inhaler in front of Riku, who uses his core to sit up and his bound hands grab at it as he shakes it and puts it in his mouth and uses both hands to press the button on top, breathing in as he feels the spray in his mouth as he holds it in, before taking it from his lips and shaking again as he exhales and it feels a bit easier to breath, he does this one more time before grabbing the cap and putting it back on the nightstand. Riku has noticed that Ryou hasn't said anything as he just focuses on breathing, even though the inhaler helped a lot he needs to focus on it for a bit.
Riku closes his eyes as he focuses on breathing, a deep breath through his nose and letting it out through his mouth. For a second he thinks of when his teammates help him out whenever he has an attack, in their own ways, Iori saying to tell them all earlier as he does what he can to help, Mitsuki making him a nice tea that helps his throat after an attack, Tamaki sitting next to him and making sure he's okay, Sogo wondering if Riku needs to be carried, either to his bedroom or to where they were going, Nagi telling him how strong he is and putting a hand on his back, and Yamato makes him some food once it's over. He misses them, he wants to get back to them.
"Are you okay now Riku?" Ryou asks, Riku looks up at him and takes a second before he nods. He wants to rest his throat a bit.
"Ah that's good Riku-" Ryou says as if he's not the person who made it worse. "-do you need anything?" He ends by asking, with his smile back on his face. Riku thinks about what he needs, he needs to leave as being around Ryou isn't good for his health, but Ryou definitely won't agree to that. But there is one thing Riku wants, the one thing he needs.
"I want to see my friends." Riku says, quieter and his voice a bit rough. Ryou loves Riku, so he can't deny Riku a request, that's what he's shown, that's what he's said. Riku looks to Ryou, Riku's eyes are big and puffy from crying, a small cough coming from his throat, which he hides with his hands.
Ryou looks down at him silently smiling as he walks away, saying nothing. Riku looks dejected, maybe Ryou could have set a call between Riku and his friends, just so he can say he's alive, or even if he could see them as he drives by. Or anything. Riku watches Ryou walk by the door he walked in thought, but he doesn't go in it, walking to the other side of the bed, the side Ryou sleeps presumably, Riku doesn't know where the man sleeps. The other man goes to that side's nightstand and opens the drawer and picks up something black, a small black controller. Riku looks fearful for a second, wondering if Ryou has put something on him, something to hurt him. Instead, he points one end to the TV as he stares at Riku with his trademark smile.
"I can't say no to you RIku, you know that? You're too cute for your own good." Ryou says as a button is pressed, and a familiar voice is heard.
"Riku wouldn't decide to go missing by himself either." A voice Riku instantly recognises as Tenn says, he turns his head to the TV he remembers seeing when he first woke up, and low and behold Tenn was there.
Tenn's sitting on a high stool on a talk show letting his legs fall but not letting his feet land on the bar at the bottom of the stool, he's sitting with Gaku, Momo, Ryuu, and Gaku who are also also on stools. Tenn's dressed normally in Riku's opinion, whenever IDOLiSH7 or any other groups are on a talk show they usually have to dress up nicer than their usual closet, even Ryuu and Gaku who are sitting closer to Tenn are also in fairly casual clothes. Riku instantly notices how tired Tenn looks, even though his hair is brushed and styled and his clothes all look fine, the look on his face and how he's sitting tell Riku everything. Call it a twin thing. He sees that everyone on stage is similar with some tired expressions on their faces or in posture, with Riku seeing what looks like the beginning of eye bags on Yuki's face. Momo is the only one in any type of cheery pose but he's usually like that, smiling even when the worst is happening.
The words that Tenn said have just reached Riku and what exactly he said, they're talking about him. Riku looks around and sees a screen that has the phrase "RIKU NANASE MISSING?!" on it, with a picture of himself on it, one from a promo from their most recent concert. He looks happy in it.
"Although he has had some tough time working in this industry, he has never ran away from it, he is dedicated to being there for his fans." Tenn continues, as Riku's eyes sparkle at Tenn's words. Tenn's usually harsh on Riku but hearing him like this is nice to Riku's ears.
"I agree with that, sometimes Riku-kun asks me for advice from time to time and I can tell that recently, he's been good in himself and in his career." Ryuu says confirming what Tenn was saying.
Riku looks at his fellow idols with a small growing smile on his face, something that he hasn't shown Ryou yet, well one that wasn't forced. They're all speaking so nicely about him, even though they don't know if he's there or not, listen in or not. The camera pans to Momo as the conversation continues, Riku feels like he missed something from the conversation but doesn't know what.
"I hope that Riku is well wherever he is, and I hope he knows that we'll be there for him. Wherever he is." Momo says with a smile as he looks at the camera, Riku feels like Momo is speaking directly to him. As if he isn't looking at a tall black camera and talking to a small microphone.
"Momo-san..." Riku says quietly as he smiles at his friend, even with this small, one-sided talk, he feels better.
"I bet Riku-kun will hopefully be found soon, after all, you're all going to search for him after this aren't you, all of IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, and Re:vale?" One of the hosts says. Now this does intrigue Riku, he doesn't know if Ryou is looking at him anymore, though he can feel him still standing where he was, and even if he is, he doesn't care. The fact that his friends are looking for him is enough for him. Though he notices the lack of ŹOOĻ, though with Ryou being his kidnapper, Riku would think that Ryou's trying to make ŹOOĻ not look for him.
"Yes that's correct." Yuki says "We have asked the police for anything we can do, aside from spreading the word and assisting with personal searches that eliminate us from being a suspect, we're helping to look for Riku physically, by going to places he went last or searching large outcrops. We hope that our fans will help with the search whenever possible, talk to your local police and they can explain how you can help. However please do understand that they are busy with other cases, so please don't bombard them. We will keep updating our social media for any updates" Yuki says, as professionally as always.
Riku smiles just knowing that his friends are looking and helping, even if he isn't in a field or on a train. Maybe someone on that empty street saw that he was abducted on saw him, or maybe one of his friends will meet with Ryou soon and notice that he's off or realise that doesn't even have an alibi. Strength fills Riku, not physically but mentally and emotionally.
"I wonder how many tips they're going to get, though they won't get any from me. As I'm only a fan of you Riku." He smiles down at Riku, who doesn't shy away, hearing his friends talk is enough to give him some confidence as he looks at Ryou with a stern look. Who doesn't do anything but keeps smiling.