Chapter Text
"…maybe this one?" he wondered to himself, reaching to the high shelf to grab a DVD titled: 'Last Day On Earth'. It had a brown semi-transparent wrapper; the cover picture was of planet earth and the main cast standing on it, looking absolutely terrified. "When the news about the end of the world spread, a group of teens decide to make the day count and follow a bucket list…" he read the back summary briefly, deciding almost immediately to place the movie back in its shelf.
"Hey," he heard a familiar voice greeting him. He looked up to see the telekinetic leader of former team Hiragi, smiling gently at him and offering a small wave.
"Tatsumi!" he called before walking up to where the other teen stood, the horror movie section. "Your turn to choose for movie night?" he guessed correctly, making the taller teen hum his approval.
"But it's a little hard to choose without Eigo here," the blonde mutant admitted, scanning the shelves quickly before reaching out to a movie box. "There's a new movie from the director of 'Panic! at the frat girl's pool party' that got good reviews," he explained, showing the brunette the cover; like any DVD on the rental store, it didn't have much detail on it, only a bleeding hand and a title that said 'Blood! In the vampire's lair.'
"Sounds good," Hoshitani supplied his humble opinion, not questioning why Tatsumi was there alone and without his best friend, having already heard the answer.
"What brings you here?" the emerald eyed teen questioned, tucking the movie under his arm, deciding to rent it for their joint watch.
"Tsukigami refused to tell me where he was going, Tengenji has a gala and Kuga is working," he explained quickly. "So Nayuki and I just planned to watch a movie."
"Do you want to join us?" Tatsumi offered, "We are meeting in E's common room in half an hour," he supplied, confusing the water bender slightly.
"E's?" he wondered, not seeing a scenario in which team Hiragi would want to use their own common room and be refused, they were too admired.
"A bunch of first years broke Class E's TV, so they got a different one," Tatsumi answered with a soft smile. "It's huge, and the resolution is great,"
Hoshitani didn't even pretend to think it over before answering, "Sure! Let’s go!" he said, already skipping away alongside the silvery blonde to the checking station where they rented the movie for the night. It will be fun, he was sure, remembering vividly with joy their night of horrors at the Hiragi villa's basement last year.
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His breath rang loudly in his own ears as he tried to catch it, leaning against the red wall of the distant wine station. The fancy hall was too full for his taste, the people in it too loud.
Every year, the beautifully famous elite gather around to a social party. Fancy suits and even fancier dresses were mandatory, along with an attitude and an ego that requires boosting. Usually, his brother -being the most charming young actor in the theater scene- was the one to accompany their parents to that gala, which left Kaito free of responsibility. However, today was the day his luck had run out.
His mother and father always loved to attend those things, even if they didn't have to. The Tsukigami family members always loved the limelight, Kaito included, but that still didn’t mean he was happy to uphold his younger brother duty and walk around with his parent to entertain people, especially people who will judge him with all their might.
Allegedly, it was just another Thursday, the last day of a long week he had spent practicing with his no-longer-teammates and their new teacher from hell. Not that he agreed with that title at all, Hikogo Mitsugi took the liberty of working him just as hard as anyone else, which he happened to appreciate greatly from a superior who's not their former senpai.
Nevertheless, the extra effort, along with regular school work, took their usual toll and by Thursday he was more than ready to get the day over with and start his weekend- which he planned to spend watching stupid horror movies and eating soba noodles with his friends or curled up in his bed and asleep, filling up his body's battery without cheating for once. But then again, life had other plans that contradicted his own.
'Mom is going to call you.' a message on his phone popped up as he was working on his math homework, capturing his attention. He was about to text his brother back but a call came in a moment too soon, stopping him from getting more information. From the way she greeted him hello when he picked up, her voice sweet as caramel, he knew he was done for and that his mother with or without the use of her powers- will leave him no choice but to compile to her demand.
And so he found himself accompanying his parents to an unnecessary event thrown by and for people who will speak at him and scan him while debating with themselves if he was worthy of his name.
So after a round of greeting and fake smiles, polite small talk and a bunch of acting, he managed to excuse himself from his parents and their social friends, counting down the minutes till he'll be allowed to get out of that place where nothing good ever happens.
"…Tsukigami…?" A voice he recognized well woke him from his bubble of thinking, only confirming his last though. Yep, nothing good.
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"I brought some popcorn!" the invisible boy announced as he entered class E's common room, his hands balancing the full bags of homemade popped corn. " I didn’t know which one you like so I made a bag of each kind," he said, making Ugawa chuckle as he got up to help his blonde friend.
He knew it will be a good idea to tag his friend from class A there, not only will he be mental support for the mind manipulator, who was never in the mood for scary movie night even though they were so frequent; but he also never came without some homemade treats. Besides, he was only promoting the inevitable; knowing the rest of his former teammates, will probably invite the rest of team Otori as well.
"Right on time, Nayuki-chan," Toraishi said in his usual friendly tone while Nayuki made his way to take a seat next to Ugawa on the hard green corner sofa.
"Popcorn!" Inumine explained after sniffing the changed air, hopping from his spot in the common room's kitchen to where the pink and yellow duo sat, settling on the floor to their feet and helping himself to the bag of carmeled popcorn. "~tasty!~" he moaned to himself, making Nayuki chuckle in delight.
"Don't eat it all by yourself!" Toraishi scolded his supposedly trained dog, climbing over the back of the sofa to join them, settling next to Ugawa without much thought. But when he reached to grab some popcorn for himself, the green haired teen just ran with it to hide under Sawatari's protection.
Nayuki laughed again and handed the power replicator his own bag, earning countless praises on him being the best. "Did Tatsumin say what's the movie about?" wondered the pink eyed mutant, nibbling on Toraishi's treats without much care for his protest.
"Vampires," said the knowing brunette, joining them with a tray of soft drinks matching their preferences and a teapot for those with the more sensitive taste.
"Vampires are hot," Toraishi commented with a full mouth, backed up with a nodding psychic who agreed silently. "Now I want to watch it,"
"It's still a horror movie," Ugawa reminded him pointedly. "All horror movies have gross blood, creepy music, terrible acting, and no plot."
Nayuki laughed gently before answering, "That is true." He said, sharing a fist bump with the pink haired mutant.
"We're back!" a known overly enthusiastic (although more timid than this of the dog Ugawa had as a roommate) called, walking with the beautiful Tatsumi by his side, the movie case in his hands.
"All set." Sawatari said before turning to them, smiling kindly to his childhood friend, making the mind manipulator roll his eyes before stuffing his mouth with buttered popcorn.
The movie soon began to play. The first shot they saw was a picture of a rainforest that was quite gloomy-looking; the trees had strong branches covered in leaves and their stumps were covered in mold, all surrounding a small pond of water that a little deer drank from.
"I'd never given much thought to how I would die…" a female voiceover was heard. "But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go."
The deer kept drinking from the pond peacefully, before the camera shifted to the view of the woods behind it. The sound of a crackling branch broke the silence, caused by a wolf, who was watching his prey carefully. With no hesitation, it started chasing after the prey through the foggy and cold wood. The background music grew louder and more intense, as the camera ran along to follow the chase. The deer kept running, but Ugawa could spot another figure behind the trees, which caused him to swallow thickly. Not long after, the deer was caught, but not by the wolf… huh?
The scene changed quickly, to a completely different location. The main character, who was a pale looking teenage girl with chocolate brown hair, stood in a scorching, desert-like area. She seemed fascinated by two pots of cactus, yet had a blank expression at the same time…reminding the pink haired mutant his former teammate.
She took a deep breath before her inner monologue continued, "So I can't bring myself to regret the decision … I would miss Phoenix." She said, pacing forward. "I would miss the sun, I would miss the heat…" she continued, looking around the area skeptically. "I would miss my loving, erratic, harebrained mother…And her new husband."
So far it doesn't seem that scary…the pink haired mutant found himself thinking, but he shook his head, reminding himself that if he calms down, the scary things will be even scarier, and that if he yells, Toraishi will tease him for days.
"Guys, come on!" the husband called them as the main character and her mother had a moment. "I love you both, but we got a plane to catch."
"But they want to go on the road," the main girl explained to the audience, before getting into the car. "So I'm going to spend some time with my dad, and this will be a good thing..." she kept going, the car already started driving down the open road.
"I think…" she added finally, and the movie's title card came up onto the screen, leaving the group confused as to why it didn't read 'blood! At the vampire lair'. Ugawa looked over to notice Sawatari reaching to the empty DVD box and chucking for some missing details.
"They had the disks mixed up between rents," the gateway teleporter supplied his theory, leaning back on the sofa where he sat next to Hoshitani. That was the first time the pink haired mutant noticed the elegant duo was sitting apart. He didn't get the chance to question it farther because his former leader spoke.
"Sorry I didn’t check it properly," he apologized sincerely but was waved off by his friends, who were more than happy to just tag along whichever movie they happened to come across.
Out of all of the horror movies they heard about, Twilight definitely didn't ring a bell. Some hope fluttered in Ugawa's chest, maybe he still had some hope to actually enjoy the movie of movie night and not just the company involved.
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"What are you doing here?" the shape shifter asked him as he walked closer, hands in his pockets and cat eyes wondering. The blue haired teenager rolled his eyes, struggling to find ways for his night to get any worse. "Don’t ignore me, boor." demanded his former teammate.
"My parents always come to this party," he explained, head leaning against the wall. "I'm an extra."
"I attend every year and have never seen you here before…" Tengenji admitted, glancing around the hall and locating the famous Tsukigami duo out in the center of the room, chatting idly with champagne glasses sparkling in their hands.
"It’s usually my brother that accompanies them,"
"I never noticed him before either," admitted the redhead, settling against the wall as well and watching the crowd alongside the energy manipulator.
"Well, you are not interested in other stars, right?" Mocked the shorter of the two with a sly smile, raising a matching expression on his bickering partner's face.
"You know your stuff, guess you haven’t been my teammate for nothing," he admitted. "And you are too good to greet everyone politely so you just lone in this corner," he returned.
"You’re wandering around by yourself too," Tsukigami didn’t hesitate to point out, obviously expecting his words to be contradicted with pride and a huffed breath.
"I already greeted everyone I know, now it's up to my teacher to handle everyone who knows me," all the other teen could do was roll his eyes, folding his gloved arms across his chest.
"I just want to get this over with…" he sighed mostly to himself.
"Well… If you’re bored being alone…" offered the redhead, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, looking anywhere but at his former teammate. "I can keep you company for a bit…"
"No thank you." Tsukigami answered simply, chuckling a little at Tengenji's obvious reaction.
"Why not?! I only called out to you 'cause you looked so out of place here!" he defended his honor loudly, eyes narrow and his body turned toward the one challenging him.
"Why do I have to hang out with you outside when I see your face at school every day?" the younger of the two challenged back, turning his body as well so they were both facing each other.
"You two look different in suits," commented a deep voice from behind them, belonging to a bus-boy, wearing a dark vest, a bow tie and cleaning some empty wine glasses, his eyes filled with amusement.
"Kuga?" the bickering partners asked together.
Are Hoshitani and Nayuki lurking in here somewhere too?
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The love interest looked at the main character with disgust in his eyes, seeming like he was trying not to breathe the same air as her. Or at least that was what they managed to see before a certain sonic screamer decided to snatch the remote and switch the channel, much to the group's demise.
"What the hell, man?!" Toraishi yelled, nearly choking on his chocolate covered popcorn. Hoshitani was snapped out of his zone, forgetting for a moment about Edward and Bella and noticing that Ageha had entered the room, not minding the partial dream-team's presence.
"Deal with it," Ageha lashed out at his accuser, the first time anyone had ever seen him expressing any emotion. "My livestream stopped working."
"Ageha-kun, I recorded it for you, you can just watch it later." Said Koumoto, who joined them earlier. He came because of the good Wi-Fi reception but was suddenly intrigued by the movie.
"Doesn't matter, I need to see it live." He excused, emphasizing the last part.
"Can't you watch it later?" Hoshitani couldn't help but wonder, snuggling a little closer to his boyfriend when receiving a death glare that would put Tengenji's for shame. A loud thud hit the floor- making Ugawa think that the scary part of the movie had finally come. The rest looked to the side to see it was none other than the intangabiliter sidekick tagging along after his friend, who ran out of their room the moment their live stream failed.
"Sorry!" Hachiya said, pushing his glasses from the tip of this nose before rising from the floor.
"Oh hey, Hachiya-kun!" the pixie greeted, causing his former teammate to wave awkwardly at him. "Do you mind removing the pest away? He is ruining everything,"
"Shut up, moth." The sonic screamer said coldly, making Ugawa chuckle despite himself.
"We are watching a movie," Tatsumi tried to push as gently as possible, minding the rude interruption.
"Which one?" wondered Hachiya while his roommate stared at the TV, where the screening of Koumoto's favorite gossip show was happening, the reporter covering a gala that happened that evening, only for the rich and famous.
"Twilight." Nayuki answered.
"You watch English movies?" he wondered, a little impressed.
"We were," it was Sawatari who complained this time, beating Ugawa to it by the second.
"It's starting!" Ageha told them, causing most of the residents in the room to roll their eyes but look anyway out of curiosity.
The camera tilted to scan the theatre actor from head to toe, feeding the audience with the details of his new suit and his overly charming charisma, radiating from his smile and presence. The sonic screamer was so invested in the moment; taking in the details of his idol…he nearly got a heart attack when the picture on the screen changed into one of a depressed vampire. He looked down in anger and slight surprise, the remote was no longer in his hands.
"What?!" he argued, looking at the people behind him as if ready to cut through them to get the remote back.
"Nobody cares about this shit," excused the pink ball of anger who stole it. "Now move, we're in the middle of a movie." He finished, causing his former teammate to gasp in fake surprise.
"Oh, Ugawa-chan is actually interested in the movie?!" Toraishi couldn’t help but say, getting a doubled death glare from both his occasional roommate and the soulless fish.
"Like I would enjoy something like that…" he denied, the other teen's sly smile still remained.
The Majorelle blue eyed teen clenched his fist and was about to storm off from the room, only to be stopped by his former teammate's annoyingly friendly voice. "Do you want to stay and watch the movie, Ageha-kun?" wondered the curious fairy who didn’t want the mutants to fight in the real world.
"Why should I?" he wondered, his expression turned blank again.
"You might like it, and it's not like you have anything to do right now." Koumoto reasoned, his ears fluttered a bit. After looking at the invested teenagers absorbing the movie and noticing his best friend's begging eyes, Ageha sighed deeply and replied, "Fine…someone give us a synopsis."
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"What are you doing here?"
"I told you guys I'm working tonight." The mind reader pointed out to his questioning roommate.
"You didn't say it was the same party," he said.
"I didn’t know," Kuga waved it off. When the blue haired teen told him that his mother made him go to a stupid social party, he concentrated more on his friend's irritation and not on the odds of them needing to be at the same venue.
"What are the odds of that, right?" said Tengenji with a sly smile. "Now we have to give you a big tip," he said and the mind reader pulled his fist in happiness, as if he just won a prize, making his two friends chuckle.
"I'm more surprised to see you two being friends outside of school,"
"As if this guy can friendly to anyone," noted the shape shifter.
"It's not like we planned this," Tsukigami pointed out coldly.
"It's called a coincidence," supplied the redhead, confusing the mind reader a bit because-
"Coincidence or not, I heard a few people thinking: 'I rarely ever see Kakeru-kun with people of his age. I’ve never seen him so happy before.'" He quoted the group of old businessmen standing closest to them, who were talking to the Kabuki actor's father.
"Oh really…?" wondered the youngest Tsukigami with a sly smirk that only annoyed the shape sifter farther.
"Of course not! Who would want to chat away happily with you boor!"
"Your father recognized me when I served them, one of them was a little sentimental and started telling me things," Kuga told them, grabbing another glass to be cleaned and causing the redhead to frown with slight worry over whatever was going to be said next and as to why his father could recognize his former teammate at all.
"They were wondering about an old photo, reminiscing over some memories..." the mind reader waved it off.
"Photo of what?" the energy manipulator wondered. The mind reader shared his thought with them, making his two teammates see what he was shown by the businessmen. It was a girl, probably 8 years old or so, pretty and wearing a kimono as red as her eyes and hair.
No one expected the Tengenji heir's scream of horror.
"stop being so loud!" scolded the blue eyed teen, really not wanting any more unwanted attention to be drawn to them. "What's wrong with you?!"
"What's the panic all about, it’s just a little girl…" Kuga admitted, his roommate nodded in agreement.
"Don't invade my privacy you boors!" was his response, which only made the two more curious.
They didn’t get a chance to question him any farther, thanks to the beautiful manager of the staff that approached them, asking the purple haired teen to 'stop chatting with the guests and get back to work'. He excused himself politely, the three agreeing to talk later when they are back at school.
"Was the photo of your fiancée?" wondered the energy manipulator, causing the taller teen to turn to him with narrow cat eyes.
"As if I’d have one! What era do you think we’re in?!" he questioned, the other mutant not seeing the relevance, seeing as his teammate often displayed habits of people from another time; and seeing how traditional his family was, his theory didn’t seem that far-fetched.
But the shape shifter was soon looking past him, meeting the gazes of too many people. Tsukigami turned around to see that they had grabbed too much attention to themselves, seeing who both of them were.
"People are heading over here," he muttered.
"Shit, I don't wanna be hogged again," muttered his former teammate back, smoothing his hair back and sighing, seemingly feeling similar to his usual bickering partner.
"Do you want to sneak out then?" Tsukigami made an offer he didn’t know the reason behind, confusing the redhead cat. Tsukigami stuffed his gloved hands in his pockets and stepped forward, not expecting the other mutant to follow him obediently out of the hall, muttering some excuse for his cooperation.
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"Wait, are you serious?" the gray haired teen tried to assure what he just heard. Just a moment ago, Nanjo was planning on meeting in Kitahara's room and hang out the usual way; scrolling through stupid videos, mock any person in the academy that provoked them and, seeing as Toraishi disappeared for the night- take advantage of the empty room and be as loud as they want to be.
But apparently, his fooling around partner had to do something else first.
"I'm telling you, I'm not buying it." The burgundy haired teen replied, as they climbed the last staircase, reaching the E class dormitories. A clumsy bumblebee texted the demonic mutant about how he can't give him the answers to tomorrow's science homework because he was watching a movie with the dream team.
If he said he had to do some sort of Haruto-ritual with the leech he had for a roommate, Kitahara wouldn't have thought about it at all. But Hachiya was trying to tell him he somehow got invited to a gathering of the snobbish dream team? He had to figure out how to lie properly, something the burgundy haired teen was willing to teach.
"You got fired up quickly," Nanjo teased, walking a little behind the determined jungle green eyed teen, enjoying the view as he could with all the layers covering it.
They quickly made it to class E's common room, opening the door wide and abruptly, which surprisingly wasn't enough to break any of the room's inhabitants' attention. The group was glued to the screen, watching a pretty dull scene; the main couple was in a greenhouse with their classmates, looking around with unemotional expressions that looked awfully familiar.
"What's in Jacksonville?" the male turned to her, his serious frown caused the female to switch her focus to him.
"How did you know about that?" she asked in return, her eyes blinked at him too many times.
He hesitated slightly before informing her the obvious, "You didn't answer my question."
"You didn't answer any one of mine so…" she stated back, still looking around uncomfortably. "I mean, you don't even say hi to me."
"Hi." he replied to her after a moment of silence.
How are they enjoying this without any alcohol? The plant manipulator couldn't help but question the dream team's sanity one more time.
"I thought you were bluffing but you are honestly watching this shit," Kitahara said, causing the majority of the eyes to turn to him, noticing the presence of the former team Sazanami duo for the first time. Ugawa and Toraishi continued watching, used to their nonsense by now and prefer to see how the movie unfolds instead.
"Don’t insult the movie," Koumoto demanded stubbornly, hearing that the scene changed and that he already missed too much. The rest followed his lead, not caring much for whatever it is Kitahara was trying to achieve by interrupting them.
"You know it?" Hachiya asked the burgundy and gray couple. Nanjo just rolled his eyes, but his partner in crime crossed his arms over his chest proudly.
"Of course, my sisters were obsessed with it when it was cool." He reasoned. "I know everything that happens."
"And you came to brag about it?" the sonic screamer wondered, his eyes still focused on the screen.
"No, we have better things to do." Kitahara waved him off.
"Like what, each other?" Tatsumi stung, causing the gray haired mutant to look at him with raised eyebrows. He was beaten to react by Kitahara though.
"Guilty." He let out, pointing sharply at the silvery blonde who seemed more amused than Nanjo found acceptable. But he dismissed it as soon as his tie was grabbed and he was pulled out of the room by a smirking demon with pretty green eyes who told exactly what he was thinking.
The plant manipulator grinned in satisfaction and allowed himself to be led back to the empty room in class C's dormitories.
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The night skies were dark and dotted with tiny stars, all shadowed by the bright and pure light of the moon shining high. The two teens were not noticed as they quickly escaped the crowded hall, using a backdoor Tengenji never passed in before. On the other side of it, he was surprised yet delighted to see a flower garden, one that seemed like it was taken directly from an old movie or from one of the period books he liked. "You've never been here before, how did you know this place has a back garden?" wondered the shape shifter, voice a little quieter once they were away from the loud crowds of celebrities. "Not for this party, but we used this hall for a family gathering once," answered the energy manipulator, hands still stuffed in his pockets as he looked over his shoulder to see they were really alone. His shoulders relaxed a little when it was confirmed.
"Do you think they'll notice we are gone?" Tengenji asked, glancing over his shoulder as well to where the opening was.
"My parents have my brother with them so it's fine," Tsukigami admitted simply, still not entirely getting the point of his mother wanting him to be there to begin with. "And you said you already greeted everyone you needed to," he pointed out and the taller mutant hummed in agreement.
"And none of them will chase me that far, so I guess we're fine."
The silence that falls upon them as they walked deeper into the gardens was strange; both of them trying to recall if this was really the first time they were alone together without the other members of their former team.
"How unexpected," the blue haired teen had to admit when he actually gave it a though, peeking the other's curiosity. "That an arrogant person like you is so polite near adults,"
"I'm not bearing the Tengenji name for nothing, you know," the redhead defended, not stubbornly or in an annoyed tone for once. "The world of Kabuki is incredibly strict when it comes to manners, there's no place for my temper," he admitted, taking the other by a pleasant surprise.
"You fit right in," Tsukigami had to give him the credit, remembering how hard it was for his former teammate to keep his short fuse at bay when they had 'operation phoenix' last year and had to act all dignified.
"Honestly, I am a little surprised you don't." the heir honestly said. "The Tsukigami family is quite popular in these parties,"
"Is it that obvious?" he wondered, his usual bickering partner smirking evilly.
"That you are terrified on the inside? Yep." He said simply, making the other teen want to protest and argue despite the truth of the words. There was no way he was going to accept this blunt criticism from the royal pain in the ass, but then he was stood corrected. "But I know how shy you are, socializing is a problem for you,"
"That's…true…" he had to admit with a sigh. He didn't know how he felt about the Tengenji heir noticing his weakness.
"That's what your brother is for isn't it?" the redhead asked.
"I guess, in a way I believe he stood in the spotlight as the Tsukigami child because of my problems," the energy manipulator admitted before thinking, lifting up his gaze to see the judgment in the other's eyes, but his expectation was averted again.
"Don't take all the credit, boor, he is the oldest child too," Tengenji pointed out teasingly, cat eyes appearing almost human. "But you are indeed very problematic," he had to add. Tsukigami couldn’t help but chuckle at that, accepting the new attitude his former teammate presented him with. Teasing still, but not as angry and aggressive…friendly maybe?
"He is such a perfect brother,"
"What did you have to drink? I can’t believe the guy with a brother complex is praising him so much," the redhead pointed out, tilting his head to the side.
"Sadly I had no access to the alcohol," he pointed out, making the other smile and share his pain. "And it's not like I hate my brother. On the contrary, I respect him from the bottom of my heart, and am always grateful to him…" the blue eyed teen said, voice not as confident in his words as it usually was.
"Why don't you say it to him then? Like at the master class, you acted like strangers," Tengenji had to point out. Honestly, he was still a little taken aback by the fact he was having this conversation with the snobbish level 5 mutant who he spent his first year fighting with. The fact it felt natural was even more confusing than the words Tsukigami was saying.
"I've only admitted it to myself after the first stage was over, it will be humiliating to say it to his face," determined the energy manipulator, making his one-night-only friend chuckle and tap his head like he was a little kid throwing a tantrum.
"There there, Kaito-chan, I'm sure your brother will handle your emotions just fine," the cat eyed mutant said and the other chuckled.
"I just believe that there are words that lose their value as soon as you say them out loud, affection can be conveyed even without using words. You don’t have to understand." He admitted seriously, eyes holding the others who somehow seemed to understand perfectly despite it.
"Seems tiring to me, but it suits you somehow," he admitted, making the shorter teen smile and lift his chin up with a questioning eyebrow.
"Thank you…?" he wondered, making the other chuckle.
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"That was the best diner we visited by far," Keihi stated, as they made their way back to their rooms for the night, a little too close to curfew than they aimed for, but after a successful date night. It was really nice breathing some fresh air and being pampered by his boyfriend after getting his ass kicked in Mitsu -sensei's class every day.
"I agree, " Arisaka said, "That fudge cake was awesome," he mentioned, wrapping his hand around his lover's shoulders. "We should eat there again."
"We should," he agreed, leaning his head on the other's shoulder. "Hey, Ari…"
"What is it?" the ginger wondered, his blue-green eyes questioning softly the purple pair staring into them.
"Do you think Koumoto's still in the room…?" he asked, his tone turning suggestive.
"Well-" he was about to reply but was startled by a joint mix of yells, some of excitement, some of terror but mostly of shock. "What the hell?"
His boyfriend nodded in agreement, marching a little faster toward the common room, where the light was still beaming that late at night and where the noise must have come from.
The couch was full; former team Hiragi, along with the cute couple from former team Otori and the rest of former team Yuzuriha, all hogging the new screen and eyeing the happenings in the movie with anticipation. All but Inumine, who was snoring lightly on the carpet, cuddling one of the pillows.
Arisaka recognized the main protagonists as he saw the on-screen couple running past the trees at the speed of light. He was no stranger to twilight; in fact, he tried to see the movie once. But due to his impatience and how un-romantic he was back then, he didn't manage to get to the ending without wanting to throw his laptop out of the window.
Bella and Edward were in a different section of the forest, a part the girl never saw before. She looked at him with awe as he walked to the obvious ray of sun that was in front of them. "This is why we don't show ourselves in sunlight." He said, his back facing her as he unbuttoned his shirt. "People would know we're different." He told her, the camera zoomed into her heavy breaths. Slowly and gradually, he turned to face her, showing her his true form. "This is what I am." He stated, staring at her like he expects her to run at the sight of his sparkling chest.
Arisaka didn’t know why though, he had seen worse things in his life.
Bella kept looking at him with awe, unable to form her words correctly. "It's like diamonds..." she blurted out, making him look more uncomfortable. "You're beautiful."
"Beautiful...?" he inquired, his tone non-believing. "This is a skin of a killer, Bella." he explained to her, buttoning his shirt back on. Shouldn't the skin of a killer be stained with blood? Or black? Or rotten? The actual-diamond skinned mutant couldn’t help but wonder. He turned to look at his partner and share his thoughts, keeping his mouth shut when he saw the beautiful purple eyes watching the screen closely, his expression beaming like his heart when he watched the cheesy scene.
Arisaka then noticed he wasn't the only one who noticed Keihi's sigh of romance, and that the two of them were being observed by Sawatari. The hazel eyed brunette signed them to enter, before returning to his movie analyzing.
The ginger gave one more look at his boyfriend and sighed in defeat, directing the shorter teen by the shoulders to enter the room completely, finding their sit on the carpet.
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"My mother wouldn't shut up about this the whole plane back," the energy manipulator finished his story, both teenagers laughing at the image planted in their heads of the visibly poised and elegant Tsukigami charmer, acting like a fangirl in front of her favorite Broadway actress.
"I assume she got a restraining order after that?" Tengenji teased through his laughter, leaning back on his hands on the stone bench they found themselves sitting on, in the middle of the flower garden.
"We all we were about to get one," he admitted. "But apparently having 3 charmers by your side can be useful sometimes," he said and the two chuckled again. That time in their family vacation to New York was one of the few times he was actually glad for his relative's powers.
"No wonder my father respect your family so much," the heir mumbled under his breath with a sigh, regretting it the moment the words escaped his lips.
"It's complicated isn’t it, you and your father?" Tsukigami couldn't help but ask, allowing himself a little credit for sharing some stories with his bickering partner without them breaking into a fight. All he got was another hum in return. "Is that why you were so angry about the photo earlier, of your fiancée?" he asked and the redhead chuckled again, waving his hand in dismissal.
"I don't have a fiancée, boor." he insisted stubbornly, truthful and not angry.
"Then who was it in the picture?" the energy manipulator pushed, his curiosity really getting the best of him after he had come up with a few hilarious and equally disturbing possibilities in his head.
"Let it go already!"
"Come on, you have to tell me!" he tried to persuade, leaning a little closer playfully. "Besides, if it’s a famous story at this party, my parents would know anyway…" he used his last card, smiling when he saw it was working.
"You a terrible person you know that?" the cat eyed mutant stated, leaning his elbows on his knees and his head on top of them, huffing out in surrender to his new acquaintance.
"That's beside the point, who's the girl?" he asked, big blue eyes watching the Kabuki star closely as he sighed again, not looking at his former teammate as he revealed his embarrassing secret.
"…Me."
For a moment there, Tsukigami was sure he misheard what the other mutant was saying, maybe because of the loud party cheers that were getting more troublesome the more the people inside drank, or maybe it was just him going insane. That does make sense, he thought to himself, I have been talking to Tengenji Kakeru all night, anyone will go mad…
"Stop looking at me like that…" the heir looked down, making the younger teen snap back into reality when he noticed the slight blush in his cheeks. "My old man dressed me in a girl’s kimono and makeup for a party as a joke…" he confessed with a bittersweet smile, recalling the memory in his head.
"You… Must have been the life of the p-party…" Tsukigami muttered through chocked laughter that Tengenji only approved because it was not mean-spirited.
"Well of course!" he declared proudly. "I was the prettiest, cutest little girl ever," he said, making Tsukigami laugh even louder.
"Obviously, Big and clear eyes, silky hair, pink cheeks…!" Tsukigami joked dramatically, gesturing with his gloved hands; the other teen folded his arms over his proud chest and hummed in agreement with the sarcastic words he believed to be true.
"None of the brats my age could tell I was a man, they were all too overwhelmed by my beauty to approach me... but at least my father had a good laugh," he concluded, the laughter dying a little and leaving them in their own little bubble of silence. But Tsukigami continued following his line of action for the night, trying for once to be honest and open with his bickering partner, who was turning up to be a little more human than he thought or will admit.
"It makes sense now, you never hung out with people your age until you met us," the blue haired teen said and the other nodded a little hesitantly, failing to see the point that was trying to be made.
"What of it?"
The youngest Tsukigami shook his head with a small smile. "If you’ve been attending these parties ever since you were young, you would’ve naturally made friends by now. So I was worried about how bad your personality must’ve been to not have a single friend." He speculated, leaning his arms on his knees as well.
"You always have some excess things to say…" Tengenji sighed with a playful smile, bumping the other's shoulder.
"But now you have plenty of friends you can talk to," he concluded, the other clearing his through in pretending innocence that he should have known never worked in the first place, let alone after their night of candid chatter over nothing.
"Don't start pretending now! You seemed pretty excited when you came to talk to me before. You were happy to meet your teammate in a place like this, right? Kakeru-kun…?" the energy manipulator teased, earning himself a smack on the head which he laughed at, getting to tease the short-tempered cat like he naturally had the talent to.
"I don't know what you're talking about…" Tengenji said, rubbing the back of his neck and suddenly finding the moon to be fascinating. "You guys are my friends…but," he began saying, turning around to face his bickering partner with soft cat eyes that Tsukigami never saw turning to him before. " I just believe that there are words that lose their value as soon as you say them out loud, you boor!" he scolded, the young thoroughbreds staring at each other for a moment before stooping the silence of the night with their laughter.
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Manjome was pretty okay with getting the concept of the movie despite missing the first hour of it. That was probably because he listened to a very detailed yet concrete summary of it from Nayuki and Sawatari. However, there were some things that he couldn't quite get the grasp of.
It was after the main villain, whose name he couldn't really recall, decided that he wants to hurt the vampire tribe by using the main character, Bella. Because of that, they decide to do anything they can so he won't ever find her. That included separating her from her father, who had no idea what was happening, keep her away from her school friends and letting one of the vampires wear her clothes so her smell would confuse the villain.
"Esme, Rosalie, put these on so the tracker will pick up Bella's scent." The love interest whose name started with Ed told two of the females, throwing a flannel shirt at one of them and to the other- an olive-green jacket.
The blonde girl, who was pretty bitter the entire movie, decided it wasn't something she would do, and so she put the item aside and stated, "Why should I? What is she to me? Just a danger you've inflicted on us-"
Exactly, he thought. Why would they all sacrifice their immortality and peaceful life to help someone they barely even know? That, of course, led him to think that Ed didn’t really know Bella either, judging by the fact they rarely ever talked to each other about non-vampire things…
"Rosalie. Bella is with Edward. She's a part of this family now." The blonde old man told her, handing the jacket back to her. "And we protect our family." She gave them both a grumpy look before grabbing the jacket and walking to the car. Each of the members except for the lovebirds started loading the car with everything they had to take, leaving the two to talk.
"If anything… if anything happens I swear to god-" Bella started saying, but was cut off by her love interest.
"Nothing's going to happen, there are seven of us and two of them." he assured, looking deeply into her eyes. "And when everything's done I'll come back and get you."
"Yeah," she replied, preventing herself from looking at him, as if she wasn't sure if he will actually survive to live to that promise he so casually gave her.
"Bella, you're my life now." He told her, his tone meant to sound honest but came out more aggressive.
Manjome just snored in disbelief before he could stop himself.
"Manjome-kun?" Nayuki wondered from where he sat on the sofa, almost laying down and hand clutching his boyfriend's.
"Why would he say that?" the electricity manipulator wondered.
"They're in love, Manjome." Toraishi let him know, wiping off some tears from his cheek as the lovebirds of the screen parted ways.
"They barely know each other," the electricity manipulator muttered, reaching out to grab some of the peanut butter popcorn but disappointed to find it empty, eaten by Tatsumi and the power couple called Keisaka.
"The built up was quite rushed," Sawatari agreed, his eyes still focused on the screen and his hand supported his chin as if thinking deeply.
"Yes!" Manjome agreed. "I mean, how does he know she is his soul mate and shit?" he questioned, even the know-it-all psychic failing to find any reason that made sense outside the world of fiction.
"Sometimes you just know." The pixie answered from where he sat on the single couch, his arms around his legs and his green eyes almost shinning as he looked at the black haired teen from class A victoriously. Manjome looked right back at him for a second before rolling his eyes and turning back to the movie, relieved to see the scene had turned into one with less talking. That’s the lamest excuse I ever heard...
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"I have to give it to you, this is amazing!" admitted the Tengenji heir, taking another large sip from his blue straw, delighted to taste the most unique strawberry smoothie he ever had.
"I told you, 'milkey way' are the best," Tsukigami returned, his own straw still between his lips. The two of them were walking down the empty Ayanagi courtyard, heading toward the dorms way after their curfew allowed. They didn't have the chance to eat anything at the party because surprisingly, the celebrities who always complained about their weight had an enormous appetite when it came to free food. Which was why the energy manipulator offered to stop by the 24/7 ice-cream shop next to their campus, where they sold the world's best strawberry milkshake.
"I think I'll try the cherry one next," the taller of the two commented.
"It's fine, the coffee is better," opinionated the blue haired energy manipulator, pulling out his phone to check the time and then attend to a few missed calls and unread messages.
"No coffee can compare of the Tengenji brand," the red haired teen bragged, making the other roll his eyes with a chuckle.
"Obviously," he said sarcastically. "Did Hoshitani call you too?" he wondered, questioning both why his earth bending friend wanted him to come to the E common room and if he needed to drag the shape shifter along.
"Yeah, and he texted they were in the E common room, Sawatari too. He says they are watching a movie," supplied the redhead, putting his phone back inside his suit's pocket.
"Movie night sounds fun," commented the youngest Tsukigami, a little disappointed to have reached the bottom of his smoothie cup.
Tengenji hummed in agreement, stretching his arms behind his back. "Do you regret coming tonight?" he wondered, still looking ahead simply.
"Not really," Tsukigami answered after a moment of actually considering it. He never thought he will think that way, but he actually enjoyed the company of the kabuki heir who managed to not be stubborn and annoying for one night. Not that he'll ever admit it to him. "It made my family happy," he supplied his other excuse, throwing his cup to the nearest trashcan and fixing his gloves, smiling a little teasingly at the taller mutant. "Plus, I got to see that photo,"
"Not a word of it to anyone!" Tengenji commanded as he walked ahead, turning to face his former teammate and walking backward.
"But why not?" Tsukigami teased as the shape shifter hit the dormitory's building's door, opening it and allowing his bickering partner to walk inside as he followed.
"I'll kill you, that's why!" he threatened. "Not that they will ever believe you anyway," he pointed out; his image was way too cool for anyone to bite into that stupid story that happened to be the truth.
"Isn’t there another copy of that picture? I'm sure everyone will-" Tsukigami argued playfully, cut off by the stiffened cat with the narrow eyes.
"Shut up you boor I've shredded them all! and even if I didn’t I would never give it to you," he declared as they climbed up the stairs to the last floor, the halls empty and only lighted by single lights, as it should be in the middle of the night.
"So there is one left," the blue eyed teen was onto him, but that didn’t stop the denial.
"N-no!" he whispered angrily, not wanting to wake everyone up and risk getting caught after curfew, even if he had an excuse.
"Yes there is!"
"Isn't!"
"Is!" Tsukigami continued to argue though quiet laughter they both shared.
"I said there isn’t you boor!" Tengenji insisted, both of them going silent when they heard a voice that wasn't theirs echoing through the halls.
"Oh no! He's going to bite her now!?"
"No way…"
"They will be together forever!"
The blue and read due looked at each other questionably, taking the few more steps they had left until reaching the common room's door, taking in the scene in front of them. Their friend were all crowded together in front of the TV, watching with wide eyes and gaping mouths at the screen, where two lovebirds were dancing together under light strings and to the sound of a sappy romantic song.
"Is it not enough? Just to have a long happy life with me?" asked the guy who looked like he was suffering in pain.
"Yeah, for now." agreed his lover, the two of them colliding into a passionate kiss that made all of the second stage competitors in the room break into a collective 'aww' sigh of cuteness. Tsukigami couldn’t help but laugh again.
Nayuki and Hoshitani were holding hands, watching the ending with bittersweet smiles; Keihi and Arisaka were cuddled together as you would expect them to, not minding the snoring Inumine behind them. Ugawa was whipping a tear off the corner of his eye, denying he did once Toraishi noticed and teased him for it (despite being in shambles himself). Sawatari was watching the screen carefully, analyzing the movie and focused to a point where he didn't notice the pair of emerald eyes glancing over at him with a small shine.
"Didn’t you say you were watching a horror movie?" the energy manipulator had to ask as the credits started to roll over, breaking his fellow level 5 mutant out of his trance right in time to not be noticed.
"It’s a long story," he admitted, smiling softly. "How was the party?"
"Shh..! there might be an after credit scene!" called Manjome, who had his knees pulled to his chest and his head resting on top of them, completely focused on what Tengenji knew was his least favorite movie genre.
"It's not a superhero movie, "Koumoto pointed out kindly, whipping a few tears of his own before handing the box of tissues to Hachiya to clean his tearful glasses.
"So that is it?!" the electricity manipulator felt like he had been ripped off. "That's the ending?!"
"They are going to be together forever," Keihi said with a dreamy voice.
"What else do you want?" completed his boyfriend.
"Not for sure," Sawatari had to comment, having reached to a different conclusion." Isn’t Victoria going to try and kill Bella now?" he wondered, his best friend humming in agreement by his side.
"Yeah! To avenge her love!" Hoshitani declared dramatically, making Manjome even more unsatisfied.
"Right!?" he agreed, glaring at the end credits still rolling, as if they were to blame for the story not being wrapped up properly.
"You do know there are 5 movies of this thing right?" Tengenji had to salvage the black haired mutant out of his misery.
"YES!" Ugawa called without thinking, placing his hands on his mouth the moment he noticed he had said his thought out loud, causing Toraishi to burst into laughter that was too contagious for Hoshitani and Nayuki not to join.
"We have to watch the rest, right Eigo?" Tatsumi pointed out, his roommate nodding in agreement.
"It only makes sense we’ll see the story through,"
"How about tomorrow?" Nayuki offered.
"Yeah! It’s the weekend so we have time!" Manjome agreed before turning to the cat eyed mutant who brightened up his world. "They are going to be together at the end right?" he had to make sure, making the redhead laugh.
"Of course," he said and the group cheered.
"And he is going to turn her?" Ageha asked, a little too hopeful for the heroin to achieve her goal of transformation.
"No spoilers!" Koumoto called before Tengenji could reveal the answer.
"Good! so we can meet here at-" Hoshitani listed out their possibilities, making Tengenji chuckle as he leaned on the door frame with his hands folded over his chest, watching his friends with soft eyes.
"I didn’t think you watch that stuff," Tsukigami whispered to him, looking at the group as well with a calm expression. "Those movies suck," he said, not speaking from personal experience but remembering the general opinion over the vampire movie with the horrible main actress.
"Read the books," surprised the taller of the two simply. "Romance novels are my favorite," he said before entering the room as well and joining the debate on rather or not they should watch everything on the same day.
Tsukigami watched after him, a little confused at yet another new detail he had learned about the great Tengenji Kakeru, who was turning up to be almost as great as he believed he was.