Chapter Text
Koga stares at the ornate knocker on the ancient looking door of the Itsuki residence. He really shouldn't be expecting anything else considering it's Shu of all people, but he double checks the address Arashi had given him just to be sure he isn't accidentally about to hit up some old rich couple. The knocker is cool to the touch when he wraps his fingers around it and lets it come down gently against the door a few times. There's no immediate answer, and he shifts from foot to foot, adjusts the binder full of notes under his arm, and considers just leaving it at the doorstep when he hears the locks tumble and he ends up looking up at Shu.
He looks just as pissed off as he did earlier in the day, and Koga can definitely feel the “home-court advantage” vibe rolling off of him in waves. Koga feels like a complete idiot for being intimidated by a guy in a frilly shirt, but this is not Koga's turf. Shu stares at him, standing straighter when he realizes just who is at his door- the guy who broke his unitmate's nose - and he crosses his arms over his chest. Koga stares at him like an idiot until Shu raises an eyebrow and tilts his chin up just a touch.
With an even more awkward cough to clear his throat, Koga finally opens his mouth. “Is uh...” He adjusts the binder under his arm again. “Is Mika-kun... is Mika-kun here?”
“Well he does live here,” Shu sneers, and Koga very honestly considers just dropping the binder and running away until he can see Mika peeking around the corner of the entryway. Mika makes a strangled little squawking sound before he quickly leans out of view, and Koga's shoulders slump even more.
“I uh, I brought the notes from what he missed from class.” Koga holds out the binder, trying to lean to the side to catch a glimpse of Mika again, but Shu takes a half step to keep him from peering into his home. “...can I talk to him?” Koga asks with a pathetic little sigh. “He hasn't texted me back or anything.”
Shu casts his eyes to the side where Mika is hiding, and Koga can hear the soft rustling of clothes and the soft pat of bare feet on hardwood floor. His brows furrow, and the look he gives Koga is even nastier than the one he had given him when Shu had hunted him down yesterday. “He's not interested.” Shu holds out his hand for the binder, nose still up in the air.
And now Koga feels a little more angry rather than scared, something akin to a cornered animal maybe, and he bares his teeth. “I'm pretty sure he has a working mouth and speaks Japanese,” he growls, but Shu doesn't even bat an eye, “he doesn't need someone to talk for him, asshole.”
“Well thank goodness you didn't unleash your anger issues on the rest of his face.” Shu shifts just enough that Koga can see into his house again, and all of the bravado he had summed up fizzles out in his throat when he catches Mika's blue eye peering at him, the inner corner covered with a nasty bruise that's creeping down toward his cheek. Shu doesn't seem to notice Koga being able to look into his house once more-- or, more likely, he doesn't care -- and he simply wiggles the fingers on his outstretched hand. “Learn to use your words before you start going berserk, mongrel, and I’d like for you to finish your task so you can get out of my sight.”
Mika's visible eyebrow draws upward before he disappears behind the corner again. Koga can hear what sounds like his feet shuffling anxiously against the floor again and he musters up another glare for Shu as he holds the binder out a little further this time. It's ripped from his hand quickly, and Shu doesn't react when the sides of the binder catch at Koga's fingers enough to slice the skin. He hisses, pulling his hand to his chest and squeezing at his fingers to stop the stinging feeling. Koga opens his mouth to start hurling any insult he can manage, but Shu turns on his heel and slams the door in his face.
Koga stares at the door for a few seconds, the knocker just under the peephole swaying softly with the impact of the door being slammed. He sighs, looking down at his fingers to assess the damage. It's nothing more than a shallow slice, but blood still weeps slowly from the cut. He pulls the sleeve of his undershirt down over his uninjured hand to wipe at the blood, and he only considers knocking again for maybe half a second before he realizes Shu is more likely to call the police on him or something instead of just telling him to piss off. Koga turns away from the doorstep, feeling even more defeated than when Mika had hidden out of his line of sight.
Because even if Shu had been speaking for Mika, he was right there... and he obviously didn't want to talk to Koga at all. The bruising was nasty too, and Koga can't imagine what it looks like when half of his face isn't obscured by a wall. His fingers are throbbing a little, but he just applies more pressure to them as he slowly walks down the sidewalk. Maybe he should just cut them off at the knuckle to atone for breaking Mika's goddamn nose or some shit. He could still strum with the tips of his fingers missing.
“This fucking blows.” Koga mutters to himself, but not quietly enough for the old woman taking her poofy little dog out to use the bathroom to ignore, and he only stands there with his head down as she wags her finger and lectures him about using such language where anyone could hear it.
-
Mika's been watching through the peephole since Shu had huffily walked away from the door, being careful not to press his nose to the wood like he usually does. He feels terrible, watching Koga squeeze at his hand and look more down than Mika has ever seen him, and his hand hovers just above the door handle just as Koga turns and walks away.
“Don't bother with him, Kagehira.” Mika slumps, but turns away from the door when Shu speaks up. “Honestly, he should be suspended-- expelled would be better, actually.”
“I really do think it was an accident, Oshi-san.” Mika peers through the peephole one more time, but Koga has already left. With a sigh, he turns around and follows Shu’s voice to where he’s sitting at their kitchen table, flipping through the binder of notes quickly. If Koga was really angry with him, he wouldn’t have thought to bring what he had missed, right? Mika takes his seat across from Shu, and his heart sinks some when he recognizes the handwriting as Arashi’s instead of Koga’s. “I mean… I don’t think he woulda done this on purpose…”
“I don’t care what his intent was.” Shu pulls some of the worksheets from the pocket of the binder, thumbing through them and separating them by subject. “Your nose is broken, Kagehira, the damage is done regardless. I don’t appreciate his attitude, either.”
Mika crosses his arms to pillow his head when he rests it on the table, kicking his feet underneath. “That’s just how Koga-kun is,” he mumbles, watching Shu sort his homework with a whine. Had he really missed this much in two days? Their teacher must be trying to kill them, or maybe he’s just trying to pick on Koga in a way that isn’t obvious. Is this his punishment for missing class?? Or maybe it’s that one time he cheated off of Arashi during that one math test a few months ago and he got a way higher grade than he should have, and the teacher had to have noticed and now this is his time to pounce, and-
“Ah, Mika-chan, please don’t put your head down on the table like that,” Mademoiselle chides him gently from her tiny rocking chair placed on the table, her even smaller knitting project resting in her lap. Shu gives the rockers a soft tap with the tip of his finger so she can resume her rocking. “Please don’t hurt yourself further, Shu-kun would be so upset to see you hurting again.”
Mika whines again, but lifts his head from where he had dropped his forehead against the table. “Sorry, Mado-nee.” He taps at the spots near his nose where he knows the bruising is worse, but the sensation is more like extra pressure than pain, thankfully.
“If you keep poking yourself I will stitch your hands to your sides, Kagehira.” Shu has finally finished fussing with the papers, only seeming half satisfied with his organization. “I don’t see why Narukami insisted on taking these notes, his handwriting is horrid. Isara would have been much more suited for this.”
Mademoiselle’s rocking starts to slow to a stop, and Shu gives her chair another tap. “But Mika-chan’s Naru-chan is a sweetheart, at least he doesn’t break Mika-chan’s bones for no reason, ufufu.”
“He does post such tasteless photos on his instagram, Mademoiselle. He’s on the road to becoming a very bad influence. Why does your tongue need to be out in every photo?”
“Ah, true, true I suppose. At least Rei-chan’s puppy has all of those cute pictures of little Leon on his accounts.” Mademoiselle tuts, and Shu adjusts her hands so she “continues” her knitting. “To see such a boy go so bad, especially to our Mika-chan. What a world we live in, eh Shu-kun?”
Mika frowns, drumming his fingers on the table. “‘M right here, yanno,” he puts his chin in his other hand, sinking down in his chair again. “I thought we were doin’ good, Mado-nee… we were talkin’ all the time ‘n Naru-chan even said thing were lookin’ good too, and he’s been so nice to me.” Mika lets out a longer whine this time, and Shu kicks him gently under the table. “He said we could walk Leon together n’ that he’d show me his guitar, he even texted me the other day callin’ me Mikariiiiiin .” Shu reaches out his hand just in time to keep Mika from slamming his forehead down on the table again.
“He didn’t even come up with that on his own, didn’t he steal that from Rei’s brother?” Shu pushes Mika’s head up, giving him a stern look when his head bobs downward for a moment. “I honestly have no idea why Oogami is the object of your affections. To think that you have such poor taste.”
“S’cuter when Koga-kun says it.” Mika’s cheeks heat up enough that he can feel the faintest throb from his nose, and he barely catches himself and his hands hover awkwardly in front of his face as he resists the urge to poke and prod. It’s not like Shu has any room to talk about who has poor taste in crushes, when all he does is have Mademoiselle talk for him when he tries to flirt back to Kaoru. Ugh, they’re such a mess, but at least Kaoru doesn’t throw chairs. “He's real sweet, Oshi-san, I promise. But I don't know what I did t'make him so mad...” Mika sets his hands palm down on the table, examining the chips in his nail polish with a wobbling frown.
Shu watches him carefully when Mika isn’t paying attention to him, his shoulders dropping slightly seeing Mika look so defeated. He exhales quietly, leaving Mika to brood for a few moments. “Please don’t look so down, Mika-chan,” Mademoiselle pipes up again, bless her, “Shu-kun would be devastated if you worried yourself sick again, dearie.”
“Sorry, Mado-nee. I won’t, cross my heart.” Mika makes the motions over his chest weakly, and he thinks they all know that that’s mostly a lie, but Mika is at least going to try to keep his lunch down today. He watches the growing pile of papers in front of Shu, and feels sick again just looking at all the work. He groans, pushing his hands against his cheeks. “Why is there so muuuuch, Oshi-san,” Mika blows air from his mouth, and even the fart sound his lips make from being smushed together by his cheeks doesn’t make him feel any better. “I’m gonna diiiiiiie .”
“Nonsense,” Shu says, thumbing through the work with a frown, “of course this wretched school can’t even be bothered to change the curriculum every year.” He reaches for Mademoiselle’s knitting, carefully doing a few tiny stitches to keep her up to pace. “Go get your supplies, I remember these assignments nearly verbatim.”
Mika perks immediately. Shu offering to help with homework..? Without Mika asking?! He stands up quickly, rushing over to the stairs and taking them two at a time to get to his room so he can grab his notebooks and a pencil from his bag. He opens the door to his room, going straight for his bag that’s laying on his bed when his phone catches his attention.
The little light in the corner of his cracked screen blinks, and Mika’s hand hovers over his phone before he picks it up and unlocks it. There’s only one new message-- a picture of Nyanko Arashi had sent to cheer Mika on after a long conversation that yes he’s okay, no please don’t fight Koga-kun please please and then several crying kaomojis from Mika when had finally taken a peek at the mountain of homework.
There are a few unread messages from Koga that Mika’s thumb hovers over for a few moments. He takes a few moments to muster up the courage to finally press the chatlog after squeezing his eyes shut, taking his time in opening them to read the messages.
From: Koga-kun
Subject: im so sorry
oh my god are you okay
i didnt mean to i swear it was an accident
From: Koga-kun
Narukami told me i broke your nose what the fuck
im so so sorry
are you going to class tomorrow?
Mika’s phone buzzes in his hands, and Mika nearly drops it onto the floor. It’s another text from Koga, and the words pop up on the screen before Mika has the chance to get anxious over reading them.
From: Koga-kun
Subject: hey
im sorry i made you cry
mikarin....
please talk to me
Mika chews on his bottom lip, about to try and figure out some kind of reply when Shu calls for him downstairs. “Comin’, I’m comin’.” Mika hollers back, looking over the messages again before giving up with a sigh. He already has enough trouble talking face-to-face, and texting is new layer of hell he doesn’t really feel like stumbling into now. He sets his phone back on his bedside table, gathering up his supplies and tucking them under his arm before he trots down the stairs to start tackling the punishment of homework.
-
Leon is just as excited as always when Koga steps through the front door, yapping and jumping around Koga's feet despite his owner's clear lack of enthusiasm as he kicks off his shoes and sweeps them against the wall with his foot. “Hey, hey.” Leon rears up onto his hind legs, paws resting on Koga's thighs so he can get a proper scratch behind the ears. Even if today has been nothing but shitty, there's no reason Koga should deny his best friend for welcoming him so warmly.
He calls his parents after taking Leon out for his afternoon potty break, phone sandwiched between his shoulder and his ear as he pours the kibbles into Leon’s bowl where the corgi whines excitedly for his meal. His father answers and sounds about as enthused as Koga could imagine him to be, telling Koga that Kunugi had left them a message about an incident and asking Koga whether or not he had meant it when he promised his parents he was done fighting his classmates.
(Without reason, of course.)
Koga eventually gets put on speaker so his mother can be part of the conversation as well, and he’s surprised that his parents seem to soften when he reiterates time and time again that he definitely hadn’t meant to hurt Mika, that he had tried to talk to him over text several times today and even face-to-face but with no luck. But even with Koga nearly in tears on the line, his parents don’t entirely budge on lecturing. Koga sits quietly on the counters of his tiny kitchen and only murmurs in response to the back and forth he gets from his mom and dad.
“You do realize how easily you can get into big trouble at this school?”
“Koga, we aren’t going to let you lose all of this hard work because of your temper.”
“You broke his nose? Oogami Koga--”
Yeah, his mother really didn’t like that one at all.
The call lasts for nearly two hours, and his parents seem to cool off once Koga tells them for the tenth time that he hadn’t meant to do this at all, and he has to sniff hard a few times to keep his emotions in check. But a lackluster scolding doesn’t lighten his mood at all, and his parents let him go after Koga promises again to apologize and to get this set straight. He hangs up the phone and presses the back of his hand under his nose until the burning stops, and Leon tilts his head inquisitively up at him.
Once he composes himself, Koga decides he might as well take Leon for a walk and collect his thoughts further. Being cooped up in the house for such a long time makes Koga feel several different layers of guilt, and Leon’s immediate yapping as soon as Koga pulls his leash from the hook doesn’t give Koga the joy it usually gives him daily. He stuffs a few waste-bags in the pockets of his coat while trying to get Leon to sit so he can attach him to the leash for their adventure of the day.
Thankfully, Koga’s path for the day’s walk is almost completely empty-- strange, but not unwelcome, he’d rather be a little weirded out about not seeing any of the regulars going down the sidewalks toward the little abandoned park that has plenty of spots for Leon to run wild in while Koga stays watch on top of one of the rickety old picnic tables. He takes the long way this time, both to let himself stew in his thoughts and to burn the excess energy that has Leon bobbling along just a few steps ahead of Koga.
The park is just as empty as the path there, and Leon darts off to sniff around in a pile of leaves before he starts romping through them and snuffling at the piles. Koga takes his perch on top of the picnic table, sitting on the tabletop with his feet resting on the bench and his elbows on his knees. This is the place he had thought Mika would have liked to go with him before… everything. It’s a nice, quiet place, just empty enough to be comfortable and he knows Mika doesn’t do crowds very well.
And it’s appropriately creepy, especially with the leaves starting to fall from the trees, but it’s pretty too. Does Mika like pretty and creepy things as much as he likes cute and creepy things? Koga heaves a sigh when he realizes that at this rate he’ll probably never know, and he’ll never get to bring Mika here on… a date? Should he be thinking about calling it a date? Just taking his dog somewhere to play? Koga woefully plucks some stray pieces of grass from his boots, and comes to terms with whether or not he could even call their previously planned excursion a date, there’s no way it’s happening now.
The time gets away from him, on this picnic table in a forgotten park. Leon stays within sight and creeps ever closer as the sun starts to set, and he comes up to Koga’s feet panting like he’s run eighty miles. Which might not be too big of an exaggeration, since he had taken advantage of Koga’s absentmindedness and tumbled through more piles of leaves than the little corgi had known what to do with. He waits patiently for Koga to untangle his leash and clip it back onto his spiked collar, and Leon ambles along just a few steps behind Koga back home.
It’s getting dark quickly, and Koga apologizes several times and makes promises of treats to Leon for having to pick up the pace when Leon is so clearly tired, but Koga would much rather get home before it’s pitch black and all he has to rely on are the street lamps that are poor excuses for light around here. Leon is panting wildly when they finally get inside the small apartment complex lobby, and the nightshift desk attendee coos at Leon and makes a few comments about “such a tired puppy” while fishing around in the little treat jar they keep out there for the pets of the apartment residents.
The promise of a treat revives Leon from his spot where he had been laying on his belly, trying to cool down with help from the tile floor. He sits without Koga having to tell him to, tail shaking as he waits for the biscuit to be tossed into the air for him to catch. It’s a welcome distraction to Koga’s foul mood-- what else could make him happier than someone loving Leon? He thanks the attendant and pats around in his pockets for his room key while he waits for the elevator. Koga’s apartment is only on the second floor, but he can’t subject Leon to the stairs now.
Leon trudges the few steps it takes for him to leave the doorway after Koga removes his leash and collar before he collapses onto the hardwood with a whuff , his stubby back legs flat behind him as he lets the floor cool his belly. Koga, not one to let a good sploot go to waste, snaps a few pictures on his phone before he gushes his praise to his best friend, patting his fluffy butt before making his way to the kitchen to give him a fresh bowl of water.
Living on his own is a godsend, with only having to worry about bothering the few neighbors he has on this floor instead of his mother’s impeccable hearing and his father’s early sleeping times, but the loneliness gets to Koga more often than he likes to admit, and with everything going on he desperately hopes for some kind of distraction to keep him from wallowing yet again.
He sets to work in the kitchen, tackling the few dishes that have piled up over the past few days, then makes a lackluster dinner that he only eats half of before he mixes some scraps into Leon’s kibbles to make good on his promises earlier. Once those chores are done, however, Koga can’t find anything else to properly distract him. His homework goes mostly untouched, but he tries to at least get a little more than half of it done. He runs out of lives much too quickly on the few games he has on his phone, and Leon is too tired from the extended time outside to do anything but climb his tiny stairs to get on Koga’s bed and scratch a little at Koga’s comforter before he lies down to sleep some more. Koga takes a few pictures to post on Leon’s instagram account, silently hoping to see Mika’s account pop up in the steady flow of notifications to no avail.
Even his guitar can only hold him for a song or two before he gives up with a sigh and decides to turn in for the night even though it’s barely past eight. Maybe Rei is starting to brush off on him a little too much, making Koga feel so old and melancholy like some kind of asshole.
His texts to Mika are still unanswered, and the 2B group message is silent. Koga has long since turned his phone on silent to ignore the messages he’s still getting asking if things had really gone like this, and did he really do this. There are even a few unknown numbers that are asking him the same questions or making threats on varying levels. Koga puts his phone on airplane mode then and sets it to charge with a frown.
Koga showers, wakes Leon from where he’s sleeping on Koga’s bed to take him outside one last time, and loads up some cheesy action movie on his laptop to keep the silence of his small room at bay, but he doesn’t pay attention to it at all. The light from the laptop and the dim screen of Koga’s phone keep him up for another hour, and Koga gives up any hope to see anything at all from Mika and shoves his phone under his pillow. Leon lifts his head at the angry huff from his owner and the sound of a dog barking from the movie, and he wiggles and flops his way up closer to Koga’s chest, nosing his way under his arms and cuddling up to him with a sleepy whuff.
“This fuckin’ sucks, Leon,” Koga mutters into Leon’s fur, burying his face in his neck uncaring for the shedding hairs that tickle his nose and scatter dangerously close to his mouth, “what am I s’posed to do, dude?”
In reply, Leon just snores, but he allows himself to be used as a pillow for most of the night.
-
Koga wakes up the next day determined to talk to Mika, no matter what. He had gotten slightly more sleep than the day prior, he finds some eggs in the fridge for breakfast so he doesn’t have to shove another hell waffle down his throat, and Leon’s morning potty break goes off without a hitch. He showers, puts on more than enough deodorant, and makes it to the subway on his usual time and gets his usual spot far away from anyone wearing any kind of nasty perfume.
His plan is relatively simple: he has to get to the school early and to the handicrafts club room, where Mika should be, and he can take him to the side before the fitting or maybe walk with him to class after and explain the situation. Mika is probably going to be skeptical, maybe he’ll be kind of afraid (the thought of Mika being afraid of him makes Koga wither) but this isn’t Koga’s first time trying to coax something like a terrified animal out of it’s corner, and if he can get through the puppy days with Leon being terrified during the stormy seasons then he sure as hell can handle this. Maybe he should have bought some candy or something, but he settles on grabbing the same kind of coffee Mika had brought to class the other day before he gets to the clubroom.
Coffee secured in his bag, Koga quickly makes his way towards the clubroom, knowing that his trip to vending is going to make him the slightest bit late. Not like it’s anything major, a couple minutes behind is nothing compared to Kaoru’s poor excuse for attendance. The blinds to the handicrafts room are cracked just enough that Koga can see inside. Tsumugi is at the table closest to the far windows looking out over the school courtyards, talking to Natsume where he’s perched on the edge of the table. Adonis is closer to the window in the hallway that Koga is looking into, hands in his pockets as he looks down at something, but a head of messy dark hair catches Koga’s attention, and he nearly rips the door open at the potential to see Mika. Mika’s name dies in his throat, however, when the head lifts and it’s just Rei looking over some sketches with Shu.
“Ah, you made it, Wanko,” Rei’s sleepy eyes crinkle when he smiles and flops a hand in greeting, “I was almost afraid I’d have to send Adonis-kun after you.” Rei and Adonis seem to be the only ones who aren’t heinously offended by Koga’s presence, with Natsume sneering at him from his perch and Shu’s withering gaze. Even Tsumugi seems pissed off that Koga is in the same room as him.
Koga deflates, and the way Shu glares at him makes him want to sink into the floor. “Uh… no, I’m here.” Nevermind that Kaoru isn’t here yet, but he’s a different story.
“Unfortunately.” Shu doesn’t waver in his glare when Koga purses his lips at him. “Kagehira is at home resting, if you nearly ripped that door off its hinge because you thought you would see him here.”
“Now, now, be nice, Itsuki-kun. Let me scold my own children.” Rei gives Shu’s hand a soft pat where it rests by the neat sketches. “Speaking of my dear children, where is Kaoru-kun? He said he would be here when we spoke yesterday.”
Speak of the devil, the door to the clubroom opens and Kaoru shuffles inside, failing to conceal a massive yawn behind his hand. “I’m here, I’m here,” he scrubs at one of his eyes, “I hate getting up this early, couldn’t we do this after school?”
“We have other obligations after school, Kaoru-kun.” Rei gives Koga a look that reminds Koga way too much of his own father, what the hell. “Itsuki-kun has to get home to his little bird, anyhow.”
Shu caps the pen he had been using and sets it next to the costume sketches carefully spaced out on the table. “He has a rather nasty habit of making himself sick over things that don’t matter,” he casts a glance at Koga, as if he isn’t aware that Shu is most definitely talking shit. “You know how much I detest even having to think about vomit, Rei.”
Shu should not look so proud of himself for the way Koga knows he looks right now, knowing that making Mika physically ill has to be added to his list of bad deeds now. Rei, at least, looks a little miffed at the way Shu is treating his “kid” and brings his hands together in front of him. “Yes, yes, we all know very well. Let’s get this over with then, shall we? Take your mind off of such things.”
But Rei doesn’t even move to stand where Shu starts to usher the rest of UNDEAD in a line, and instead he drapes himself over the table uncaring for the sketches and even Tsumugi when he quietly asks Rei to move “ah, just a touch?” so he can help Shu out.
“Are you not going to be measured, Sakuma-senpai?” Adonis asks, arms stretched out while Shu stands behind him and stretches his measuring tape across his wingspan.
Rei yawns and settles his chin on top of the back of one hand, the other lazily twisting a lock of his hair. “Itsuki-kun has taken my measurements so many times he basically has them memorized at this point.”
Shu’s phone blips along with the keys being tapped quietly while he enters the numbers for Adonis into the notes. “And even if I didn’t, they’re in several notebooks I have saved over the years.” Adonis lets his arms drop mostly, standing perfectly still as Shu wraps the tape around his chest. Shu cocks an eyebrow, looking rather amazed at the little number the edge of the tape ends at. “Good lord, child, you are stout .”
“A healthy diet of meat does the body wonders, Itsuki-senpai.”
“... Fascinating.”
Tsumugi’s hands prodding just a little too roughly at Koga’s spine tear him out of the shared look of “what the fuck, dude” he’s sharing with Kaoru, and he rocks slightly on his feet at the unexpected pressure. “Stand up straighter, please.” Tsumugi says, sounding strangely cold where he stands behind Koga. His thumbs press even harder against Koga’s shoulders when he holds the tape up, and Koga tries not to fidget when Tsumugi starts to press into pressure points that sting wildly.
Adonis is already done by the time Tsumugi makes his way to Koga’s front, his usually slumped posture gone as he tilts his nose up at Koga even though they’re nearly the same height. He doesn’t say anything when Koga also straightens up even more, somehow finding maybe another centimeter in his refusal to back down. “Hold this on your inner thigh,” Tsumugi hands him the end of the tape, and then crouches down to take Koga’s inseam, “higher than that.” The request is accompanied with a very tired sounding sigh, like Koga has any idea how anything like this works. He’s a rockstar , not a tailor.
Koga huffs, but complies and brings the end of the tape closer to the join of his thigh, very pleased that Tsumugi is not holding his hand right there . Tsumugi is weird enough on a good day, but this stoic kind of coldness has Koga’s hair standing on end. Why does he smell like Koga’s grandfather?
Shu is in the same position in front of Kaoru, and Rei looks even more tired than usual somehow with how red both of them are in the face. “Very nice, very nice,” Shu murmurs to himself as he takes down the measurement of Kaoru’s inseam, letting the bright blue tape fall into his hands when Kaoru drops it from his inner thigh like it’s burning his flesh. The tape wraps around Kaoru’s thigh just as Tsumugi makes some comment on Koga’s inseam being “such an unlucky number” like that’s some kind of real insult. “Ah, and a perfect thigh circumference too, Hakaze. Splendid,” he turns to Rei then and seems oblivious to the way his fellow Oddball is visibly near death, “have you considered shorts instead of pants? Those could easily fit the image as well.”
Kaoru is flushed down to his neck now, but he seems to be brimming with the praise. “Eh? Whaddya think, Sakuma-san?” He turns his foot at the ankle, kicking out his leg daintily.
“I’d soon rather die, please stop your poor attempts at flirting and get this over with before I pass away right here.” Rei inspects the ends of a lock of hair he has twisted around his fingers while Koga snorts at the way Shu nearly falls over and Kaoru very quickly retracts his foot. “You have weird knees, Kaoru-kun.”
“I do not! ” Kaoru denies, but he turns in such a way that his knees are no longer facing Rei even though he’s wearing pants, “we agreed that you’re the one with the weird knees, Sakuma-san.”
Rei looks to Adonis, then to Koga, seeming somewhat pleased that his underlings are both looking appropriately confused at the exchange. Such good kids. At least Adonis is. “Come now, let’s wrap this up,” Rei sighs and rises to his feet, “the children have class and these old bones need a rest.”
Shu grits his teeth and brushes imaginary dust from his legs after he rises from his spot kneeling on the floor. “We could have been done much earlier without your meddling, and if Aoba would stop taking his sweet time.”
Tsumugi scribbles his last note on the pad he’s been recording Koga’s measurements on, clicking the red pen and putting it in his pocket. “Sorry, sorry, Oogami-kun isn’t very good at standing still. He made my job pretty difficult.”
“I was standing completely still the whole time!!” Koga quips, but no one is paying attention to him. Adonis is at least nice enough to hand Koga his bag, but Natsume slides down from his spot on Tsumugi’s table and strides quickly between them just as Koga reaches for the strap of his bag.
“Ah, Sakasaki, you’re coming to class today?” Adonis asks, but Natsume ignores him to grab Koga by his tie, yanking him down until their faces are maybe an inch apart.
Koga has never been so glad that he could care less for the dress code, because the grip that Natsume has on his loose fitting tie would probably choke him out if he was wearing it properly with the way he tugs on it just right to tighten the loop. He opens his mouth to ask Natsume what the hell he’s trying to do right now, but then Natsume’s bright yellow eyes catch the light in the most unsettling way, and Koga feels sweat bead on the back of his neck when he swears that Natsume’s necklace hovers up and away from where it rests low on his chest. He hisses , honest to god hisses Koga is pretty sure, and then words start flowing from his mouth in the strangest tone Koga has ever had the displeasure of hearing.
“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.”
“H-hey, Sakasaki, what..?” Koga whimpers, but Natsume doesn’t stop the low, unsettlingly melodic whispering.
“Suspendisse molestie velit euismod ornare feugiat. Phasellus mattis lorem non sem condimentum, nec consectetur enim egestas,” Natsume pulls harder on Koga’s tie, his voice rising in volume, and Koga is so very glad that he had used the bathroom before coming to school. The yanking on his tie pulls Koga’s face even closer to Natsume’s, and the other boy’s eyes are most definitely too bright to be normal. “Nullam rutrum ex est, in rutrum sapien efficitur non. Aenean quis finibus-”
Koga shrieks, not even chancing a look over his shoulder when Natsume loosens his hold just enough for Koga to stumble backwards and tear down the hallway as fast as he can, pleading at the top of his lungs for someone to help him lift this curse. Natsume’s smile is catlike as he watches Koga flee, and Rei lazily blinks after his kid running with his tail between his legs before he turns to Natsume with his brows furrowed.
“Did you just quote the Lorem Ipsum to make him think you cursed him?”
Natsume puffs up, hands firmly placed on his hips. “He isn’t worth any real use of my magic, Anyway.” Even Tsumugi looks proud when he comes up to Natsume, looking even more delighted when Natsume allows him to hold out his blazer while he puts it back on to go to class. “Karma is more powerful than even my Mother.” He fiddles with the cuffs of his blazer, so pleased with his little game that he even smiles at Tsumugi and accepts his boyfriend’s offer to walk him to class.
Such a delightful child , Shu thinks, reaching to ruffle Natsume’s hair as he strides past him with his arm linked through Tsumugi’s.
-
Nobody seems to pay any mind to Koga when he tears into the classroom panting and slamming his back into the door when he slams it closed behind him. Ritsu and Arashi look up from where they’re huddling around Arashi’s desk-- Ritsu sitting in Mika’s seat nearly gives Koga another heart attack even though he had just been told that Mika isn’t here today -- and Yuzuru heaves a sigh and seems to already be giving up on trying to scold Koga for the day. It’s still early enough that Mao is probably in a student council meeting, and Koga is shocked to see Ritsu awake without Mao prodding him.
“Are you ever not noisy?” Arashi drawls, sitting sideways in his chair with his elbow resting on Mika’s desk. Ritsu yawns, but gives Koga a cheshire grin while he twirls some of his hair around his finger.
“Don’t you know, Natchan? Corgis are always yappy little things,” Koga decides against trying to school Ritsu on his clear lack of understanding on the superior dog breed and gives him the finger before plopping down in his desk instead.
Arashi hums loudly, shifting in his seat until he catches Koga’s attention before he turns up the brightness on his phone to the highest setting. “So, before I was so rudely interrupted,” he huffs, “that girl I followed on insta? She posted this super cute thing the other day, what was it…” Instead of going into the app, however, Koga watches silently as Arashi goes into his settings and cranks the text size of his phone up until the screen is nearly filled with only portions of words. “Aw, boo, I can’t remember, and I wanted to get one, too.”
Ritsu tilts his head, still twirling a lock of hair as he pretends to be clueless along with Arashi. He keeps glancing over at Koga, and doesn’t try to contain his smile. “Is the girl who has all the Hello Kitty guns? Or the flowery brass knuckles?”
“No, no, it’s another one,” Arashi opens up his browser, and Koga withers when he sees that Arashi has a page open titled The Pros to Neutering that he keeps on the screen just a little too long before he swipes it away and opens a new tab to get on Amazon. “Oh! Oh, I remember now, lemme see if I can find one.”
With the brightness up so high and the text so large, and the way Arashi is obviously holding his phone just so Koga can see it, Koga can easily watch as Arashi starts typing in the search bar for knives-- fucking knives -- and he slowly scrolls through the results. Arashi points to one, a butterfly knife with a rainbow chrome finish. “It was like this! Isn’t it, like, super cute? Maybe I should get into collecting.”
Ritsu leans in, zooming in on the knife with a hum. “I saw the one she posted, too, but I think it was way bigger Natchan, you should look for machetes.”
“If I may,” Yuzuru butts in, and Koga hopes against hope that maybe he’s going to call them out on some kind innapropriate behavior or something, “make sure you purchase one made with stainless steel, it’s really quite something.”
Of course, Koga turns away from the three with a sneer and vows to keep his eyes glued to his phone until class actually starts, and he switches between tabs on how to lift curses and ways to apologize for being a complete dumbass to the boy you’re furiously crushing on.