Chapter Text
“So, you’re in a play now?”
Mao reaches over the big kitchen island in the Sakuma residence to steal one of the strawberries Ritsu just cut the top off, popping it into his mouth. “Hands off, Maa-kun,” Ritsu says. Mao reaches over again, and Ritsu smacks the top of his hand with the wooden spoon he’s holding. “But yeah, Natchan convinced me to audition ‘cause stupid Anija bailed on them and they needed a replacement that could keep up with Tsukipi’s compositions. Kei-chan wrote it, I think it’s called Requiem …?”
Ritsu finishes his sentence just as Mao sneaks another strawberry, only for Mao to choke on the stolen fruit, face reddening as he coughs.
“Karma,” Ritsu says. He gives the cupcake batter in his arms another stir, peering down at it judgementally. The consistency seems right, he thinks… all that’s left is to pour it into the cupcake tins and bake them, and then he gets to the real fun of decorating.
“You said the play is called Requiem?” Mao asks, voice hoarse. Ritsu nods, turning around to grab a ladle to pour the batter with. “My friend is in it, too — damn, why didn’t he tell me?”
Ritsu lets his lips pull into a slow smile. “Hm, Maa-kun talks to his friends about me? I knew he loved me…”
Mao steps around the counter to grab a glass of water, elbowing Ritsu on his way (and nearly causing Ritsu to spill batter on the counter, rude!). “That’s— you—” He fills the glass with water, shaking his head. “This is why no one ever asks me out, Ritchan — you’re always scaring them off.”
“Yep~ then I get Maa-kun all to myself,” Ritsu says, unable to keep the grin out of his voice. “Who’s your friend, though? I haven’t been part of the cast for a long time, but I might know him…”
“Oh, right!” Mao walks back to where he was standing before, stealing a dipped finger’s worth of chocolate cupcake batter on his way back and earning another smack of the wooden spoon against his hand. (He just licks up the extra batter that Ritsu splatters on his hand, though, so Ritsu doesn’t think his attempt at deterring Mao was any good.) “I think he said he’s the lead? Her name’s Hidaka Hokuto.”
Ritsu nearly drops the ladle.
“Oh,” he says. “Hidaka Hokuto. Yeah, I know him.” Ritsu debates telling Mao about the relationship his character has with Hokuto’s character, then decides against it. Better to keep that card for when it’ll be more fun to play.
Ritsu finishes filling the cupcake tin, then slides it into the oven before preparing the next tray, Mao watching him all the while. “I hope you haven’t been terrorizing her,” Mao says. “He can be a bit dense sometimes, Subaru’s always taking advantage of that.”
“Me? Never,” Ritsu says. Mao gives him a doubtful look. “Mm, maybe a little. Maa-kun should know, I love teasing people like that.”
Mao rolls his eyes. “If Hokuto starts complaining about you, how am I supposed to tell her we’re childhood friends?”
“Easy,” Ritsu says, “I’ll win her over with my seductive vampire charms.” He winks at Mao, and Mao fake gags, then swipes another strawberry from Ritsu’s pile.
“Good luck getting those to work on Hokuto,” Mao says. “And good luck in the play, I guess. You should get me a ticket!”
Ritsu takes a bite from one of the strawberries. “Only if Maa-kun asks nicely.”
Mao makes a face, and Ritsu laughs, tossing the rest of the strawberry in his mouth.
-
So, Ritsu’s new routine settles itself in place: He sleeps until sundown if Mao doesn’t come by to see what he’s up to and wake Ritsu up in the process, reads or bakes or plays piano idly if he doesn’t have rehearsal or want to practice, and makes his way to the thankfully evening rehearsals on the days he does.
As much as Ritsu likes making fun of Keito, Wataru was right when they said Keito wrote a good script — he’ll admit it, he got emotional reading the script through for the first time. (It lost some of its charm in the multiple rereads Ritsu had to do in order to memorize more of Nozomi’s lines, but the first read got Keito’s intended message across.)
Ritsu doesn’t consider himself much of an actor, but he seems to be managing alright — between his great memory and the fact that he can actually keep up with the compositions Leo keeps throwing at him every time he comes up with something he thinks suits the tone of a certain scene better, he’s managing to get through every rehearsal in one piece.
Meeting the rest of the cast and crew is tiring, but fun — Wataru is playing the beloved and very dead friend of Haruka, Kaoru, and every ghostly iteration of their presence, and of course there’s Tomoya, who is small and cute but also dryly pessimistic at the funniest of times. Ritsu goes to get measured for costumes — he’s a bit peeved that their plans were to just alter all of the costumes Rei was supposed to wear to fit Ritsu’s frame, but even he’s not obstinate enough to ignore that it’s the smartest option — and recognizes Rei’s friend Shu. She, along with a tall, broad man named Kuro and someone Arashi introduces as “sweet Mika-chan!” make up the costume department. There’s Mitsuru and Adonis on the set pieces, along with Natsume and Sora with the props and special effects; Nazuna (and technically Leo) on sound and lighting; and Arashi on makeup and hair.
Ritsu idly watches Tomoya and Mitsuru bicker while Wataru directs a set change for a scene with Airi, Haruka, and Kaoru, Arashi sitting next to him in the audience. “So…” he says, waiting until Arashi’s curious gaze has turned on him before continuing to speak, “is the entire cast and crew just dating each other? I thought there were rules about workplace relationships, or whatever…”
Arashi gasps, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth like she’s scandalized — but the corners of her lips tug into a smile and her eyes glitter with amusement even in the relative dimness of the theater, so Ritsu knows she’s just playing it up. “You can’t just say it like that, Ritsu-chan!”
Ritsu pouts. “But they didn’t even try to be subtle…”
Arashi laughs. “Mhm, and you’re so all-knowing and smart, right? Who do you think is dating who, then?”
Ritsu settles deeper into his chair. (If he wasn’t in the middle of a conversation he’d try and take a nap, to be honest.) “Well,” he says, “Mikarin’s totally dating his beloved ‘Oshi-san’, and if I really had to guess I think Shu dated Kurocchi at some point, too. And the energy between her and Nazunyan is so weird — are they exes, too?” Arashi already looks absolutely baffled, but Ritsu continues. “I saw Kurocchi and Keito kissing in one of the dressing rooms when I was looking for a place to nap the other day, and then Wataru keeps flirting with Keito. And Tomoya-chan and Mitsurunrun are definitely dating.”
Arashi lets out a laugh that sounds more like a noise of disbelief, and Ritsu allows himself a small, satisfied smile. “Should I keep going?” Ritsu says, and Arashi can’t do anything but let out another disbelieving laugh.
“And you picked up all this after two weeks?” Arashi asks. “While barely talking to any of them?”
Ritsu shrugs. “One of my secret vampire powers is that I’m psychic, Natchan. I’ve definitely told you.”
Arashi swats his shoulder, making an offended noise. “You are not psychic.” Then she glances surreptitiously up at the stage before leaning in towards Ritsu, almost conspiratorially, and says, “But what’s this about Tomoya-chan and Mitsuru-chan? As far as I’m aware, Tomoya-chan has this cute little boyfriend that’s roommates with Nazuna-chan…”
-
“No, no! This is all wrong! Not amazing at all — the opposite, if I so dare to admit!”
Ritsu slumps over onto the piano with a sigh and a discordant cacophony of notes. He sees Hokuto wince out of the corner of his eye at the noise and eases off of them, instead slumping sideways until he’s collapsed on the piano bench.
“I thought our chemistry was good,” Ritsu complains, slowly rolling himself over to face Wataru, who appeared with a dramatic flourish to interrupt the scene Ritsu and Hokuto were rehearsing.
“It was ,” Wataru says, their brow furrowed as they pinch the bridge of their nose, arms dramatically crossed and script held in his free hand, “but something seems to have shifted. Some invisible blockage, and thus, the sparks have faded, the chemistry has dissipated—”
Ritsu blinks, and he’s been deposited in Hokuto’s arms in some strange semblance of a bridal carry, that sends the both of them stumbling and crashing to the stage as Hokuto fails to brace under the new, unexpected weight. He peers upward from the tangle of limbs, and a dramatic groan escapes Wataru’s mouth, completely incongruous with the shit-eating smile on their face. “And don’t even get me started on what’s happened to your sexual tension!”
“Sexual tension—?” Hokuto seems to choke on nothing as she stammers, extricating herself from the body pile Wataru maneuvered them into, her face bright red when she finally manages to get free.
“Ah, I jest!” Wataru winks at Ritsu, though, and says, “Or do I?” and Hokuto turns an even deeper shade of red.
“So?” Ritsu drawls from the floor. It’s comfy down here, to be honest. If the stage lights weren’t so bright, Ritsu would consider rolling over and taking a quick nap. “What do you suggest we do about it?”
“Would extra rehearsals help?” Hokuto asks.
Wataru frowns, lips pursing. “No — I fear that may be part of the problem, dear Hokuto-kun. Perhaps your recent difficulties are because the two of you view it too deeply as merely a part to play — in which case, the rehearsals would exacerbate the problem, not solve it.”
“Then…” Hokuto asks, a pensive expression on his face. It disappears just as quickly as it came, replaced with shock that melts easily into an amusing combination of apprehension and frustration, and Hokuto says, “Don’t tell me—”
The laugh that escapes Wataru is loud and booming, somehow filling the admittedly large theater to its brim. “Ah, so you’ve figured it out, Hokuto-kun? Yes, yes — I prescribe you both a month of method acting!”
Time seems to hang still for a moment — Wataru’s triumphant grin and flourishing arms, Hokuto’s grimace, the hot stage lights still beating down on them. Ritsu blinks slowly. “Method acting…?”
Wataru looks expectantly at Hokuto, who groans before burying his face in his hands. “They want us to go on dates. In character.”
Ritsu blinks again. Maybe it’s the fact that they’ve been rehearsing for the better part of two hours, or the fact that Mao showed up at his house extra early today (something about how him and Subaru wanted to book one of the university gyms to practice basketball; Ritsu would have teased Mao more about the way he blushed when he said Subaru’s name if he had been any more awake) and left him even more tired and lethargic than normal, but Ritsu isn’t sure he’s fully following. “Like… regular dates? At cafes, or the mall?”
Hokuto sighs so, so deeply before nodding that Ritsu nearly finds himself laughing.
Ritsu pauses, to seem like he’s deep in thought, long enough that both Wataru and Hokuto find themselves looking at him with anticipation for his response. “If we spend any money, will it come out of the budget?” Ritsu asks, and the slight widening of Wataru’s eyes is more than enough to draw a satisfied smile across Ritsu’s face. (Wataru is notoriously hard to startle, or so Ritsu’s heard from Leo and Tomoya. Which then caused an hour long debate about whether it’s that Wataru is hard to startle, or whether they’re just perfectly able to control their reactions and not give any indication of being startled. Either way, Ritsu thinks he’s allowed to take a bit of pride in the noticeable surprise Wataru seems to show at his answer.)
“For the record, I respect your skill as an actor, but I will never understand your method acting solutions,” Hokuto says, directed very pointedly at Wataru.
Wataru looks over at Ritsu with a conspiratorial grin and a wink. “She says this, but the last method acting assignment I had for her — becoming more comfortable with feminine presentation, as part of an amazing production of Romeo and Juliet we put on last year — resulted in a much more lasting effect than just a spectacular performance in the play!”
Hokuto sputters, hands waving in front of him with no particular rhyme or reason, just pure embarrassment. (Ritsu, for his part, is incredibly amused by the idea of Hokuto questioning his gender because of a part in a play. He wonders if Arashi had been on the crew for that production, too.)
“Then! It’s decided,” Wataru says grandly. “A month of method acting, and your chemistry should be good as new — perhaps better, even!”
Ritsu looks over at Hokuto, with a half-lidded gaze and sleepy drawl that’s definitely a little bit on purpose. (Izumi said once that half the time when Ritsu looked sleepy, it also looked like he was trying to seduce whoever he talked to, and since then it’s been number one on Ritsu’s list of tactics for flirting.) “So,” he says, drawing out the word for just long enough that Hokuto’s eyes meet his, (they’re such a pretty blue, aren’t they?) “When’s our first date, Hokkun ?”
Hokuto turns a delightful shade of red, and Ritsu’s sure that Wataru’s booming laugh can be heard from the balcony seats.
-
Their first date ends up being three days after that rehearsal, at a cafe. It’s cloudy out, which Ritsu knows isn’t ideal date weather but thanks his lucky stars for, because it means that he can actually make it to their agreed-on meeting time at four without feeling like he’s going to pass out and/or die the entire time. (Well, he still feels like he’s going to pass out. Four in the afternoon is early for him… but less so than he would if it were sunny, so Ritsu takes the small win when he checks the weather forecast that day to get ready for the date.)
He’s still a few minutes late, but Ritsu’s sure it’s fine. When he pushes open the door to the cafe, he easily spots Hokuto at one of the tables near the back corner, who waves politely at him. “What’d you order?” Ritsu asks as he makes his way over, peering over at the mug on the table in front of her.
“Matcha latte,” Hokuto says. For such a prolific actor, she’s very blunt and curt offstage — Ritsu would interpret it as rudeness if he didn’t know that this is just how Hokuto talks. “You should order something first, and then we can talk.”
“Sounds good by me,” Ritsu says, meandering over to the counter to order himself a drink. He remembers to ask for the receipt from the cashier — Ritsu’s plan is to file all of these under an invoice that he’s going to forward to Wataru with nothing but “Business Expenses” as the email subject line. It’ll be really funny, he thinks.
He looks over at Hokuto while he waits for his drink to be ready. She got dressed up pretty nicely for the date, in a white blouse that has a cute rounded collar and pearl beads dotted around the wrist cuffs and neckline. Hokuto’s makeup is light, but noticeable — a slight blush, a bit of mascara and a shimmery eyeshadow, a lip tint that makes his lips look pinker than usual, ( and very kissable , the indulgent voice in the back of Ritsu’s mind supplies) and dark blue jeans that keep the outfit from becoming too formal. There’s a matching pearl hair clip holding back a part of her chin-length hair, her dark bangs curled almost artfully against her forehead.
(It took Ritsu an almost embarrassingly long time to realize that the long hair he sees Hokuto with during rehearsals is just a wig. Granted, normal people wouldn’t wear a wig for every rehearsal — but Hokuto explained that otherwise, on performance days, he gets too worried about the wig behaving to focus completely on his acting, and Ritsu is reminded that Hokuto is not like most people.)
Seeing him all dolled up for their fake-date only confirms what Ritsu noticed the first day he walked into rehearsal — that Hidaka Hokuto is really, really pretty.
“So,” Ritsu drawls, once he’s gotten his drink — he was in the mood for a hot chocolate today, so he decided on a mocha, since that has enough caffeine in it to make sure he actually stays awake for the whole date — and set it down on the table, taking up his usual tired slouch in the chair across from Hokuto, “how do you wanna do this whole dating thing?”
Hokuto’s gaze flicks away from Ritsu’s briefly, and that is what tells Ritsu to look for the slight flush that rises to her cheeks a moment after. “I… will admit that I am not very experienced with romantic matters,” he says, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear. “I still have… yet to date anyone genuinely, to be honest.”
Ritsu hopes that the surprise and shock he feels isn’t completely obvious as he processes what Hokuto just said. “Really…? That’s surprising,” Ritsu says, keeping his tone still and neutral enough that he hopes it comes across as the sly compliment it’s meant to be. “You’re so pretty, though…”
Hokuto can’t meet Ritsu’s eyes, suddenly. Ritsu holds himself back from smiling.
“In that case,” Ritsu says, drawing out the last word just a bit. “I guess the easiest question is what you’re comfortable with… I know we have to kiss and stuff in the play, but if you don’t want to for this method acting thing that’s fine too, up to you.”
“K-Kissing will be fine,” Hokuto says, in a tone that suggests that she is maybe, perhaps, the tiniest bit nervous about it. Still, Ritsu trusts her enough to take her at her word, so he nods and continues down his mental checklist of boundaries.
“Hugging? Hand-holding? Couple selfies? Buying each other stuff? Meeting each other’s friends?” he rattles off.
Hokuto seems a bit taken aback by how thoroughly Ritsu seems to have been thinking about this prior to arriving. “That’s all fine, I suppose?”
Ritsu licks the tip of the whipped cream puff off of his mocha, then licks his lips afterward for good measure. “Good… I’m a really touchy person, you know,” he says. “My hands are always cold, though…”
“Mine too,” Hokuto says.
Ritsu pouts. “What a shame… How will I heat myself up with the warmth of a human’s touch now…”
Hokuto’s brows furrow briefly in confusion. “I thought the vampire thing was just your brother’s deal?”
Ritsu scrunches his nose up in disgust, taking a sip of his mocha. He burns his tongue a bit, but the coolness of the whipped cream soothes the sting. “Don’t talk about that creature like we’re the same… Besides, I’m really a vampire, he’s just a faker.”
Hokuto blinks at him. Ritsu holds her gaze, blinking back. “Sure,” Hokuto says eventually, breaking the staring contest. “In that case, I guess we should get to know each other more… Outside of rehearsal, we don’t really get many chances to talk.”
Ritsu smiles. “Fine by me…”
-
“So, so — did you hear? Ritsu-chan went on a date ~!”
Arashi giggles madly after her proclamation, winking at Ritsu conspiratorially. Ritsu groans — he would drag a hand down his face to emphasize how exasperated he is, but that would ruin the hard work Arashi has put so far into doing his nails. (Right now they’re just a solid black base, but he knows Arashi is planning to put fun little cat decals on them. Maybe even an ironic cross or two. Very middle school goth — Ritsu approves wholeheartedly.)
Leo gasps from where he’s sitting on Ritsu’s bed with a face mask and headband on, grabbing Izumi’s arm like this is the craziest gossip he’s heard in his life. “No way, Rittsu went on a date? With who, with who!”
“Stop grabbing my arm, idiot, I’m going to fuck up Kasa-kun’s hair,” Izumi says. They’re currently braiding Tsukasa’s hair into a thousand tiny braids with no real purpose while their own face mask sets. If asked, Izumi will say it’s just because they need something to do with their hands while they wait — but Ritsu knows better, and knows full well that the relaxed, pleased expression currently on Tsukasa’s face while Izumi’s hands card carefully through his hair is what Izumi is actually after. (Ritsu wonders when Leo and Izumi will get up off their asses and finally ask Tsukasa out. This weird game of cat and cat and mouse has been going on for long enough, after all. Maybe he should get Arashi’s advice on it the next time they have one of their single buddies dates.) (On that note, maybe Ritsu should prod Arashi into confessing to her beloved Mika-chan again. Or Adonis, from the set team. Both great choices for a pretty woman like her.)
“It wasn’t a real date…” Ritsu says tiredly. And then, after a moment, “Tsukipi, you idiot, you were there when Wataru told me and Hokkun to fake date…”
Leo laughs that distinctive laugh of his, and Izumi scolds him for cracking his face mask. “Whoops! Must have forgotten, sorry Rittsu~ Don’t be mad at me, okay~?”
“Fake date?” Tsukasa says from the floor. “Why would you ever fake dating someone?”
Arashi sighs wistfully. “Ah, our sweet Tsukasa-chan, so shielded from the horrors of the world…”
“It’s for that acting thing,” Ritsu says like it explains everything. From the matching looks of confusion on Tsukasa and Izumi’s faces, it does not. “The lead, Hokkun… Our characters are in love, and I guess our performance started losing its spark, so Wataru told us to go fake date for a month and get better at being in fake love…”
“So you’re not actually interested in this ‘Hokkun’ guy, then?” Izumi says.
Ritsu looks at Arashi, then says, “ Well…”
Arashi gasps. “I knew she was totally your type!”
“It’s just for the show, though,” Ritsu says before Arashi can start gushing about how they make such a cute couple and should have seven thousand babies and get married and whatever else she usually comes up with. “I doubt he’d want to date me for real… Besides, thinking that he’s cute doesn’t mean I’m in love , Natchan…”
Tsukasa gets that cute, slight pout on his face that he does when he’s thinking really hard about something. (Ritsu can see why Izumi and Leo are so fascinated with this guy. Not Ritsu’s type, that’s for sure, but there’s something appealing in his earnest nature and cute, innocent face.) “But if you are going on dates with this person, doesn’t that mean there is a chance your feelings deepen?”
Ritsu sends a scathing glare to Tsukasa. Arashi cheers and claps. “If my nails weren’t drying, Suuchan, I’d fuck up your shit,” Ritsu says.
“Kasa-kun has a point, though,” Izumi says, frowning down at the strands of red hair in their hands. “But, whatever — it’s not like I care about whether your stupid showmance or whatever ends up being for real. Just get us free tickets to the premiere, okay?”
Ritsu rolls his eyes, smiling good-naturedly at Izumi. “Sure thing, Secchan. Two premium tickets, coming right up. I hope you and Suuchan have fun on your theater date…”
And then Izumi and Tsukasa are both spluttering defensively, and Leo is cackling madly, and Arashi wipes a dramatic tear from her eye and smiles at Ritsu, a knowing glint in her eyes.