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“Spin the bottle. Spin the bottle.”
“Everyone’s already made out with everyone else already,” Kyotaro yawned. “Can’t we play something else?”
“We will. Once all the juice dries out of this last bottle, we can get to bowling,” Ichiro said. “And I’m finally getting good at these spins. Come on, please! A little longer.”
“We can still spin the bottle. But maybe we can do something else if the bottle lands on two people,” Ryouma said.
“Awww~ You don’t want to keep kissing me, Ryouma?~”
“N-Nanao… I can kiss you any time. You’re my boyfriend.”
“But it’s fun when it randomly stops on you. Then I have an excuse to be shameless with you.”
“You’re always shameless…”
“Hmmm? So I am. Silly me.” Ryouma’s ears turned red as his boyfriend wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Ryouma opened his mouth to protest but Nanao squeezed him tighter.
Nanao was always affectionate. He didn’t seem like the type but he liked touching and physical affection. Ryouma hid his face in his hands to hide his usual blush, in the end letting Nanao do what he wanted. He did enjoy the intimacy really but it was still embarrassing in front of all their friends, especially when they were just having a friendly sleepover and Ichiro’s house. Then again, all their friends were completely fine with Nanao’s antics and they continued the conversation where the two had dropped it.
“Games that involve spinning bottles,” Taishi muttered, crossing his arms in thought, “Well… we can play seven minutes in heaven.”
“That game in old movies? Where they spin the bottle and then the two people picked have to go in a closet for seven minutes to do whatever they want?” Ichiro asked.
“Mmm… We could do that. It’s simple enough.”
“Sounds good to me,” Kyotaro said, lying back on Ichiro's bed.
“Me too,” Ryouma said. There was a pause. The red-head frowned as he realised that Nanao didn’t chime in his agreement. Seven minutes alone with one person sounded something that Nanao would be excited about. However, Ryouma felt Nanao’s grip slacken and the man pulled back. Ryouma turned around. “Nanao?”
“Let’s not play too many rounds of that. Seven minutes is a lot of waiting,” Nanao said, moving back to his spot next to Ryouma in their circle.
“Ah, good idea, Nanao-senpai! We still want to watch that movie before we go to bed,” Ichiro agreed. “Let’s spin the bottle!”
However, Nanao wasn’t looking at him. He was smiling as always, seemingly focused on the bottle and bottle alone. No one else had noticed but Ryouma could see something was wrong with Nanao.
“Nanao…” Ryouma started.
“Ah. So you’re picked to be in the closet, Ryo-chin,” Kyotaro yawned.
“Eh?” Ryouma looked down at the bottle to see the neck pointing straight at him. “Me?”
“The bottle is clearly pointing to you, Kirishima-senpai,”
“Alright! And now your partner. A cooler, better spin, go!” Ichiro spun the bottle again. It swiveled on the book it was balanced on before coming to a stop.
“So Kirishima-senpai and Wakura-senpai going into the closet. I thought they came out of it already,” Taishi smirked.
“They’ve never been in my closet before.” Taishi looked blankly at Ichiro.
“You’re an idiot.”
“Hey! Well, it takes one to know one!”
“Do you even know how to retort properly?”
However, Ryouma didn’t concern himself with their bickering. His embarrassment was stuffed down by his concern. Nanao was completely quiet. He didn’t laugh or mock Ichiro further. He just… smiled. He didn’t speak at all.
“Nanao?”
“I’m fine.” Ryouma blinked. He didn’t expect Nanao to react so fast since he seemed like he was in a trance. Nanao grabbed Ryouma’s wrist and stood up. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Don’t make a mess over Chiro’s clothes.”
“Kyotaro!”
“W-why would you even say that Kyotaro-senpai?”
Nanao didn’t even turn back to look at all of his friends’ tortured faces. He just headed to the closet. Taishi scrambled to his feet after them so he could close the door behind them.
“I’ll time you guys. Seven minutes. I have the countdown on my phone.”
“Fine…”
“Wait, Taishi-“ Ryouma started. However, Taishi just shut the closet door on them. “… Right. Never mind.”
Thankfully, Ichiro had a rather large closet so they could still stand up and a reasonable distance from each other. Ryouma sighed and shoved Ichiro’s clothes to the side of the closet so he didn’t have to talk to Nanao from behind wrinkled jeans.
“Nanao?”
The man was just sort of staring into space, not smiling anymore and still eerily quiet. Ryouma frowned and waved a hand in front of Nanao’s face. Was this some sort of joke? Was he about to go ‘boo’ and scare him into jumping back into the wall to pin him there? To make out with him? Because he had totally done it before.
But seconds passed. Nanao didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look at Ryouma.
Now Nanao was starting to scare him.
“Nanao? Nanao?” There was enough light from the main bedroom to see Nanao’s shape but he couldn’t see Nanao’s face properly under his veil of hair. Ryouma frowned. He knew Nanao always tried to fill the silence so why was he not talking now? “Nanao… are you okay? You don’t seem so well.”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh good, you can still talk. I was starting to think someone silenced you with magic,” Ryouma joked. Nanao didn’t laugh. He just nodded.
“… Are you upset, Nanao?” Nanao shook his head. “Then what? Nanao, talk to me. You weren’t like this a few minutes ago.”
The taller man just closed his eyes. Ryouma’s eyes were adjusting to the dark so he could make out Nanao a little better. The man was incredibly tense. His entire body was rigid. His hands were balled. His gaze was distant. He looked stressed out.
“… Nanao? Are you claustrophobic?” Nanao looked up suddenly, staring at Ryouma with an almost frightened look. “You are? Oh. Why didn’t you say that before? We would have just passed you. Let’s get out of here.”
Ryouma reached for the closet door but Nanao suddenly snatched his wrist. He pulled Ryouma back, closer to him.
“Nanao! If you’re scared, why aren’t we getting out of here?”
“I can’t leave until I’m let out,” Nanao whispered.
“What?”
Nanao didn’t say anything. He rarely did when he was stressed out, preferring to divert uncomfortable things to others subtly than actually say anything. Nanao was both scared of silence and responded to stress with silence. His grip on Ryouma’s wrist was so tight that Ryouma swore that his hand was going numb.
“… Nanao… What’s wrong? Please tell me. I’m worried about you.”
“… Not claustrophobic… just… don’t like closets…”
“Why?” Ryouma brought his hands up to Nanao’s shoulders, trying to reassure him that things were okay. “Can you tell me?”
“It’s… stupid.”
“If it’s worrying you, it’s not.”
“You’re such a charmer, Ryouma. I didn’t know you had it in you,” Nanao weakly smiled at Ryouma. Ryouma could hear the waver in his voice. “Just… promise not to tell anyone else.”
“Whatever’s said here stays here.”
“Between you, me and the socks,” Nanao muttered. Ryouma could hear Nanao trying desperately to pull himself together. “My father isn’t my father and my siblings aren’t my full siblings. My mother had an affair with another man, see… and she ended up with me.”
Ryouma frowned. Nanao never talked about his family. He knew he had both older and younger siblings but the blonde preferred to keep his personal life and his school life separate. Even after six months of dating, this was the first time his parents were brought up.
“My birth father ran away, leaving my mother with me as a baby. My mother's husband took me in, even though he was furious. I don’t know why they didn’t give me up for adoption. It would have been better if they did,” Nanao muttered. “God, he hated me. Still hates me.”
“Nanao… I had no idea…”
“Good. I don’t talk about him. I have no love for him either. It’s just… when he got mad, he always blamed everything on me. I always got into trouble with him and to punish me, he’d always lock me in a closet for… a while.”
Nanao was shaking. Ryouma pulled him into a hug. Ryouma wasn’t hugged back.
“Nanao… We should get out of here.”
“… I never left the closet before my parents got me. Even after my hour was up, I just stayed in there. I didn’t want to make him angrier.”
“You should have said something to us…”
“About now? I didn’t want the others to know I’m scared of something. Back then? Well… It’s easier not to fight.” Nanao was shaking even more now. His breath was uneasy. Tears were in his voice. He went silent. Ryouma kept hugging him. Nanao pulled his arms around Ryouma and crumpled in his arms.
“… You can keep going if you want. It’s okay… You’re safe with me.”
“I… what do I say? It was always so dark and lonely in there. The walls felt like they were closing in on me. That’s all. I hate it.” Ryouma rubbed Nanao’s back, bringing him close.
“Nanao… Shhh… It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re with me. Breathe, Nanao. I’m here.”
Ryouma stroked Nanao’s hair, gently soothing the man over and over again. Nanao didn’t cry but he did squeeze Ryouma tighter. His touch was warm. Delicate. Careful. Ryouma hoped he could get across how much he cared for Nanao in the one motion.
“Sorry. You must think this is all so silly, huh? Look at me? Not at all like my usual self…”
“Not at all, Nanao. I love you so much. It hurts me how much you’ve been bearing alone. Being scared is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Is that what you tell yourself when I spook you?”
“Not the same, Nanao. Must you torment me while I’m consoling you?”
“It’s part of it.” Ryouma smiled and kissed Nanao’s cheek.
“… Don’t do things you don’t want to do just because someone put you in that situation. There’s a time and place for everything. I’m sorry we were spun for in the seven minutes in heaven thing. Next time we’ll do something else to dry bottles. Like a tea towel.”
“Or use plastic bowling pins instead of glass bottles.”
“What? But that takes away from the sweets I get to drink.”
Nanao laughed. It was an airy and shaky laugh but a laugh all the same. Ryouma smiled softly as he heard that. It seemed like Nanao was recovering a little bit. He was actually talking again.
Silence came back but it was warmer and more comfortable. Nanao took a step back cupped Ryouma’s cheek, pulling him into a slow and tender kiss. Ryouma closed his eyes, letting Nanao take control again, assisting him and staying by his side as he gave him all the support he needed.
“Now let's get out of here.” Ryouma took Nanao’s hand and smiled. “And… if you ever want to talk, let me know.”
“I love you.”
“Huh?… Ah… Yeah… I know… I love you too.”
Nanao squeezed Ryouma’s hand. He pecked Ryouma on the lips quickly for strength. Ryouma smiled and nodded. The blonde opened the door further and walked out.
“That wasn’t seven minutes.”
“Time is relative, Kyotaro-kun. Besides, my little ones are eager to hop in behind closed doors. I can seduce Ryouma any time.”
“Wakura-senpai!” “Nanao-senpai!”
Ryouma looked at Nanao. His smile was more genuine now and he slipped back to routine easily. It was nice to see. The man silently made Nanao a promise though. A promise to always help Nanao out of the darkness, to scream his name as many times as he needed to pierce the silence and tell Nanao he wasn’t alone. Maybe he would have Nanao come stay with him to get him away from his family. That'd be nice...
“Ryouma-senpai! Make him stop!”
“The bottles are dry, Nanao. Let’s just bowl already.”
“Alright. Make sure you strike me out hard though, Ryouma.”
“Nanao!”