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It was a cold, snowy night in Shinjuku as two young men are walking away from a local coffee shop. Ryota shivered as he held the two big bags of sweets and fruits, walking with Shiro back to the Summoners’s safe house where Ed, Kengo, and Toji were waiting for their safe return. Shiro had one arm around Ryota's torso as he carried a cup holder containing a variety of hot drinks for the five boyfriends.
“H-Hey Shiro… how come you aren’t cold? It’s f-freezing!”
Shiro tilted his head down to look at Ryota, and smiled as he moved his hand from the fat boys torso to his head, rubbing his hair.
“To be honest, I am pretty cold myself. However, it won’t be too long before we make it back to the others." Despite wearing heavy coats and sticking close to each other, the night is much colder than most of the city’s inhabitants are used to. Even the Transients with thick fur have to put on layers in order to manage the severe cold. It’s a miracle how Shiro and Ryota haven’t become into cute popsicles.
“I know, but I’m amazed you’re not shivering! Even with these coats, the cold is still piercing through..”
“Well, knowing how happy those three will be to see us return makes up for it. Oh, speaking of which...” Ryota and Shiro stop as they arrived at the safe house. A bunch of snow is piling up along the walls of the building, and though the snow in front of the door has been cleared, snow was starting to collect once again so Ryota quickly knocked on the door.
“Password?” The two instantly recognize Kengo’s rough voice as they composed themselves.
“There’s no straights in Tokyo,” the two of them replied.
The door opened as Kengo smiled before shivering, gesturing the two in. “Damn straight there aren’t, now hurry up and get in... it’s freezing!” The two boys enter and place the goodies on the kotatsu where Ed and Toji were, Kengo kissing both of their cheeks.
Toji rose from his spot on the kotatsu and kissed the two boys removing their coats as he traded places with Ed. “Ed sweetie we all know I love you and everyone else here, but remind me again why that is the password of all things?”
As Ed kissed the two boys, he sat back down at the kotatsu and looked at Toji with a fake serious look in his eyes. “C’mon Toji, it’s 2019. Have you seen a straight person around in Tokyo?” He smiled after saying his piece, resulting in Toji failing to hold back a smile of his own.
Ryota and Shiro go around kissing the three boys before sitting down at the kotatsu themselves and start passing out the drinks and food. Everyone got a variety of cookies and brownies, big slices of apple pie, and a bunch of fruit consisting of sliced bananas and apples, as well as strawberries and grapes. In addition, Ed and Ryota got hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows, Shiro and Toji receive a nice hot cup of green tea with honey mixed in, and Kengo enjoys a nice cup of hazelnut coffee with a bunch of creamers to make the coffee to an ideal sweet taste. The five boyfriends make idle chatter as they enjoy their snacks and warm drinks, warming up on this frozen night in Tokyo.
As Ryota started eating some of his warm cookies and drinking his hot chocolate, he looked over to Ed. “Hey man, I’ve been meaning to ask you something for a while now. I know you’re the Guild Master and all, but how did you manage to get us a kotatsu, especially one this nice?”
Shiro puts down his tea as he also turned to look at his leader. “Ryota brings up a fair point, you never did explain how we got this or even the massive bath in the large bathroom.”
“Or the large bed that we sleep in, that’s still a mystery.” Kengo finished one of his strawberries as he pointed to a room to his right.
After taking a bite from his apple pie, Toji looked at Ed along with the other boyfriends. “Well Ed? How are you getting these grand, luxurious things for our safe house?”
Finishing a piece of brownie, Ed took a moment to find the right words before speaking. “Well, the best way that I can explain it is that as our Guild gets stronger, our rank goes up and I get more stuff to decorate our safe house with. And that eventually leads to getting the furniture you pointed out. I think the App materializes this stuff here, but I’m just as lost as you guys. I noticed you guys all love all this stuff, so I kinda stopped questioning it.”
The other four boys took several moments trying to wrap their heads around Ed’s vague explanation, until they all laugh as Shiro began to speak. “If it weren’t for all the adventures we went through because of the App, I doubt any of us would believe you. And yet… well, as long as it wasn’t illegal methods, I doubt any of us would mind you getting better stuff to spoil us with.” As the other boys nod, they all get up and move to Ed to give him a great big hug.
“God, you’re all so gay.”
“You too you big gay.” All four said in unison as they showered Ed in kisses and love.
“Yes, yes I am you lovely guys.” The five boys go back to enjoying their treats not a crumb left behind, their bellies full. As each boyfriend discusses their day prior to the meet-up, the light flickers a bit, threatening to go out.
“Hey, is the storm getting worse?” Ryota asks nervously, not wanting to know what would happen if the power to the safe house somehow went out.
Ed goes up to the door, and before anyone can stop or warn him, he opened the door to check outside, only for an icy wind from a blizzard blows the door open. Even though Ed’s massive frame blocked most of the snow, some seeped through, threatening to freeze everyone inside. Shiro and Toji cover Ryota with their bodies by hugging him as Kengo ran and tackled the door closed, cutting off the icy wind. Ed falls backwards, but Kengo catches him before he hits the ground. “You three lovely boys ok?”
The three of them walked up to Kengo as Toji spoke up. “A little chilly, but we seem to be ok. Ed though…” Everyone looked to Ed, who somehow became frozen solid from taking the blizzard full blast.
“T-this is really bad… I know it’s not like Chernabog’s ice, but still…” Kengo trailed off, struggling to hold Ed’s icy body as the cold seeps into him.
Shiro grabbed Ed’s legs and lifted him up, slightly recoiling from the cold. “We need to get him to the bed now. Ryota, prep the bed for him, we’ll carry him there. Toji, help us out so that we don’t drop him.” Ryota ran ahead to the big bedroom as Toji supported Kengo and Shiro as they slowly carried one of their frozen lovers to the room with the aforementioned large bed.
The four boys make it into the room as Ryota stands by the side of the bed, gesturing the open spot without any blankets on it. “Right here, please hurry!” Kengo, Shiro, and Toji laid him down as carefully as they could as Ryota draped a few blankets over the iced over boyfriend. Shivering slightly, the carriers all hugged Ryota to regain the warmth in their arms. “H-hey! I know I radiate heat.. but c’mon, you guys are way too cold!”
Toji ruffled his hair and chuckled. “You say that honey, but you love it when a bunch of us hug you.” The other two nodded as they laugh for a brief moment before looking back to Ed, who’s beginning to ever so slightly thaw out.
Shiro observed as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, it appears he should return to normal relatively soon. Still, we should stick around and keep an eye on him, just in case.”
placing a hand over the blanket covering Ed’s torso. “Get comfy you guys, this is gonna take a while.”
…
Loneliness. Sadness. Emptiness.
Ed recognized all these emotions.
the feelings he remembers all too well ever since waking up in the Shinjuku Central Park about three years ago. Having the Role of the Wanderer made him feel like he’ll never fit in, or even make him feel worse if he were taken away from this world.
For the most part, he’s managed his emotions, but being unconscious from his sudden freezing brought back these fears of losing all his friends and loved ones.
All of his senses are shrouded in darkness, save for his thoughts.
“This is dumb,” he thought to himself. “Why are these stupid fears back?
I know I won’t suddenly vanish from Tokyo… and yet…” His mind drifted back to his Role, and a feeling of unease grew inside of him, threatening to swallow him whole.
Suddenly, a voice came from the darkest recesses of Ed’s mind, unfamiliar but somehow familiar at the same time.
" Do not get caught up in that ‘Role.’ It may be ‘there’ but it truly ‘is not.’ You should not conduct yourselves in that ‘Role.’”
No matter how hard he tries, he can’t place when and who said that line. The voice continues on without pause as Ed hears,
"You…… may have been born a ‘Wanderer’, but if you think on that, then you may become a ‘Dragon Snake.’”
Hearing that voice Ed felt his fears melt away, and the darkness fading away as a light shone from somewhere, replacing the unease with warmth and confidence. “Thank you mysterious voice, you’ve helped me more than you know.”
One by one, Ed’s senses return to him; the first is his sense of touch, to which he feels blankets on him. He’s clearly in the big bedroom in the safe house, but why was he wet and cold?
As Ed ponders this unusual circumstance, he can hear voices talking, but not exactly what each person is saying. What he can figure it out is that the voices he hears are Shiro, Kengo, Ryota, and Toji.
Ed realizes his eyes are closed, and slowly opens them to see a blurry room. It takes a few moments for his vision to clear, and looking around he does indeed see his boyfriends sitting around him, talking with each other in their pajamas. Before he can even speak, he sneezes before feeling all four of them pouncing on him, causing him to yelp in a bit of pain.
“ED!” All four of them yelled, and upon closer inspection it seems that Ryota and Shiro have shed some tears earlier.
“Ed you stupid idiot we love you, but God don’t ever do that again. You had us so worried…” Shiro mumbled as he buried his face on the part of the blanket covering Ed’s chest. It took Ed a moment to remember taking a face full of blizzard to the face, and he awkwardly rubs Shiro’s shoulder with one of his hands.
“I’m really sorry you guys, that was really dumb of me. Has the blizzard died down yet?”
Toji rubbed Ed’s head before speaking. “Well, somewhat but also not really. That’s kinda why we're all wearing pajamas now.”
Ed got confused by Toji’s statement. “All of us? But I’m…” Upon further realization, Ed noticed that his clothes had been changed in between getting frozen to now.
Kengo cleared his throat. “Truth be told you thawed out a little while ago, but no matter what we tried you wouldn’t wake up and were still pretty cold.”
“To put it bluntly, we changed your clothes to make you more comfy. And well, we decided to as well ‘cause why not? Besides, it's getting late.” Ryota explained as he laid his head on the other side of Ed’s chest.
Ed chuckled a bit. “Well, we can always discuss this more in the morning. For now, you four get in this blanket with me. Let’s sleep this frigid night away.”
Ryota, Toji, Kengo, and Shiro all joined Ed under the blanket to create a large gay source of heat to ward off the chilling cold, and one by one each boyfriend drifted off to sleep full of warmth and love.