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♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
The four of them are usually busy the whole year round, even during breaks from promoting their music.
Kita is a frequent guest on trivia game shows. Despite becoming a trainee straight after middle school, he kept up with his studies all the way to university level (and even some master’s level) topics, so he often does well in game shows that require solving questions like Knowing Men.
Suna is often invited to be a model for runway shows. With his long, lithe figure and the way he carries himself, he is practically born to be a model.
Osamu always eats with great gusto, and is a skilled cook to boot, so it made perfect sense for Osamu to be frequently invited to food-related shows–people enjoyed watching him cook and eat his fill.
As for Atsumu? Atsumu gets the most invites among the four of them, having been recognized as a rising variety show star with his (alleged) sense of humor. He is a frequent guest on Fortnightly Idol (having appeared thrice with his group and six times on his own), an unofficial cast member for Jogging Man, and he has guested twice on Throne of Masked Idol. With how expressive he is both on and off camera, he has endeared himself to the audience and cast members alike. Ratings for a show are often higher on episodes with Atsumu than episodes without, so various shows have been vying to have him appear, even if only for an episode or two.
Most of the time, Atsumu accepts any show offer without thinking twice about it. This time, however, he turns to Kita and asks, “Hey, should I accept this guestin’?”
Kita takes Atsumu’s phone and reads the email on the screen. It is an invitation to guest on the show “Rule of the Jungle”, a survival show featuring celebrities sent to relatively isolated regions of the world. It seems this time, the show is aiming for a boy group idol special, and had wanted to invite Atsumu alongside other popular idols such as Kageyama Tobio, Ushijima Wakatoshi and Oikawa Tooru.
Kita scrolls through the email, before returning Atsumu’s phone back to him. “Do ya want to?” he asks, looking straight at Atsumu.
There is a sheepish smile on Atsumu’s face as he replies, “It’s not that I don’t wanna go, bein’ on that show seems fun, but a week without ya...I mean, without you guys, it’s way too long.”
“It’s only gonna be a week, and ya wouldn’t be able to sit still if you turned it down, right? Ya can’t just not do things when you have the chance, after all,” Kita replies, with the hint of a smile on his lips.
Atsumu slowly nods and says a quick thanks to Kita, before typing up an email to their manager Aran saying that he’s agreeing to star on the show.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
It’s only a week, Kita tells himself after they had sent off Atsumu to the airport. He’ll be back soon. But a week with zero means of communicating? It’s going to be a long one.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
The first two days go by quickly, with the three of them guesting on a radio show and Kodzuken’s webshow, in addition to having an interview for a magazine. But the following day they have no promotion nor shoot schedule. While Kita often sees a free day as an opportunity to rest, he now wishes his schedule were fuller to have something to occupy his mind.
He still does his daily routine for off days–a shower in the morning, cooking breakfast for the rest of the group (though the portion he cooked this time seemed to be meant for four, not three; old habits die hard), cardio and weights training in the late morning, a hearty lunch courtesy of Osamu (who ended up cooking enough for four as well), and an afternoon spent reading books. And yet time seems to tick by slower.
Usually, Atsumu will be in Kita’s room while he read novels, bugging him the entire afternoon to play videogames or to go to the gym with him. Kita will become distracted by the way Atsumu leans against his back or whispers in his ear, and he would need to re-read a paragraph three times to truly comprehend what it is saying.
But today? He has already finished going through his book, but it is only 3 in the afternoon.
With a sigh, he picks up another novel–one meant for another free day–and starts reading. Maybe he’ll indulge Atsumu on their next free day, and play video games or exercise with him.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
By the fifth day, Kita is in a worse mood than usual. It isn’t noticeable to most, but Suna has lived in the dorm with him for three years and it is plain as day to them that Kita isn’t exactly cheery. Usually, there would be the hint of a smile on Kita’s lips, but today it’s replaced with the ghost of a frown. And while Kita’s expressions are often unreadable to them, they can sense something vaguely similar to irritation from him.
He is still as polite as ever to the staff members though–he bows and says his thanks to each and every one of them at the end of the day. Kita Shinsuke is a man without any cracks or flaws, after all. Even on what seems to be an off day, he still displays perfect manners.
Still, Suna is concerned about Kita, so he approaches the other man and says, “Is something wrong, Kita-san?”
Kita’s eyebrows furrows ever so slightly. “What makes you say that, Suna?”
“Dunno, it seemed like something’s been on your mind the whole day,” Suna replies with a shrug.
Kita lets out a small smile in reply, and gives Suna a pat on the back. “Yer worried over nothin’, Suna. I’m fine.”
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
“I can pick him up, you guys can take the day to rest, you had a schedule the past two days,” their manager Aran said, but his words fell on deaf ears. The other three I*4 members had still chosen to tag along for picking Atsumu up from the airport. Dressed in designer wear from head to toe, Suna and Osamu had looked like they were headed to the red carpet instead of Kansai International. Kita, on the other hand, had worn a comfortable red sweater that had been a fan gift.
The three of them sit in silence during the drive to the airport. Osamu and Suna share earphones as they listen to a recent release from a western artist, while Kita spends his time alternating between looking out the window and checking his phone for notifications. The drive to the airport takes only an hour, but it still seemed so far.
Kita sighs as he checks his phone for the nth time for any updates on whether Atsumu’s plane has already landed. Just then, a notification popped out. [I’m back!] was all it said; still, he feels his heart soar.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
“Oh wow, you look like a gyaru ,” Osamu snickers, gesturing at Atsumu’s tanned skin and beach blond hair. Atsumu glares in reply, before huffing off with “This tan here’s a mark of strength an’ self-sufficiency, ya wouldn’t have lasted a day in the jungle.”
“Atsumu,” Suna calls out, “you didn’t go to the jungle, you went to the beach.”
“It was still pretty isolated, ‘sides the show’s called Rules of the Jungle, I get ta have creative license in callin’ it jungle survival.”
“That’s not how it works, Atsumu,” Kita chuckles. It was the first time Osamu and Suna have heard anything resembling a laugh from him in a week, not counting the fake smiles and laughter he let out for their guestings.
The expression on Atsumu’s face also softens instantly, and he gravitates closer to Kita. Atsumu places an arm around the other man’s shoulder as they walk back to the van.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Once they’re back in the dorm, Kita helps Atsumu unpack his bags in his and Osamu’s shared room.
“Hey, Kita-san, I got a favor to ask ya,” Atsumu says, and the other man looked up from the laundry he was sorting to look at Atsumu with a questioning glance.
“Ya see, I couldn’t reach my back completely so I didn’t get ta put sunscreen on it evenly so I think there are patches that got sunburned and it kinda really stings,” Atsumu answers Kita’s unspoken question. “Tobio-kun gave me some lotion cause he said Shouyou-kun gave him a bunch before he left an’ he had some extra ones, so can ya help me spread it over my back?”
Atsumu expects to be scolded for failing to take care of his skin properly (after all, as an idol, they were all expected to be flawless inside and out), but instead, Kita lets out an exasperated yet still fond sigh, and ruffles his hair.
“Take yer shirt off,” Kita says, and Atsumu quickly follows. Kita takes Atsumu’s shirt and places it along with the rest of his laundry. He reaches out a hand, and Atsumu hands him the lotion in question.
He squeezes some of the lotion onto his hand, and spreads it across Atsumu’s broad back. The blond lets out a low groan out of relief, and Kita finds himself flustered. Still, he continues massaging the lotion onto Atsumu’s back. While there are patches of skin that are warmer to touch, Atsumu’s back as a whole is a golden shade of tan. It highlights Atsumu’s toned muscles a little bit more, and Kita struggled to focus–it takes a lot of willpower to stop himself from letting his hands wander too much across the broad expanse of Atsumu’s back.
“Ah, Kita-san, that hits the spot. Oh, a bit lower.” Kita rubs some lotion onto Atsumu’s lower back, and Atsumu replies “Yeah, right there,” with a content sigh.
It takes the two of them a bit longer than is necessary to treat Atsumu’s sunburned back and to finally finish unpacking Atsumu’s luggage. But time always does seem to fly faster when Atsumu is around, Kita muses.
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Just as Osamu is about to call the two for dinner, he hears Kita say “Take yer shirt off” from the other side of the door.
He pauses for a moment, hands lingering on the doorknob to his and Atsumu’s shared room, and a few moments later he heard what seemed to be groans from his brother.
“Ah, Kita-san, that hits the spot. Oh, a bit lower, yeah right there.”
He darts away from the door, not wanting to witness whatever the heck Kita and Atsumu are doing behind closed doors any further than that.
He hopes Atsumu had the decency to at least do it on his own bed.