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Banri walks into the Mankai dorms to see Taichi sitting on Omi’s lap, chatting animatedly with Izumi and Sakyo.
That’s new, he thinks.
“…So then I asked Omi out!” Taichi says, grinning widely and playing with Omi’s right hand while Omi’s left arm wraps itself firmly around Taichi’s waist. “And well, here we are!”
“That’s wonderful, Taichi. I’m happy for you,” Izumi says warmly. “Oh, Banri! Where’s Juza?”
“What, you wanna see him more than me?” Banri jokes. “He’s on his way, he just texted me to say that his rehearsal ran a little late.”
“Now we have two couples from the Autumn Troupe,” Izumi sighs, smiling widely.
“Congrats, both of you!” Banri takes a seat opposite Taichi and Omi, leaving a space next to himself for Juza. “Where’s Azami, Sakyo?”
“The kid had a last-minute gig for a fashion show, so he’ll meet us at the bar later. Probably best, so he won’t accidentally walk in here and combust when he sees that ,” Sakyo says, gesturing towards Omi and Taichi. Omi has the decency to blush, but Taichi just grins.
“How’s work, Taichi? Yuki makin’ you run around enough?” Banri sees the whole company at least once a month for Friday night drinks like this, and he sees the troupe a lot more often than that when they’re working on a show, but most of his Autumn Troupe have moved out of the dorms and have other work going on now, and the details of each other’s lives are no longer unavoidable. He has to ask if he wants to know, and while Banri would never admit it out loud, he always does want to know.
“Yuki-chan is tough as always, but the business is doing well! We got hired to make costumes for the troupe that won the Fleur Award a few years ago, so that’ll be a really good chance to get our names out there!”
Banri grins. “Good for you two! I never thought you’d end up working in costume design, Taichi, but it’s a good fit for you.”
“Juza-san! You’re here!” Taichi’s already-wide smile seems to turn up a few degrees, and Banri has to suppress a frown. Banri wanted to see Juza first. Should’ve sat facing the door.
Juza walks over, plants a kiss on Banri’s cheek, and plops down next to him on the couch, taking his hand like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Banri can’t help but smile smugly at this, because Juza is the most perfect man in the world, other than objectively maybe Omi, and Banri doesn’t count Omi.
“Juza-san! Omi and I are dating now!”
“I can see that,” Juza chuckles. “‘Grats, you two.”
“It’s funny how things work out,” Taichi continues, turning to look adoringly at Omi. “I had the biggest crush on Juza back in high school, y’know? Took me a while to realize that I like men, but looking back on it, it was definitely a crush.”
Banri tenses up against his will. Not a big deal, he tells himself. Juza’s dating you now, isn’t he?
“You don’t have to squeeze my hand so hard,” Juza says, patting Banri on the head with his free hand. “It’s not like anything happened back then, you know? You were my first everything, you know.”
Curse Juza’s well-honed ability to know exactly what Banri’s thinking. And also his complete lack of a verbal filter around Mankai.
“Ban-chan, are you jealous ?” Taichi laughs, and Banri grinds his teeth a little. It’s frustrating and scary, thinking about what could’ve happened back then, when his head was so far up his ass that he could see the perfect specimen of a man that is Hyodo Juza and think that he didn’t want to be with him.
Sakyo sighs. “Is this really what’s happening right now?” He appears to be talking to himself, or maybe Izumi. Izumi just looks like she’s trying to hold in a laugh herself. “Can the other troupes please get here already so we can leave?”
“Ban-chan, really, don’t be jealous!” Taichi does the seemingly impossible and snuggles himself even further into Omi’s chest, wrapping both of Omi’s muscular arms around himself. “I had a crush on like, half on Mankai at the time! And Omi’s the only one for me now!”
And then the Spring and Summer Troupes to walk in.
“We just finished our joint rehearsal—Taicchan!! You and Omi-san finally got together!” Muku’s enthusiasm is cute and all, but it makes Banri frown. When he and Juza had started dating, Muku and Kumon had cornered him and threatened him with every bad thing they could think of. Granted, it had been more cute than scary, but why couldn’t he have gotten a nice reception like this?
“We did!” Taichi kisses Omi on the cheek, making Omi blush a little.
“Were you saying that Banri’s jealous of a years-old crush Taichi had on Juza?” Chikage asks. Banri jumps a little. He hadn’t even seen Chikage come in.
“Yeah, seems like he’s a lil jelly,” Kazunari giggles. “Don’t worry, Setzer! I’m pretty sure we all were Hyodlers deep down, at least a little.”
Banri sighs and tries to focus on the feeling of Juza’s hand in his. None of this matters, right? Juza’s his now, and no one’s going to change that.
“Y’know what, I thought Juza had a certain charm when we first met,” Chikage chimes in, shit-eating grin on his face.
Sakuya slaps him lightly on the arm. “Chikage-san, be nice to Banri! He knows you’re just messing with him already.”
Messing with him. Right. Chikage’s always only had eyes for Itaru, anyway. But what about everyone else? Had they really all been “Hyodlers,” as Kazunari says?
“I would’ve gone out with you if you’d asked,” Tenma muses, and Banri freezes. Chikage’s one thing. Chikage lies as easily as he breathes. Kazunari’s another thing; Kazunari flirts with everything that moves. But as good of an actor as Tenma is, he’s not a good liar.
“Juza’s a good triangle,” Misumi adds, patting Juza on the head.
Banri puts his head in his hands. Can this get any worse?
And then the Winter Troupe walks in.
“Banri’s jealous of everyone who ever had a crush on Juza,” Chikage says instead of a greeting.
“Is that so?” Azuma purrs. “Juza was always wonderful in bed. If you ever want to share a bed again, just say the word, you two.”
Images of Juza cuddled up to Azuma, patting Taichi on the head, eating lunch with Tenma at school at O High where Banri couldn’t go, begin to fill Banri’s head. He’s always pushed away thoughts of Juza dating other people, because it’s never happened. But now he’s seeing what maybe should’ve been obvious all along—Juza could’ve been dating at any point since Banri met him! Could’ve been happy and lovey-dovey with any number of guys who aren’t Banri! After all, none of them are fools—well, none of them are big enough fools that they’d break up with someone like Juza, at least! There are so many ways all of this could have gone wrong, and Banri would have eventually realized that he loves Juza, only for it to be too late.
The cherry on top of this very horrible, overly sweet sundae is Kamekichi, who flies in and screeches “Juza!”, perches on Juza’s shoulder, and nuzzles into Juza’s cheek.
Banri whimpers. Even the fucking parrot knew it liked Juza before Banri figured out his feelings.
“Even Kamekichi likes Juza,” Yuki comments. “Banri, you’re lucky Kamekichi didn’t confess before you did, huh?”
“Shaddup,” Banri grits out. “I’m not losing to a damn parrot in any timeline, okay?” He glares at Kamekichi and groans internally when he notices Chikage and Omi of all people suppressing laughs.
“Guess everyone’s here!” Izumi says, shifting the topic of conversation away. Banri’s grateful, and a little annoyed that he had to be rescued like this. “Shall we go? I still can’t believe you’re all old enough to drink now…”
Everyone else files out of the room, chattering and laughing, and Banri starts to stand so he can go too, but Juza grabs his hand and pulls him back down.
“You okay?” Juza asks, big warm hand rubbing slowly over Banri’s back.
“Yeah,” Banri says through clenched teeth. “I’m fine, okay? Let’s just go drink and have a nice time with everyone. It’s not often that all of us are able to be together like this.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Juza doesn’t say anything else, but he takes Banri’s hand and doesn’t let go for the rest of the night.
—
That night, Banri lays in bed and thinks about how he ended up here.
He knows everyone was just teasing him and that no one besides maybe Taichi and Tenma had any real interest in Juza, even back then. That’s how things work at Mankai. They all mess with each other a little, and Banri’s probably one of the worst offenders, anyway. It’s fun to tease Tenma with fireworks or to use Sumi’s single weakness against him or to beat Itaru at games. Spending time with them all is how Banri shows his affection; saying nice things isn’t really his strong suit, which is…how he ended up with this whole emotional predicament about Juza in the first place. He hadn’t been able to even admit his feelings to himself back then, much less verbalize them to the object of his affections. And if someone else had been able to get themselves together and confess their feelings to Juza before Banri did—which was a long window of time—things might have turned out very differently.
There’s no point in dwelling on what didn’t happen. Banri’s head understands this, but his heart absolutely, unequivocally does not. The idea that Banri could have been with Juza earlier if he’d only had a little more sense and a shred of emotional intelligence? Awful, agonizing, but Banri can deal with it. Banri knows he’d had a lot of growing up to do at that point in time, and his interactions with Juza are what helped him figure it all out in the first place. The idea that his thoughtlessness and stubbornness could have cost him the love of his life? Unbearable.
It makes Banri want to punch Taichi, or maybe bite him until he promises there’s nothing going on with him and Juza, which is ridiculous. Taichi’s family too, after all, and it’s pretty clear that he’s happy with Omi. Who wouldn’t be, honestly.
Banri sighs. Who wouldn’t be is right. Does Juza really want to be with Banri? Or is he just settling because he grew up thinking he’d never have anyone? Especially with how Banri had acted when they’d first met.
Even Banri can admit that he’d been a gigantic fucking clown. Challenging Juza to a fight just because he could, losing spectacularly, plotting a “revenge” which had consisted mostly of following Juza around (“could be considered stalking,” Itaru had informed him) and eventually joining a theater company with him . Yeah, none of that had really made any sense. Banri apparently just throws “sense” out the window when Juza is involved. And then something had changed.
Banri had found a passion in acting thanks to Juza, and that changed everything.
Everyhing had changed, slowly but surely. He’d hated Juza at first, for reminding him that he can lose and shoving him off the worldview he had been precariously balanced on for so many years. He’d spent so long being the best, trying to forget that there was any other possibility so that he wouldn’t feel the hopelessness of not finding it yet searching for something to fill his days anyway. He clung to a sense of security in the very thing that was driving him to extremes, and Juza had broken through all of it.
And then Juza had become a rival instead of an enemy to defeat, someone to surpass and to work with to become better. And then he’d become a friend and a teammate, someone to fight by Banri’s side. Literally, on a few occasions. And then Banri had finally seen what had been clear to everyone else all along, and he’d started pursuing Juza with the same passion that he found in acting.
The rest, as they say, is history, or so Banri would like to believe.
Banri loves Juza for reasons that are clear and obvious to everyone. Juza is kind, hard-working, passionate. He lifts the people around him to higher levels with his passion for acting, and he’s a reliable friend. Juza makes the people around him feel good.
Banri is aware of his own good points too. He’s handsome, talented, adaptable. He’s still on Super Ultra Easy Mode. But he’s also aware of the bad—he’s jealous, clingy, bad at giving compliments, a bit of a show-off. Not as bad as he used to be—before, he’d take any chance to do something he knew he could do, because he could. Now he considers his actions, if only a little. Every once in a while, when he’s about to show off some skill or trick, he thinks of the way Taichi’s face fell when Banri picked up yo-yo tricks in a single try and decides that it might not be worthwhile.
Banri’s happier with himself as a person than he had been back in high school, but he still doesn’t even compare to Juza, who puts others before himself always. And yet Banri wants. He wants to be the only one that Juza looks at, to be the one that Juza thinks of first in any situation, to be the rival that Juza’s aiming for throughout their long, successful careers as actors.
He wants, selfishly, to be the one that Juza spends his whole life with.
Oh.
That’s what he wants, and there’s no point in waiting, is there?
—
How hard can it be to buy a stupid ring?
Banri’s been so busy for the last few weeks that he hasn’t had time to schedule a trip to the jewelry store, at least not when Juza would be around to get suspicious. That rules out pretty much anywhere in an hour’s radius of Mankai, too, since he’d be bound to run into someone he knows. So he has to find a big chunk of time when he’ll be free, Juza will be out of the house and won’t get suspicious about where he’s gone for so long, and Tsumugi will be free to help him shop.
Normally he goes shopping with Sakuya or Tenma or Yuki, but he’s still salty with Tenma (“Nothing happened,” Rational Banri reminds him, but every other self refuses to listen) and doesn’t trust the other two to keep their mouths shut. That leaves Tsumugi, who’s all too willing to help.
“Oh, you’re going to propose to Juza-kun?” he’d asked over the phone. “It’s about time, you know. Half of Mankai has been betting on who’s going to propose first.”
Banri had groaned. “Can you come shopping with me or not? We can go to that cafe you like afterward…”
“You don’t have to convince me, Banri.” Tsumugi’s voice had been gentle. “I’d be honored to help you find the perfect ring for Juza-kun. He’ll be so happy when you propose.”
Banri really hopes that Tsumugi’s right.
So here they are, looking through men’s wedding rings at an upscale boutique downtown, far away from the areas that most of the Mankai members frequent, and Banri’s feeling a bit of despair already. What kind of ring would Juza even want? Banri rarely sees him wear any sort of accessories, except when Banri pesters him into it. Which he does on a fairly regular basis, at least at home, because Juza looks damn good in a nice hat or with a bit of jewelry. Banri thinks Juza looks damn good in everything, though, and that’s part of what’s making it so hard to choose.
Banri can see a dozen rings that would be gorgeous on Juza, and a few that fit the styles that Juza normally wears, but he can’t quite picture what Juza would like.
“What do you think of this one, Tsumugi?” he asks.
Tsumugi looks back at him and laughs, a little bashful. “You really want my opinion on this, Banri? I thought I was just here for moral support. You’re the one who knows Juza-kun best, after all. And I think he’ll love whatever you choose for him.”
Banri sighs, frustrated. He points at two similar rings, both black with a smooth gold interior. “What about those two? D’ya think Juza would like a more traditional color?”
“Hmm, I think Juza-kun would look good in either,” Tsumugi replies patiently. “He tends to wear plain-ish street clothes, so he probably doesn’t want anything too flashy, but other than that I think it’s up to you, Banri.”
Banri sighs but moves on to the next display, hemming and hawing over a few silver bands with inlaid gemstones. Tsumugi gives his opinion here and there (“too flashy,” “maybe a darker color,” “definitely not that one” when Banri points to one with a huge diamond ringed by smaller diamonds) but doesn’t offer firm opinions on which one Banri should get, and it’s frustrating.
“Tsumugi, please,” Banri gripes. “I know it’s my job, but I just…I want it to be about him, not about me.” Banri finds his voice starting to rise in volume. “It has to be what he wants, y’know? I have to be what he wants, not anyone else!”
Tsumugi stares at Banri for a second, eyes wide. “Banri-kun, I think we should take a break,” he says firmly, patting Banri on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s check out that cafe we passed by earlier.”
Banri follows, thoughts numb.
“Okay,” Tsumugi says once they’re both sitting with drinks in front of them. The cafe is just the kind that both of them like. Both the ambience and the drinks have been prepared with a careful attention to detail. “What’s all this about, really?”
Banri sighs. Even with Tsumugi, it’s hard to say. “The other day…when everyone was talking about how many people had a crush on Juza back in the day.” Tsumugi’s eyes twinkle at him—actually twinkle —and Banri glares. “There were just a lot of them, okay? I know they were teasing me, for the most part, but…I just couldn’t get it out of my head, y’know?” Tsumugi says nothing, just watches him, so Banri continues. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if someone else’d made a move on Juza before I figured out that I didn’t actually hate him. It took me what, three years? That’s a long time, Tsumugi-san! Juza coulda been happy with, I dunno, Taichi, or Tenma, long before I even knew I liked him! What would I have done then?”
“You would’ve moved on,” Tsumugi says, “or whoever and Juza might’ve broken up eventually, and then you two would’ve gotten together. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world, and it didn’t happen, Banri.”
“It’s like the end of the world, though,” Banri admits. “Not having Juza by my side…would be almost like the end of the world for me. He’s the one who made my life this interesting and fun. ‘M scared, to think of where I’d be without him.”
“He really is something special, isn’t he?” Tsumugi says.
Banri glares at him. “Not you too, Tsumugi-san!”
Tsumugi laughs. “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean it like that. It’s nice, you know. Seeing you be honest about your feelings. Your relationship with Juza is the one thing you can’t breeze through, huh? And what I meant is more like…he’s special to you, because of how he affected your life. But you affected his too, y’know?”
“In what way?” Banri asks. “He was already dedicated to acting. He would’ve had plenty of strong rivals to push him to grow at Mankai, even if it wasn’t me.”
“Hmm, I wonder about that,” Tsumugi says. “There are a lot of actors out there who are better than me. So much so that I didn’t even get a callback when I auditioned for the God Troupe. Whereas Tasuku’s acknowledged by everyone, and I thought I didn’t stand a chance against his acting. I thought he’d be plenty satisfied with the top talent he got to work with in the God Troupe. But when I talked to him about it…it turned out he was just waiting, all those years, for another chance to act together with me.” He looks down, a little color rising to his cheeks. “It…it doesn’t have to be because you’re the best. It just has to be because Juza wants you.”
“I’m just…”
“Scared?” Tsumugi’s eyes are kind, but his voice is firm. “Why?”
“Juza…well, I had plenty of people who wanted to date me before I met Juza. No matter how I acted, there were still people who wanted to date me because they thought I was hot or whatever. But I was probably the first person who ever expressed interest in him. You know what his childhood was like, Tsumugi-san.”
“So this is why you were worried about picking a ring? You wanted it to be something Juza would like, not about you, right? Because you want him to want you, not just to go along with it because he thinks you’re the only one who has ever wanted him?”
That isn’t how Banri would have put it, but it’s basically correct, so he nods.
Tsumugi puts a hand on Banri’s. “Banri-kun, you know that’s bullshit, right?”
Banri gapes. Tsumugi’s gotten a lot bolder over the years, but it’s still rare to hear him curse.
“Juza-kun loves you and who you are now. He probably loved you back then, too. He won’t care if the ring isn’t exactly what he wants; he’ll love it because you picked it out with him in mind. He’s a strong guy. He wouldn’t be with you if it wasn’t exactly what he wanted, and you know that.”
Banri considers Tsumugi’s words and starts to smile. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, Tsumugi-san. I think I can pick out a ring now, knowin’ that…thanks.”
“Of course, Banri-kun,” Tsumugi says. “You ready to go? It’s my turn to pay, I think.”
“Nah, I got it today,” Banri says, raising a hand to call a waiter over. “You helped me out a lot, Tsumugi-san. I appreciate it.”
—
Banri finds himself sitting on his and Juza’s bed, waiting for his husband to come home from rehearsal, more nervous than he’s ever been in his life. He’s less afraid than he had been before that Juza will say no, or say yes without really wanting to marry Banri, but he’s still afraid. This is the one thing he can’t Super Ultra Easy Mode his way through. He has to be honest, and open, and all the things that he hates, and Juza’s the only person who’s worth it.
They’ve been together three years now, and were each other’s partners at Mankai for years before that. They’ve done hundreds of improvisations together, etudes and random street acts and dozens of ridiculous Veludo Way events, and yet it’s never been harder to find the right words to say. This isn’t some silly Summer Troupe practice with Triangle Kings and pop stars and princes, though it’s nigh impossible to know what to say there too. But here, it’s Banri’s whole future on the line, and it seems like he’s supposed to know what to say. Sure, he knows Juza better than anyone and sure, they’ve been together for years, but all that seems to fade away as Banri contemplates the challenge in front of him. It’s scarier than asking Juza on that first date, because Banri understands exactly what he has to lose.
He tried writing down some ideas of what to say and ended up throwing out every single one of them. He doesn’t want cliches or platitudes or anything else that Juza will see straight through. The first time he’d called Juza a pet name, Juza had just glared at him and asked, “What happened to calling me a daikon?” The pet name hadn’t been entirely serious at that point in time, but realizing that Juza was still that unsure of his affections—that had hurt, too.
So now he has to find words that are sincere without sounding overly sappy and still convey all of his giant feelings to the love of his life. He’s about to start writing another draft when he hears the front door opening and Juza’s voice calling out, “I’m home!”
Fuck. He’s not ready, but he has the ring in his pocket and Juza’s here and he can’t wait any longer—he just wants to be engaged to Juza.
“Hey, how was your day?” Juza enters their bedroom, already unbuttoning his shirt to put on something more comfortable. “Whatcha up to in here?”
“Nothing,” Banri says, then mentally kicks himself. “Waiting for you, actually.”
“Yeah?” Juza leans down to kiss Banri gently, shirt still half-buttoned. “Make plans for us tonight or something?”
“Or something,” Banri echoes faintly. “I wanted to talk to you about something, actually.”
Juza’s face stiffens a little. “Is this about what happened the other night at Mankai drinks? You’re not trying to break up with me or anything, are you?”
Banri flinches, worse than if he’d been hit. “No! No that! The…the opposite of that, actually.”
Juza sits down next to Banri, taking his hand, warm fingers pushing their way between Banri’s own stiff ones. “You don’t have to do this because you’re afraid someone will steal me away,” he says softly. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be with you as long as you’ll let me, okay?”
“That’s not it either,” Banri says, voice getting whinier and more desperate. “I just!”
Calm down, he thinks to himself. You can do this. You have to do this.
He takes a deep breath, and what comes out is “Hey, Juza? Remember how we first met?”
“Who could forget,” Juza deadpans, squeezing Banri’s hand. Warm, Banri thinks in the back of his mind.
“You were the only thing in my life I couldn’t Super Ultra Easy Mode, from that very first moment. When you beat me up and left my ass warmin’ the pavement, it was like a whole world had opened up in front of me. It wasn’t just that you beat me, it was how casually you did it. I was used to resentment about my talents or empty praise, and you just beat me up like it was a chore you had to take care of. It was nice, somehow, knowin’ how much more there was in the world that I couldn’t reach yet. And then I stumbled into acting with you. I thought it was just another thing I could Super Ultra Easy Mode, and at first it was. But you saved me—you showed me your passion, which overrode winning and losing. You freed me—“
“Banri, you idiot,” Juza says. Still holding Banri’s hand, he presses their foreheads together, looking directly at him. “You’re the one who freed me. No one saw me as anything but a punk or a delinquent before you. People always stopped coming after I beat them up, but you were always there, and you—“ Juza’s voice falters, but he continues. “After the first time you tried to pick a fight with me at Mankai, I was afraid that that was it for me—that I’d be kicked out of the troupe and lose my last change at changing myself. But after that…I was able to be free. I didn’t have to be scared of losing my place here.”
“I’m sorry,” Banri blurts out in a rare admission of guilt. “I’m sorry for how I treated you at first, and for not realizing how I felt about you sooner. But what I want now—“
Juza cups his free hand around Banri’s cheek. “Banri, it’s okay. I know.”
“No, you don’t!” Juza pulls away slightly and glares at Banri for his sudden outburst, but Banri continues anyway. “I want to be with you forever!”
Juza’s hand drops in shock. “Banri, I—“
“Just listen to me! I know I’m moody and possessive and talk in my sleep, but I want to be the one by your side! I want to be the only one who sees you in your gross pajamas, I want to be the only one who you fight with, I want to be the only one who’s allowed to make fun of your sweet tooth, I want to be the only one you hold! You’re the only person I’ve ever loved, and I want you to be the person I love until I die! So will you—“
Juza’s already crying, fat teardrops rolling gently over the crests of his cheekbones, and Banri wants to lick them off his face.
“Will you let me be the one to wipe your tears away? Will you marry me?”
Banri pulls the box out of his pocket and kneels next to where Juza’s sitting on the bed, holding the box out like the offer and promise that it is.
“You asshole,” Juza says between sniffles. “I can’t believe you’re proposing to me because you got jealous of a parrot.”
“It’s not because of that,” Banri grumbles. “I just realized that you’re what I want and that I’m never going to want anyone else like this, and that I don’t want anyone else to have you.”
“So it is because of the parrot!” Juza laughs, and Banri cracks a smile.
“I’ll never admit it if it is!” Banri pulls the ring out of the box, setting the box itself aside. He grabs Juza’s hand, rubbing his thumb over Juza’s strong, work-callused fingers. “But you didn’t answer my question yet.”
“Banri, you’re a possessive asshole and whinier than I ever thought possible. You’re a pain to deal with, and you’ve never stopped picking fights since the day we met.” Juza’s words are harsh, but his fingers close around Banri’s and his eyes are soft. “I can’t imagine wanting anyone else, Banri. You’re it for me. I don’t want another. I couldn’t.”
“Is that a yes?” Banri tries to keep his voice level, but he tastes the salt of his tears and realizes that he’s crying too.
“It’s a yes, dumbass,” Juza says, and then Banri’s tackling him onto the bed, trying to fold all 183 cm of himself as close to Juza’s body as possible while pushing the ring onto his finger. He kisses Juza’s forehead, then his cheeks, and finally his lips, melting into his fiance , who just laughs and pulls him ever closer.
“You promised forever,” Banri says, snuggling himself into Juza’s neck. “That means you can’t even look at other men! Adultery is a sin!”
“Like you care about sins.” Juza strokes Banri’s hair in the way he has for years, the way that makes Banri feel safe and cared for. “I want you and only you, forever. You can believe that.”
And Banri does.