Chapter Text
It was a morning like any other. Except it wasn’t. It was a Saturday, which meant that MC Doppo, Doppo, had the day off. Normally he would be using this time off to do something unproductive - such as sleeping, or fishing with a certain fish-hating doctor - but he happened to wake up early (i.e., at 10 am) and just couldn’t seem to go back to sleep. Probably because his roommate and love interest, MC Gigolo, Hifumi, had assumed he was still sleeping and was blaring the Home Depot theme at maximum volume through the apartment.
To be fair, when Doppo sleeps, he sleeps so it wasn’t exactly wrong of Hifumi to assume that Doppo would just ignore the garbage music.
But alas, the salaryman just couldn’t ignore the horrible, awful, terrible, worst music ever. And that’s how he ended up outside of his room. Near the couch. Watching the ‘Fumi headbang to the Home Depot theme music, which, again, was the most horrible music ever.
Doppo attempted to let out a smooth ‘ahem’ to get his roommates attention, but ended up accidentally making some kind of horrific, Lovecraftian horror-esque noise, leading into a cough. At least it got Hifumi’s attention, as his roommate noticed him and cheerfully grabbed a glass of water.
Doppo thanked his roommate before collapsing onto the couch, Hifumi following shortly after.
This is nice, Doppo thought to himself, before saying out loud -
“This is nice”.
Hifumi hummed in agreement. What a perfect day - aside from the looping Home Depot music, which was awful. Doppo and Hifumi were together, the sky was blue, the grass was green, birds were singing, Doppo really felt like he was finally approaching something like… peace.
Doppo let out a sigh of relief.
Hifumi let out a hum of content.
Doppo let out a louder sigh of relief.
Hifumi let out a louder hum of content.
[LAUGH TRACK]
What the hell? Doppo looked around in confusion. Did someone just laugh at him? He glared at his roommate.
[DING DONG]
The doorbell rang. Well. That ruined the mood of whatever the hell kind of shit was going on there.
[DING DONG]
Doppo didn't want to answer the door… he was chillaxing with his roommate! So he chose to ignore the doorbell, similar to how he ignored his feelings and mental wellbeing.
[DING DONG]
Doppo felt a rage shoot through his very soul as Hifumi hummed once more - this time standing up to let whatever kind of jerk was at the door inside. At least the doorbell wouldn’t ring again, because Doppo could not deal with the noise any more. If he had to hear it again, he would -
[DING DONG]
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH”
[LAUGH TRACK]
Wait. What the hell was that noise? Was Hifumi laughing at him again? Or was it… ghosts? Doppo was terrified of ghosts! Everybody knows that! He let out another shriek, this time out of fear.
[LAUGH TRACK]
At this point, Hifumi had reached the door, hearing ragged breathing noises on the other side. Any sane person would think twice about opening the door to a ghastly sound such as this one, but… Hifumi listens to the Home Depot beat. His survival instinct is approximately 0.
The second the door was opened, a long haired, six foot three inches tall man ran into the room, dashing past Hifumi and hiding under the couch - dropping his Tommy Hilfiger Men's Leather Wallet – Slim Bifold with 6 Credit Card Pockets and Removable Id Window by the door in the process - underneath Doppo as he had a crisis. The door swayed in the nonexistent wind, as no one had closed it.
“Ah~ Sensei! What are you doing here?” Hifumi bounced into the living room, ignoring the fact that a six foot four inches tall man was hiding under their couch.
[APPLAUSE, LONE WOOP IN THE CROWD]
“WHAT THE FUCK??? NOW THEY’RE CLAPPING,” a muffled scream came from Doppo after shoving his face into one of the pillows from the couch.
“Ahaha~ Please ignore my beloved Doppochin! He’s going through something!”
[LAUGH TRACK]
Doppo frantically looked around once more, noting that there was no way that Hifumi or the hiding Doctor Jakurai could have been laughing at the time.
“N-nobody else hears the laughing?”
The doctor and host both shook their heads. It was a little bit hard for Jakurai to do so as he was under a couch, but somehow he managed.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Perhaps you would like to come to my office next week, Doppo-kun.”
It was a little hard to hear him because, again, he was under a couch.
“Um, Sensei, why are you hiding under the couch in our apartment?”
“Let’s not focus on that right now, if you’ve been hearing voices that is incredibly concerning -”
[DING DONG]
“Please excuse me, gentlemen.”
The Doctor hid deeper beneath the couch, attempting to completely conceal himself. Hifumi let out a laugh and shook his head at this behavior, before walking to answer the door.
“We’re sure getting a lot of visitors today, huh Doppomine~?”
“Sensei, why are you hiding? Are you hiding from so-”
[DING DONG]
[DING DONG]
[DING DONG]
[DING D-]
“Hahaha~!” Ramuda’s sugar sweet voice sounded like acid. “Wait a minute<3! The door was open this whooooole time! I didn’t have to ring the door~bell~!”
Oh.
Well, that explained who Jakurai was hiding from at least. And perhaps it explained why, too. Few have the energy to hang out with the candy-colored man, and Jakurai was no exception.
Aforementioned candy man didn’t even wait for Hifumi to pretend to open the already opened door for him. He just ran into the host, dragging him to the tired salary man for a hug. A bone crushing hug. A bone turn-to-dust hug.
Ow.
“Hewwwoooo~ Difumo and Hippo~ Its everybodys favrwite chaotic angel~ R! A! M! U! D! and A? Who’s that~ RAMUDA~!”
[APPLAUSE, A FEW MORE WOOPS]
Doppo was too distracted by getting his bones destroyed to even react to the strange sound effects at this point.
“Hey Amemura-san! What brings you here?”, Hifumi asked once he was released. Being a host came with perks, such as being able to withstand getting your bones crushed by pink haired candymen.
“Ahahahaa~ I’m just looking for that old coot! You know, the five foot seven doctor who probably doesn’t have a medical license and definitely committed war crimes >:3cc!!”, Ramuda chirped, popping a piece of gum into his mouth from the ever-present candy stash on his person.
“Oh, Sensei~? Actually he-”
Jakurai popped up from his hiding spot - out of view from Ramuda - frantically motioning an emphatic ‘NO’ to the roommates. Doppo’s eyes widened at the silent plea, and he quickly smashed a hand to Hifumi’s mouth before he could get another word out.
“HE JUST LEFT,” Doppo cried.
Hifumi turned to look at his roommate, confused.
“No, he’s right -” Doppo grabbed his head to face it toward Jakurai’s desperate miming. Ramuda took note of their staring, and twirled around to face what they were looking at.
Jakurai ducked back under the couch, Hifumi and Doppo grabbing Ramuda to spin him back in their direction.
“O-oh! Yep! You just missed him, sorry Amemura-kun!” Hifumi panicked, understanding that if Jakurai was hiding from the candyman, then the situation must be dire.
“Ohh~ Really? Darn… I was reallllllly wanting to see him <3” Ramuda pouted as he started to walk to the - STILL FUCKING OPEN - door. Jakurai raised a head from the couch as he left. In an instant, Ramuda clapped his hands in glee and spun once more, Jakurai using his former assassin skills to once again, dive under the couch.
“We~ll, if he just left~... Then…”
As Ramuda drew out his ‘then’, Hifumi and Doppo held their breath. Well, Hifumi did. Doppo was doing it in spirit, but his lungs needed to recover from Ramuda’s hug. Ow.
Ramuda stared at the Minimalist Wallet for Men and Women - Genuine Leather RFID With Secured Card Case Jakurai had dropped in his attempt to hide before grabbing it and holding it to his chest.
“He’ll come back here later then~ Ahahaha~! Wallets are pretty important, yaknow~ I’ll just wait here then! <3”
With that, Ramuda plopped onto the couch with an audible ‘oomph~’ and an audible ‘oomph >:(‘ from Jakurai - which was poorly disguised as a cough by Doppo and a nervous laugh by Hifumi.
“So, Amemura-kun!”, Hifumi fell onto the couch after Ramuda, folding his arms behind his head. “Why do you want to see Sensei in the first place?”
“Hmm~?”, Ramuda raised his eyebrows gleefully. He hummed before pulling the piece of gum out of his mouth. “Gentaro told me that Jak~urai’s~ source of power is his hair, soooo~”. Ramuda grabbed Hifumi’s head and stuck the piece of gum firmly into his blond locks.
[LAUGH TRACK]
This time it wasn’t Doppo screaming.
[MEANWHILE, IN YOKOHAMA…]
A man sits at his desk in front of a laptop, the sounds of his gloved fingers against the keyboard his only companion. Well, that’s what he tried to believe. In reality, the office was as busy as ever, with new cases coming in before they even started the old ones. But Jyuto found peace at his laptop, the click-clacking of the keys grounded him, and he blocked out the world around him to focus on his job.
[TAP-TAP]
That’s right. Nothing would bring him out of this intense focus -
[TAP-TAP]
“Uhm… Iruma-san…”
With an exasperated sigh, Jyuto turned to face his pesky coworker.
“Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“I’m sorry sir, it’s just… well… it’s just that -”
“Spit it out already. I don’t have all day to wait while you keep me from my job.”
His coworker gave up on trying to verbally express his concerns, and meekly pointed a finger behind Jyuto, at the window looking out from the police station.
[TAP-TAP]
“... Him.”
Ah, that.
“I don’t see a problem. It’s not illegal to look into a window, even if it is annoying.”
“But…”
He snapped back around, starting to lose composure from having his focus interrupted and his patience tested.
“Sir… We’re on the third floor…”
“He’s six foot three. I don’t see a problem.”
[LAUGH TRACK]
“Will that be all?”
The poor man started to open his mouth to speak, but after looking from Jyuto, to the window, then back to Jyuto, his mouth snapped shut and he nodded, briskly walking away.
Finally, Jyuto could get back to work. His focus wouldn’t be interrupted a second time -
[TAP-TAP]
He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, before making his way over to the window and nearly destroying it as he opened it with terrifying speed.
“Rio, I’m at work. What do you want?”
“I apologize for interrupting you during your work hours, but I didn’t know where else to go. I’m afraid the matter is rather urgent.”
Jyuto sighed, and his expression softened. He couldn’t fault the soldier for trusting him, even if it got in the way of his job. He motioned with a hand for Rio to continue his explanation.
“You see, I found this child -”
“I’m nineteen!” shouted the random child - teenager - from the ground.
“Alright young man. I found him wandering around outside. Of course, I would have taken care of him myself, but I’m carrying some important ingredients and if I don’t prepare them immediately, they’ll go bad.”
“So you brought him to the police… I see. Well, Rio, you did the right thing,” Jyuto sighed and ran a gloved hand through his meticulously-kept hair. “And as much as I’d love to watch over this child you found God-knows-where -”
“I’m from Ikebukuro!” shouted the random teenager from the ground.
The officer froze, hand halfway through his hair.
“Pardon?”
“I found him wandering around in Ikebukuro -”
“Rio,” Jyuto started calmly. “Why the hell is he in Yokohama?”
The soldier gazed at him with a puzzled look.
“I told you, I brought him here. You’re supposed to take lost children to the police, and my ingredients will go bad if I don’t hurry -”
Jyuto grabbed him by the collar and pulled him so they were nose-to-nose, eyes wide with indescribable intensity.
“Did you kidnap this child from Ikebukuro?” Rio began to answer, but was cut off. “I’m swamped trying to get someone out of holding after he got caught shoplifting from Bath&Bodyworks, again, I don’t have time to deal with babysitting some random child -”
“I’m the protagonist!”
“- that you STOLE!” He released Rio from his grip, who seemed unaffected by his outburst, and repositioned his glasses. “Good grief, I have too much on my plate.”
Rio gazed at the officer with a concerned look. “But you hate eating with plates?” Jyuto sighed at the not-smartness of his six foot three soldier-man partner.
“It’s an expression, Rio, and where on Earth did you even get that idea? I enjoy eating with- never mind, I’m saying that I have a lot to deal with and I can’t take care of a 19 year old protagonist from Ikebukuro…”
Wait.
Jyuto turned his gaze downwards, dread filling his eyes as he realized he knew someone fitting that exact description.
“I eat with plates! Real ones! Because I’m the protagonist,”
Dammit, Rio kidnapped Ichiro.
[MEANWHILE, IN AN APARTMENT IN SHINJUKU…]
Seated on a normal, inconspicuous couch that would never be used to hide a living person, are three men. Two are bored out of their minds, and one trembles in fear because of the situation he finds himself in. He anxiously looks over to the blond seated at the other end of the couch, a silent plea for him to do something, anything, to end this agonizing silence. Unfortunately, the man seems distraught over a pink sticky sweet substance trapped in his golden locks, and his plea goes unnoticed.
Ramuda sighed loudly. Even the narration of this scene was boring! He stood up on the couch and sighed loud enough to wake up the man who definitely wasn’t hiding underneath him.
Cuz that would be silly~!
[LAUGH TRACK]
“I’m bored! Your place is soo~ boring! Haha!”
Doppo looked up at him, unsure how to respond. Hifumi did the same, but he spoke up after a few moments of silence.
“I’ve actually been thinking we should remodel -”
“Hifumi, we really aren’t in a position to… financially…”
“Well maybe you aren’t, but I could pay for it!”
“I know, but I live here too, so it’s only fair that I contribute to anything we -”
While this FUCKING BORING conversation was going on between FUCKING BORING people, Ramuda screamed and elbow dropped onto the couch, which emitted a loud ‘ACK’, and Hifumi rushed to cover up the grunt of pain with a fake coughing fit, which quickly turned into a real coughing fit, and then a real crying fit as the man had tried to run his fingers through his silky hair- only for it to get stuck on the gum which he had momentarily forgotten about. The pink man laid still for a second, transfixed by Hifumi’s suffering, before bursting out laughing.
[LAUGH TRACK]
“Ahaha! Fumi-Woomy! You should rea~lly go to a doctor and get that checked out!” Suddenly, Ramuda stopped laughing and a look of realization dawned on his face. “I know! Why don’t I call Jak~u~wai right now <3 He can come over and get his wallet too!”
[CONCERNED GASPS]
He waved the Ridge Wallet Authentic Minimalist Metal RFID Blocking Wallet with Cash Strap Wallet for Men RFID Minimalist Wallet, Slim Wallet in the air, as Doppo and Hifumi looked at it, and then each other, in horror. Jakurai’s an old man… there’s no way his ringer isn’t on full volume at all times. They were in danger, and if the concerned rumble from underneath the couch was any indication, Jakurai knew it too. But there was no stopping Ramuda as he reached for his phone and pressed a contact labelled ‘STUPID OLD BASTARD DIE DIE DIE’.
The sound of Ramuda Amemura’s hit song ‘drops’ flooded the room from under the couch.
“Oh~? What’s that \^w^/?!” Ramuda leapt off the couch with a cartoon ‘boing’. “Sounds like it’s coming from under the couchie-ouchie! Better check it outsie ;p~!”
Doppo was paralyzed. Hifumi started crying. The song reached the chorus, and Ramuda hummed along with it as he crouched down to investigate.
Everything was falling apart.
“Huh~?! Looks like Doctow Jakuwai left his phone too! Fucking idio- I mean, wowie! What a silly mistake <3!”
[LAUGH TRACK]
Doppo and Hifumi let out a sigh of relief, before the absurdity of the situation dawned on them. Hifumi joined Ramuda on the floor and looked under the couch, while Doppo scanned the room for any sign of the misplaced doctor. It didn’t take long for him to notice a new floor lamp in the corner that was suspiciously Jakurai-shaped, with a lampshade placed over his face.
[LAUGH TRACK]
Doppo frowned at the spectral laughter before shelving his worries for a more important matter… kind of like what he does at work.
“Wow! I really thought he was und- oof!” Hifumi almost gave away Jakurai’s previous hiding place until Doppo grabbed him by the jacket, pulling him up to see their new lamp.
In an impressive display of wordless communication, Doppo grabbed the hand of Jakurai-lamp and led him to a closet in the hallway, while Hifumi pushed Ramuda’s head - which had slowly been rising to face the roommates - downwards, yelling, “I LOST MY WALLET TOO, HELP ME LOOK FOR IT OK RAMSIES~?”
“Ew~Ew~Ew! Get your old man hands off meee~!” A pink-colored voice attempted to push the larger man off, while attempting to still sound cutesy and poorly concealing its anger.
Hifumi, seeing that the lamp was now actually hidden, moved his hands to allow the shorter brightly colored man to sit up from his position of looking under the couch.
“OMG~ Fumimi, if you wanted me all you had to do was ask~! I wouldda said nopesies, but stilllll~!”
Hifumi - for once in his life - deadpanned at the thought of being with someone. Doppo hurried to his side, suspiciously eyeing the hallway closet as he did so.
“Ahahaha! Sorry Amemura-kun! I just… really like… uh...” Hifumi looked to his roommate for support, and received none. “I really like… the color… pink?”
Ramuda sat up straighter from his position, his inner petty bitch coming through.
“Oh~? For hair? ‘Fumu! You already have pink in your hair” Ramuda pointed to the piece of gum still lodged in Hifumi’s hair - bringing it back to the spotlight. “Do I need to add moresies to your widdle headdie~?”
Hifumi lurched at the small candy man.
[MEANWHILE IN THE WILDERNESS OF YOKOHAMA]
Jyuto was pacing, creating a small path in the grass with his heavy footsteps as Rio handed Ichiro and Samatoki iguana souffles. The misplaced teen thanked him for the food and began to eat, while the recently-released yakuza stared at the baked good with suspicion. How the hell did he make such a perfect souffle out here? And where in God’s name is the iguana in this? He started to take a bite, but a loud exclamation from Jyuto (‘SHIT’) shocked him into dropping it right before it reached his mouth.
“Oi, some of us are trying to eat here, asshole.”
Samatoki almost regrets the words as he feels Jyuto’s intense fiery anger turn its gaze upon him. Almost, because he isn’t a wimp.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re trying to eat? You’re trying to eat right now? That must take a lot of focus, Mr. Hardcore. I suppose it must take more energy than figuring out how to un-kidnap the leader of the Buster Bros!!!, MC Big Brother. Actually,” The officer turns to face the teen, who was in the middle of stealing Samatoki’s souffle and putting it in his bag. “Yamada-kun, where are your younger brothers? Will they be alright without you?”
“Well, I don’t like to leave them home alone for this long… but I’m sure they can handle it.”
[AT THE SAME TIME, THE YOUNGER YAMADAS…]
“Jiro, you fucking idiot! This is all your fault!”
“Huh?! How is a giant container ship getting stuck sideways in the Suez Canal and blocking 12% of global trade my fault?”
[BACK IN YOKOHAMA…]
“At least they’re not involved with this, I suppose.” The crooked cop muttered, really only to himself.
Rio stood from the sitting position he had taken after serving the food. He walked over to Jyuto, a hand placed on his chest, and he made a vow. “I swear on my war crimes, I will do whatever it takes to return the youngest Yamada-”
“I’m the eldest! Ichi, Ni, San! Ichiro, Jiro, Saburo. One, Two, Three! Really easy to remember!”
“I will do whatever it takes to return the eldest Yamada to his home, and to prevent anything from further stressing you out, Jyuto. Your plate will be empty by the time the sun sets.”
[AWWW]
“Rio…” Jyuto’s face softened as his heart grew warm.
Despite all of their problems, Jyuto knew that Rio cared about him, and Rio knew that Jyuto knew he cared for him as well. Jyuto placed a hand on Rio’s face, his fingers brushing the hair from his eyes. His eyes grew tender, and they both leaned forward…
“I’m here too, dickheads,” Samatoki rudely interrupted the tender moment with his shout. Most would feel terrified at the tone of his voice, but seeing as Samatoki was swatting a germ-infested souffle from a teenager at same time, its effect was lessened substantially.
Both Rio and Jyuto drew away from each other - the mood was ruined.
“We do actually need to come up with a plan,” Jyuto put a hand to his own face this time, being the voice of reason as always.
“What do you suggest?” Rio now turned to Ichiro to hand him another souffle - Rio always carries spare souffles in his pockets for just this occasion, after all.
“You kidnapped a child, so -”
“I’m 19! And I went with him willingly! I forgot to say that earlier because I’m the protagonist and I have to let myself get into these wacky situations for at least 4k words!”
[LAUGH TRACK]
Jyuto froze. Samatoki froze - the souffle in his hands fell to the ground. Rio froze - his pocket-souffle safely in Ichiro’s hands.
Ichiro put the pocket souffle in his bag, murmuring something along the lines of ‘dinner’s going to be so good tonight’.
“You’re crazy, Yamada.” Samatoki shook his head as he returned to eating his dirtied souffle. Jyuto had a dark look on his face. Rio handed Ichiro a second and third pocket-souffle ‘for the kids’.
“Alright, get in the car.” Jyuto fished his car keys out of his pockets, making sure to show his anger through his actions. Samatoki ‘yoinked’ Ichiro’s food bag and tossed it over to Rio, who put a couple ‘secret ingredients’ in it for good measure.
Samatoki whistled. “Looks like you’re being kidnapped for real now, Yamada.”
[LAUGH TRACK]
[BACK AT THE APARTMENT IN SHINJUKU…]
From the inside of the dark hallway closet, there wasn’t much Jakurai could see, even after he removed the lampshade. However, from the shouts and cries for help he heard from outside… things weren’t looking good.
Based on what he was able to listen to, he could infer that Ramuda had taken over the apartment and was holding Doppo and Hifumi captive, forcing them to act as jesters under threat of execution. That simply wouldn’t do. Matenro was scheduled to participate in a rap battle next week, and he didn’t have time to find replacements.
Hoping to shed some light on his situation, Jakurai flipped a switch on the wall of his prison.
In the now illuminated closet, there were three objects of note:
A broken yellow vacuum.
An actual Jakurai-shaped lamp.
And… Ramuda…? In the outfit he used to wear when they were a team.
Ramuda(?) brought a finger to his lips, making a quiet ‘shh’ noise, before raising his hand to the switch slowly, and turning off the light.
[EERIE LACK OF LAUGH TRACK]
Well, that was disturbing.
[BACK IN YOKOHAMA, QUICKLY APPROACHING A TRAIN STATION...]
“Ichiro, how much do you have on you?”
“Uh…” The young man opened his bag, which was much heavier than it had been when he left his home this morning. “Four souffles, two dead lizards, one alive lizard, three beetles-”
“What? No,” Jyuto looked at Ichiro’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “How much money do you have on you?”
“Wait, are you robbing me? I thought the kidnapping thing was a joke…”
Samatoki burst out laughing, and Rio reached a hand back to pat Ichiro on the shoulder.
“Of course not, eldest Yamada. He simply wants to know if we need to provide you any money for transportation back home.”
Ichiro sighed in relief, and relaxed in the back seat. Well, to say he relaxed might be generous. He and Samatoki spent the car ride kicking each other, until Jyuto asked Rio to keep an eye on them. Once they made it to the train station, and made sure Ichiro knew how to get back home, they said their goodbyes and promised to kill each other at the next division rap battle, and Mad Trigger Crew was left on their own.
“You two are headed to Shinjuku tonight, yeah? Say hi to the gays for me.”
“You mean guys?”
“Fuckin’ no.”
“Fair.”
[BACK AT ‘THE GAYS’...]
Doppo sighed in relief. Hifumi sighed in relief, louder, but this time not competitively.
Ramuda was gone. He finally got bored, after bringing famine to their household, destroying their high scores in every Wii Sport, and shaving Hifumi. Thankfully, Hifumi’s hair grows back at an inhuman rate, and he already had a mullet by the time they realized Jakurai was still in the refrigerator after they relocated him when Ramuda got too close to the hallway closet.
“Sensei! Are you still alive?!”
“Yes, thanks to the two of you. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay the two of you for allowing me to seek asylum in your home on such short notice.”
“It’s no problem, Sensei… Have a safe trip home.”
Hifumi waved Jakurai off as he headed to the (still motherfuckin’ open) door. All’s well that ends well! Doppo gave Hufimi a hug from behind, and the two watched as Jakurai left the apartment.
But… that’s strange? Jakurai’s hair… There was something… in it? Something… pink…?!
How did Ramuda stick a piece of gum in Jakurai’s hair? He was hidden the whole time!
Wait… that pink isn’t the same shade as the gum that was placed on Hifumi’s head. It was the exact same shade… as Ramuda’s hair.
Hifumi and Doppo shared a look of abject horror as they saw that Ramuda was inside Jakirai’s hair, chewing gum and looking them dead in the eye. If looks could kill…
[LAUGH TRACK]
Doppo stood up, empowered by his laughing ghost friends so he could warn the doctor. However, before he could call out Jakurai’s name, two figures appeared before the - open for infinity - door.
“Jinguji-sensei! What a surprise! Are you here for dinner as well?” Jyuto greeted the doctor, Rio nodding a greeting while holding a pot of food.
“Iruma-san, Busujima-san, good to see you. I’m afraid I was just leaving. Enjoy your dinner, though.” With a pleasant smile and a pink-haired candyman in his hair, the doctor left the Hifudo apartment.
The 2nd and 3rd members of MAD TRIGGER CREW stared after the doctor - more specifically, stared after the candy man in his hair (who was pulling a piece of gum out of his mouth and flipping them both off at the same time).
“Rio! Jyuto! Haha! I can’t believe I forgot about dinner tonight!” Hifumi’s laugh broke their stare, and brought forth a smile to Rio’s face.
“Not to worry, I brought some souffles I made with special, fresh ingredients.” Rio motioned to the pot in his arms before frowning softly “I’m afraid I don’t have as much food as I promised for tonight, forgive me...”
Jyuto smiled and brought a hand to Rio’s shoulder. “It was for a good cause, those kids are probably enjoying themselves right now.”
Doppo had walked to the door, putting a hand on the pot “That’s nice, but come in! I need to tell you about these voices I’ve been hearing and, oh...” Doppo remembered the mess that was their apartment.
“Maybe we should eat somewhere else...”
Hifumi crossed his arms with a huff. “I can clean this place in like, two seconds! you don’t have to worry about the mess that pink haired freak left!”
Jyuto raised his eyebrows questionably.
“I’ll tell you about it over dinner! Come on in!”
Jyuto and Rio took a step into the apartment, the door open behind them.
“Oh,” Doppo paused. “That door’s been open way too long.”
And he closed the door, the sound of laughter and the sharing of daily events quieted inside the lively apartment.
BONUS
Samatoki watched his teammates walk off to their dinner plans with Matenro’s Gigolo and Doppo. As he did so, a wave of loneliness washed over him. He remembered when he had dinner plans to look forward to. Samatoki caressed a bracelet on his wrist, about to walk to his apartment when he heard the yell of a teenage protagonist.
“Samatoki! Is Busujima-san still here? He somehow slipped me a few extra pocket-souffles and I…”
Ichiro’s words trailed off as he noticed the lonely look on Samatoki’s face. After a short pause, Ichiro gave a protagonist-esque grin “Why don’t you have dinner with me and my brothers?”
How long had it been since he had had dinner with a family? Samatoki paused, remembering the feeling of eating by oneself before agreeing.
“Alright, brat! Just make sure those kids know that if they touch my water, I’ll kill them. And I mean that! Hydration is very important.”
Ichiro laughed at the joke(?) threat, Samatoki following him as they waited for a train to Ikebukuro.