Chapter Text
In the end, Hiori didn’t go to lectures on Monday. He skipped his programming workshop as well. After wasting away for most of the day, he spent his night staying up late playing FPS shooters until it was almost sunrise. Tuesday was much of the same. He slept in until after midday, and then when hunger finally dragged him out of bed to the kitchen, he could only find it in him to heat up instant noodles. Rin was going to kill him for not eating at least a few fruits and vegetables.
Not that I care much… Hiori thought as he dumped his bowl in the sink. It wasn’t like there was anyone else here to get mad at him if he didn’t wash it right away.
Well, that sentiment lasted all of half an hour.
He was just getting into another run of Minesweeper when all of a sudden he heard the door to the corridor opening outside. Not two seconds later, there was a swift knock on his door.
“Hiori,” Chigiri’s voice called. “Are you in?”
Hiori frowned, pulling off his headphones. He went and opened the door to be met with not one, not two, but FIVE people standing outside his door.
“Surprise,” Chigiri smiled, spreading his arms.
Behind him Isagi, Bachira, Nanase and Kurona were all waiting. They had shopping bags filled with what looked like alcohol and snacks, as well as laptop bags and Bachira was even holding an old 3DS.
Hiori could only stare. “What the-“
Before he could get a full reply out, Bachira grinned. “A little birdie told us you weren’t feeling great. We thought we’d come cheer you up!”
“You weren’t at lectures yesterday,” said Isagi. “We were getting worried.”
“Right right,” Kurona nodded. “And I needed an excuse to skip physics today.”
“Ya don’t hafta say that bit,” Nanase laughed. “But yeah, we wanted to see how ya were doin’.”
Hiori didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t turn these guys away. Technically it was Chigiri who’d invited them over. This place was Chigiri’s corridor just as much as it was Hiori’s, at least if rent had anything to say about it.
More than that though, there was a tingle of something in the back of Hiori’s mind. A realisation. A surprised moment of shock. You were this worried about me?
Not two seconds later, Chigiri grabbed Hiori by the arm. “Come on,” he smiled, pulling Hiori out into the corridor. “We’re setting up things over in the common area. Join us.”
Hiori didn't have much of a choice. He let the others usher him down the corridor to the common area, where a cheap couch was set up next in the middle of the space and there was a coffee table overcrowded with various things neither Hiori or Rin had been bothered to clear up. Everyone crashed down onto the couch and Bachira started unloading what felt like hundreds of snacks from his backpack.
Hiori sat in the middle while everyone else settled down. “So, uh, what now exactly?”
“Well,” said Isagi, “you told me once that your Switch is linked to one of your monitors, right?”
Hiori nodded.
“So why not bring it out here and we can play some games together?”
“Yeah!” Bachira cheered. “I’ll beat your asses at Smash Bros!”
“Is that a challenge?” asked Chigiri.
For as much as this was all going way too fast for Hiori, there was also an odd flicker of something nice in his chest. Something warm. These guys all came to see me.
“Sounds good,” Hiori nodded, standing back up. “Though, I think you’ll find it’ll be me beatin’ all yer asses.”
Nanase’s eyes flashed at the challenge. “Bring it.”
“I’m winning this,” said Kurona, chomping down on some fish-shaped potato chips.
Chigiri pulled out his phone while Hiori went to get his monitor. “I’ll order pizza.”
-—-
It took a strangely long time for the pizza to arrive. The group played a few rounds of Smash Bros and then switched to Super Mario Party. After a while, Hiori asked about the food arriving but no one else seemed bothered. A little while later he asked again to much the same response.
I really wanted pizza, too…
And just when he’d given up, presuming this was some sort of weird prank, Chigiri got a sudden notification on his phone. He took a quick glance at it and a Cheshire Cat smile slinked onto his face. “Pizza’s here,” he announced, standing up and passing his controller to Kurona.
“FINALLY!” Bachira cheered, flopping down across Isagi’s legs.
Chigiri went down to the front of the accommodation block, meanwhile the others continued playing. He was gone for a weirdly long time though.
“D’ya think he needed help with the pizza boxes?” Hiori asked after five minutes had passed.
Nanase shook his head. “Nah, he’ll be fine.”
“Yer all being oddly casual about all this,” Hiori said.
“How so?” asked Isagi, who was trying to play the mini game on the screen with a hyperactive cat of a person chilling on his thighs.
“Well, for starters, pizza never takes that long to arrive,” said Hiori, “and all of ya usually jump at the opportunity to help out, especially ‘cause of Chigiri’s leg-“
At that moment, a loud banging noise hit the main door to the corridor. Hiori startled. No one else did though. He whipped his head around and his eyes widened.
Karasu was pressing himself against the glass of the door’s window. He had a glimmer in his eyes, probably relishing in the shocked expression his friend was making. After a few more seconds he stepped back and allowed Chigiri to open the door.
And it wasn’t just Karasu here.
“Guys?!” Hiori stood up as Yukimiya and Otoya also came in, carrying several pizza boxes with them.
“Sorry we took so long,” Yukimiya said. “Someone lost his wallet right before we had to leave.”
“Hey,” Otoya groaned. “We’re here now and that’s all that matters. Plus, we got food! Make some room will you?” He showed off the pizza boxes with a prideful snort.
Hiori just remained where he was, mouth agape. “How did ya…”
“Well,” Chigiri said. “Yukimiya here is friends with Reo, that on rich guy from the business course, and since I’m friends with Reo I heard about your situation pretty quickly. So we got in touch yesterday and organised this for you.”
“But why-“
“Oh come on,” Karasu rolled his eyes, dumping the pizzas down on the coffee table, “ya expect us to just leave ya all depressed and shit? No fuckin’ way.”
It was completely unexpected, something Hiori hadn’t ever thought anyone would do for him. Maybe that was why he sat down on the end of the couch and simply watched as the group of disparate friends he’d never really thought he’d ever see all in one place started to mingle among themselves. They were talking, laughing, eating food together and overall having a good time.
All because they wanted to make sure he was okay.
And all of a sudden, that tiredness he’d felt in his muscles from years and years of senseless running began to lift. Seeing the people he loved and who loved him all in one place, everything suddenly fit into place.
Well, maybe not everyone he loved was here…
But as if in answer to that thought, there was a sudden rush of murmurs around the room. People quietened for a second, heads all turning to the door. Hiori’s did too. And his eyes widened. He stood with a start, heading over to the door to open it.
Rin was standing there in his suit, his briefcase in his hand, looking tired and a bit dishevelled. Not angry though, like Hiori would have expected.
“Hiori…” Rin muttered, “what did I say about throwing a house party here?”
Hiori sighed. “It’s not my fault. Blame Chigiri.”
His boyfriend’s expression didn’t change. Nevertheless, Hiori could tell that Rin wasn’t mad at him. Indeed, instead Rin was glaring at Chigiri and Isagi with a stare like needles. Hiori couldn’t help but chuckle at it. They could be the ones to deal with it in the end.
Instead of focussing on the negatives, Hiori took Rin by the hand, a small smile spreading across his face. “Well,” he said, “ya joinin’?”
For a second, Rin looked absolutely horrified, but then a holler from further in the room broke any attempt Rin could have had at escaping.
“Rin!” Bachira yelled with excitement, “You really did show up!!!”
“Huh?” Hiori frowned.
“Oh I called him to help organise this earlier today,” Bachira grinned, practically clawing to open the pizza boxes, “and he said he wasn’t gonna show up. Look who decided to lie to me!”
“Really?” Hiori turned back to Rin, who was now as red as a tomato and trying to hide his face in the collar of his suit.
“Bachira…” Rin muttered. He then pushed past Hiori with a humiliated rage. “When I get my hands on you!”
Bachira yelped and jumped up on the couch, narrowly avoiding Rin as he barrelled into the common room. It didn’t take long for the entire situation to devolve into absolute chaos. Rin was chasing Bachira around the place in a makeshift game of cat and mouse. Otoya was egging them on. Karasu was trying to dispel the situation while Yukimiya and Chigiri were raiding the fridge for alcohol. Isagi, Kurona and Nanase were just trying to play Mario Party and save the pizzas from getting knocked over. It was all an absolute mess that would no doubt have the building’s other residents calling the front desk sooner or later.
And yet, despite it all, Hiori could only stand there with the biggest smile he’d ever felt spread across his face. He couldn’t look away. Seeing all his friends gathered in one spot, being themselves, doing all of this just for him, it was a spark of something new inside his heart.
He’d spent years running from everything. Years trying to get away from his family. Years all alone.
But he wasn’t really alone, was he? His parents didn’t matter anymore. They were long gone. The void that their absence left had needed filling up with something that until now Hiori hadn’t thought he’d ever find.
At last, the darkness of his isolation was starting to crack and fall away. This was his family. His true family.
I’m not alone…
“Oi!” Karasu’s voice broke him from his trance. “The pizzas are gonna go cold if ya don’t get over here right now.”
Hiori shook himself down. He’d only just registered the tears running down his cheeks. “Sorry,” he smiled. “I was just a bit surprised.”