Chapter Text
Ugh...
Hiiragi’s patience is running thin as he and Shizusumi quietly wait for Ritsuka to be finished. The studio chipped in to give them some new stage clothes and to have a beautician do their hair and makeup. Shizusumi was done in minutes and Hiiragi was more than okay with the makeup, but he had vehemently denied getting his hair done.
His locks were already perfect, so why mess with perfection?
Ritsuka didn’t really have a chance to say no to either of those things. After seeing his panicked face, Hiiragi had given the guitarist an unapologetic grin as he had shoved Ritsuka to the claws of the twenty-something year old woman who had taken one look at Ritsuka before her features brightened in response. Ideas rushed through her head at what she could do to him, and it looked as if Ritsuka would not be getting away from her soon.
She was committed, and Hiiragi couldn’t help but laugh. But after an hour or so of waiting, Hiiragi regretted that decision. Some eyeliner and a bit of hair gel shouldn’t take make than a couple of minutes.
Turning to Shizusumi, who looked even more handsome than usual, Hiiragi had to force himself to hide a blush as he grumbled to the other male, “What’s taking him so long?”
While Shizusumi, who was passing the time by reading a book, just tilted his head as his eyes never once left the page: “You’re the one that set him up for a complete makeover... It really can’t be much longer, so just be patient.”
Closing his eyes and biting his lip in frustration while he swung his feet back and forth in impatience, Hiiragi eventually combusts, “We’ve been waiting for over two hours, he has to be—“
BANG!
“HOW DOES HE LOOK?!”
Whipping his head to where the loud bang came from, Hiiragi felt his jaw drop as he quickly took Ritsuka in. Strips of blue feathered throughout his hair, eyes rimmed in dark blue, and a dangle earring dangling from his ear—wait, Ritsuka didn’t have his ear pierced!
(It was hot... Really, really hot.)
“Close your mouth, you’re catching flies.”
Doing as he was told while he fixed a glare on Shizusumi, Hiiragi eventually turned his attention to Ritsuka. Only for “I can’t believe you look this pretty” to tumble from his mouth.
As soon as the words had fallen from his lips, Hiiragi immediately wanted to enact seppuku on himself because Ritsuka wasn’t supposed to be this pretty... At least not exceedingly gorgeous-type pretty.
(Except Ritsuka was always pretty and Hiiragi hated how attracted he was to the younger male. Ever since Ritsuka had broken up with Mafuyu, Given had gone their separate ways, and Ritsuka had gone solo, Hiiragi (and Shizusumi) were falling for their occasional session musician. Hiiragi was even going crazy because of it and he was always a hair away from grabbing the other male to pull him into a kiss... To do more than that.)
Seeing Ritsuka give him a confusing look, Hiiragi stands up to his full height as he subconsciously eyes Ritsuka up and down. Cheeks turning a slight shade of pink as his hands sweat, Hiiragi eventually gives the other a smirk, hands waving around for emphasis, “Don’t get cocky, this is all Ami-chan’s doing.”
While Ritsuka, whom Hiiragi had expected to give a solid quip back to him, silently rubbed the back of his neck instead, “Yeah, this is all her... She deserves the credit... It’s not too much, is it? Do I look weird?”
Fuck, no. You were already good looking to begin with, you loveable idiot, but this... This...
The middle of Hiiragi’s head wrinkled in response, a frown appeared across his face as he struggled to stay aloof. He didn’t want Ritsuka to know how attracted he was to him, but Ritsuka looked insecure and Hiiragi wasn’t a complete asshole. He wasn’t going to tease him when he looked this uncharacteristically low... He had been quiet and downtrodden for days and Hiiragi didn’t enjoy seeing the other look like a kicked puppy over the slightly gruff, yet kind twenty-year-old that he was used to seeing.
Hiiragi felt compelled to improve his spirits, but before he could tell Ritsuka off, his boyfriend interrupted the two “Ritsuka, you’re handsome with or without the makeup y’know? And this was definitely not too much, even Hiiragi thinks so.”
Don’t rat me out!
While Ami, the beautician, could only flounder. “Yes, yes! You have beautiful eyes and bone structure and I couldn’t help but want to enhance that even more. You look very striking!”
Seeing surprise etch itself across Ritsuka’s features, Hiiragi’s stomach dropped when he noticed Ritsuka avoid his gaze as he gave them all an “Alright, I guess.” Before he was turning to give the beautician his thanks, the action dismissing the older woman. Ritsuka was acting weird and Hiiragi didn’t like it...
Unprepared for Hiiragi to eliminate the gap between the two of them, Ritsuka could not escape. Hiiragi was right in front of him, noses almost touching, and Ritsuka had nowhere to go. While Hiiragi was doing his best to keep the flush from his cheeks from how close the two of them were.
Hiiragi could see everything.
(Hiiragi could see flecks of glitter in Ritsuka’s wing, glitter that would have originally matched Ritsuka’s eyes, and if he looked close enough, there was a cute little freckle beneath his lashes. Ritsuka was even more gorgeous up close and Ami truly did an amazing job... Hiiragi wanted to kiss him, but he couldn’t help but want to throttle him even more.)
“Where’s this insecurity coming from, the Ritsuka I know wouldn’t act like this... You’re being weird!”
Which only caused Ritsuka to growl, “It’s nothing, just drop it. We don’t have time for this.”
The ‘It doesn’t matter, I’m being stupid’ left unsaid.
Which only caused Hiiragi’s hackles to raise even more. “We’ll make time if we need to, but whatever is going on with you, it’s not right. You’re usually not this insecure, and I want to know what’s causing it, because you’re gorgeous and you deserve to feel good about yourself!”
“Hiiragi, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I’m not pretty like—“
“Yes, you are!”
Seeing Ritsuka freeze in response, shoulders so tense that Hiiragi felt as if they could snap at any moment, Hiiragi should have known that Ritsuka would be stubborn.
Ritsuka was just like him in that regard.
“I’m definitely not and I can easily list why: my hair’s weird like my dad’s, my smile is crooked, my eyes always make me look angry, I need to lose like 10—“
Eyes almost bulging out of his head, Hiiragi had never been so angry in his life.
(Shizusumi instantly felt the same.)
“Who told you that?” Shizusumi’s voice echoed between the two of them that it caused the two to startle before they went to look at the taller man. Shizusumi was now next to the two of them, and if Hiiragi hadn’t known how swift and how much of a ninja he could be, he would have been surprised.
“Who cares, it’s all tr—“
“We can assure you it’s not, so who told you this. I know Mafuyu, your friends Ueki and Itaya, and your brothers would never say such a thing to you, so who told you this?”
“We know it’s not your sister or dad either, so who has gotten you so twisted up inside—“
“It’s no one... No one of importance... Really... Can’t we just drop this?”
Seeing Ritsuka look tired and defeated, but knowing that they needed to get through to him now, Hiiragi grabbed onto Ritsuka’s shoulders to hold him in place.
“We won’t drop this, because if we do, you’ll never bring it up again... Mafuyu told us you like to keep things inside, but this... This will not be something that we’re going to ignore. So please, let us know who it is.”
Lip-glossed lips being bitten between teeth, hair hiding his eyes, and Ritsuka trembling in his hold, Hiiragi didn’t know if it was because of anger or something else. Eventually Ritsuka responded, “Why did he tell you that? We don’t have that type of relationship anymore.”
“Huh?! You’re still friends with him, aren’t you? That doesn’t mean he’s going to stop caring about you because your feelings for each other change.” Hiiragi yelled.
“Well, yeah, but why do you two want to know? Why did you feel the need to ask?” Ritsuka asked incredulously and Hiiragi was going to kick himself if he ruined Ritsuka’s eyeliner.
Because fuck it, Ritsuka’s eyes looked bigger than usual and Hiiragi had never seen eyes so clear and blue... Damn, he had it bad.
He hoped Shizusumi was as much of a mess as he was because damn it, Ritsuka was too pretty and he was losing his mind. But hearing Ritsuka think the opposite was making him want to go crazy and find whoever had made Ritsuka feel this insecure to tell them off. Shizusumi could do the fighting for the two of them.
“Because we care about you, you dolt. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t regularly ask to have you join us from time to time or go to your concerts or watch your cat or take you out for your birthday or meet you for coffee or bring you food when you hole yourself up for days on end in the studio or—“
“What Hiiragi is trying to say is that we care about you very much and we want you to let us stay in your life... To care for you when you can’t... And right now, it seems like something has been bothering you for a while now and we’re quite worried about you.”
Looking more than a little lost, Ritsuka silently searches for something in both of their expressions, only to find acceptance and something he can’t place. It’s warm and reminds him of the times where he and Mafuyu had thought that they had been in love, but more intense. It’s all-encompassing and Ritsuka can’t hide from it... From them. And when Hiiragi searches Ritsuka’s gaze, he sees Ritsuka accept their sincerity and openness, even if the feeling strips him bare.
Ritsuka won’t run, but he’ll retreat for the time being. They sadly don’t have enough time to do anything else right now. So seeing Ritsuka grit his teeth and look away from the two, Hiiragi unable to notice how Ritsuka’s fingernails dig into his palms until they feel blood, Hiiragi says nothing when Ritsuka forces the tears away.
Nor does he say anything when Ritsuka forces the child that screams in his head to stop crying because no one can afford to breakdown right now.
Ritsuka can break down in front of them later.
“Let’s talk about this later, I don’t want to ruin Ami’s hard—“
Hand reaching out to grab the two and force them into his chest, Hiiragi splutters as Shizusumi rubs his hair. Ritsuka is safe from the action, even if he’s so close that his nose touches Shizusumi’s collarbone.
“We’ll let you run now, but you’re not getting out of this, alright?”
Feeling Ritsuka nod, Hiiragi reaches behind Ritsuka’s head to pull him close enough so that their foreheads touch. In a surprisingly soft mood with no teasing inflection in his voice, Hiiragi growls into the other’s ear, “You’re really hot right now, so fucking own it.”
Noticing the tips of Ritsuka’s ears turning a scarlet shade in embarrassment, he almost cackles when Ritsuka grumbles, “Stop, you’re always such a nuisance.”
“Maybe I am, but this is going to be one of the few times I’m going to say this. So take it as the compliment it is.”
Liar.
Reaching out to take Ritsuka’s hand in his, Hiiragi, deadly serious, gives, “We’ll talk later, so no more hiding, alright?”
While Ritsuka, resigned but touched, eventually vocalizes, “I know.”
Hiiragi and Shizusumi quietly make a promise to keep watch of the other male when they finally make their way to the back of the stage. Everyone was prepared to give it their all. Even with this event hanging over their heads, Hiiragi sets the mood for the rest of the show.
(And if that mood comprised him being a flirty little shit, then sue him.)