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“Where do you want to go?” Yamato looked over casually as Mitsuki climbed into his car.
He nearly bounced into his seat, grabbing for the belt with a grin on his face. He shrugged as he buckled himself in, and then turned to Yamato with that same bright smile. “I have no idea. Someplace nice. Take me someplace you love.”
“Then we should just get out of the car right now,” Yamato said simply.
Mitsuki narrowed his eyes. “I’m serious, Old Man.” He sighed, looking out the window. “You wouldn’t let me meet your family. So at least do this for me. It’s my birthday, remember? You’re supposed to spoil me.” He tried again, looking at Yamato with a more gentle smile this time, pleading and hopeful. “So please? I want to go somewhere you like to be.”
Yamato’s hand felt a little weak as he turned the key to the ignition. How fitting, he thought, that Mitsuki should ask him to take him for a drive for his birthday. Since Mitsuki filled Yamato with drive every day of his life.
“Alright fine. But then we go back, and settle down, drink beer into the night and celebrate your birthday the old fashioned way.”
In truth, Yamato didn’t have to drive very far to be the place he loved the most. He only needed to be next to Mitsuki. But he wasn’t going to admit that. Not on Mitsuki’s day. The last thing he needed to do was make it all about himself.
So instead, he simply drove.
It was early March, and it was still freezing outside, but that didn’t stop Mitsuki from rolling down the window to pop his head out, letting the wind push against his face. “What are you? A dog?” Yamato asked, raising an eyebrow and biting back a laugh. “It’s still winter, you know. You’re going to get sick.”
“I’m sorry; I can’t hear you out here!” Mitsuki shouted, laughing against the wind. He turned back to Yamato, pulling himself back inside with a satisfied sigh. “Riding with the windows down is the best! You can’t beat the thrill,” he nodded as he rolled up the window. His hair was windblown, more unruly than usual, and his face was flushed over from the icy wind. He was completely unguarded and unashamed, in a way that only Mitsuki Izumi ever was. Yamato’s heart hammered in his chest.
“You could just go out to an amusement park, like a normal person,” Yamato then noted. He fought back a smile as the thought occurred to him. “Hm, maybe that’s where I should take you. Would you ride a roller coaster with me, Mitsu?” His eyes were back on the road, but he could almost feel Mitsuki’s face pale over. He barked out a laugh. “You put yourself at Oniisan’s mercy when you got in his car, after all.”
“You wouldn’t dare, Old Man. Theme parks are fun and all, but it’s too late in the day for that anyway.”
“I’m sure I could figure out something. You have such a cute scared face. I couldn’t possibly miss out on an opportunity like that.”
“You’re the worst,” Mitsuki pouted, and Yamato had to admit that his face looked pretty cute like that too. “And here I was, trying to get to know you better.”
Yamato’s foot pressed down on the accelerator, and Mitsuki jolted forward at the sudden speed. The other man glared at him, and Yamato only smiled ear to ear. It was a thin veneer, and they both knew it, but Mitsuki decided to leave well enough alone, and turned back to watching the scenery speed by. Yamato let his thoughts consume him, trying to drag his eyes away to focus on the road.
Yamato wasn’t sure what kind of man asked his friend to meet his family as a birthday gift. He wasn’t sure what kind of man asked to go somewhere his friend liked to visit. What kind of man enjoyed doing all of his work, and did it all to the best of his ability, no matter how hard it was.
The only thing he knew was that he one day wanted to be that kind of person, if it was at all possible. And if it wasn’t, he wanted to at least keep that kind of person by his side.
“Ah!” Mitsuki shot up in his seat, pointing at the shape of the arena in the distance. He turned to Yamato, his eyes quizzical as the older man pulled the car around closer to the building. “You’re taking me to the Zero Arena, Old Man? You know I asked to go somewhere special to you, right? You don’t have to humor us all the time.”
“This is special to me,” Yamato said, leaving it at that. Mitsuki turned away from him, abruptly, to watch the arena get bigger and bigger as they approached the parking lot. “You share this place with all of us, now, Mitsu. It’s not just yours anymore.”
Mitsuki was quiet, for a long moment, until they finally parked. Far away from the actual building and closer to the park, the place where Yamato had first encountered the arena. He turned off the ignition, staring out into the distance. In truth, he hadn’t consciously chosen this place. He really only knew where he wanted to go when they were already halfway there. But staring at the bewildered look on Mitsuki’s face, Yamato wasn’t sure he had chosen correctly.
“Sorry, it’s really all I could think of. I honestly don’t have much else that I’m attached t-”
“No!” Mitsuki nearly shouted, turning to Yamato, a bright smile on his face. A genuine smile, full of excitement and wonder. “It’s perfect! Come on!”
And before he knew it, Mitsuki’s hand was wrapped in a death grip around his wrist, dragging him down the park path at breakneck speed. He pulled Yamato along, the other man barely able to keep pace as Mitsuki darted through a path that he had traveled hundreds of times before. And Yamato felt a brief pang of amazement as he walked in the other man’s exact footsteps, feeling just a tiny ounce of Mitsuki’s excitement pump through his own veins.
Mitsuki finally let go when they reached the pavilion. He turned around, his chest barely heaving as he grinned in satisfaction. “There! This is perfect!” He nodded to himself, looking at the small concrete clearing on the top of a set of shallow steps. He looked back at Yamato briefly. “You remember this place?”
“Hold…on…Mitsu,” Yamato held up a finger, blinking several times as he struggled to catch his breath, now that he finally had a chance to rest. “This Onii-san can’t keep up with your stamina.”
“Well that’s too bad,” Mitsuki said with a self-assured smirk, pulling out his phone. He ripped out the headphones that he had plugged in and started to pull something up. “Because Onii-san is going do some dance practice with me today.”
With that, Mitsuki leaned over and pressed a button on the phone, and music flooded the entire area. Yamato’s eyes darted around, looking for an escape. However, before he could plan a mad dash to the car, Mitsuki grabbed him again, pulling him up to the makeshift stage, and hitting the beginning stance of Monster Generation.
Yamato stared, for a moment. The park wasn’t entirely empty. It was early evening, and March 3rd was a holiday. Plenty of young families had the day off, and a few were spending time together walking around the park, their eyes drifting towards the sound of the music.
Still, Mitsuki didn’t slow down. He never did. Whether it was the full group of seven, or just the two of them, Mitsuki never hesitated. He never passed up a moment to get better, to improve himself, or to dance. As long as there was music, there was Mitsuki. There was motivation. There was drive.
Yamato spun around and fell into beat.
He remembered that night, when Nagi danced with Tsumugi on this same pavilion. They had all sang for them, and their voices had blended together into the night. There had been no real music, and the sky was much darker. No families were around to watch them, and the circumstances were much different. Still, it felt the same. Dancing with Mitsuki reminded him of what it felt like to fight for something, to love something. IDOLiSH7 gave him that.
Yamato just drove them there.
The final note struck, and Yamato stopped, staring out to the sky as sweat began to form on his face. It was so cold out, but Yamato felt like he was burning. And he looked over at Mitsuki, face bright red as he laughed, feeling it too.
A young child clapped his hands, cheering loudly all the while. Two girls giggled amongst themselves. A young mother pointed at them to her two children, both staring at them with wide eyes and big smiles. Mitsuki looked at them all, waving with a huge smile on his face, and Yamato was about to speak up when the first child ran up to them.
He stopped right in front of Mitsuki. He was no older than six years old, with sparkling eyes and shaking hands. He looked up at the man, grinning ear to ear. “Excuse me, Onii-san? You were really cool up there! Can you…” the little boy looked down at his hands, trying to figure out a way to word his question. He looked back at his father and mother, who nodded encouragingly. “Can you do another song? For me, please?”
Yamato could almost see the tears in Mitsuki’s eyes as he nodded vigorously, blinking several times to hold them in. He looked over at Yamato, as if to ask if it was okay, as if there were any circumstance in which Yamato would say no. He only nodded back, swallowing down emotion as he felt it rise through his throat. This was Mitsuki’s dream. He wanted to be a man that young children could idolize, the way he idolized Zero.
One day, maybe Yamato would be someone worthy of fighting for that dream. For now, all he could do was lean over, grab Mitsuki’s phone, and play another song.
---
Twenty minutes later, the two could barely stand anymore. Instead, they sat on their little stage, enjoying amicable silence as they watched the young families head home for the evening. The sun had begun to set, and they had to get back before Sougo and the others began to worry. Still, Mitsuki hadn’t made any attempts to leave, and Yamato wasn’t exactly willing to give up the moment.
Mitsuki’s hand shifted, suddenly, and his fingers rested just slightly on top of Yamato’s, and Yamato wasn’t willing to give up that moment either.
“The sunset’s always been my favorite part of this place,” Mitsuki finally said, quietly. His smile was softer now, as he looked out towards the water over the pavilion. “Thanks for taking mere here.”
“Thanks for forcing me out,” Yamato shrugged, as though it really were nothing. As though Mitsuki hadn’t given Yamato so much more than he could ever repay. “Happy birthday, Mitsu. I hope it was enough.”
Mitsuki looked like he was about to say something, his mouth opening before shutting immediately. There were words running through his mind, balancing right on the tip of his tongue. Yamato could almost feel them, but Mitsuki couldn’t bear to say them. Instead, he simply scooted closer, until their shoulders were touching, watching the sunset together.
“It was.”