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Adonis learns many things about Koga over the years.
First, he learns about the dedication he has to his craft — how he pours his soul into what he does, like it would kill him to not. In those awkward days when Adonis fumbled around in the Hasumi temple, Rei disappearing from behind like a trailing whirlwind, Koga was right there next to him: foreign and a complete stranger, yet struggling to take after the image of Rei nonetheless.
He remembers his father’s student asking Koga to look after him, and being leveraged with a cold glare at that request, despite his own silence. Golden irises sizing him up, deciding whether he’s a threat, Adonis had been brought back to trips hunting with his father before he left his homeland; a shiver had gone down his spine as he nervously averted his eyes.
Koga was rather loud in vehemently denying Rei’s request, instead protesting at how quick his idol was to abandon him, and Adonis had not known what to feel about the whole situation, until later, when he was left alone with him, Keito exiting the main temple temporarily to deal with certain matters.
There, in another country all by himself, in the house of someone who seemed much too preoccupied to afford him or Koga attention, he sat quietly, still grasping his ocarina in his hand, his only token of familiarity.
Koga, tuning his guitar with razor sharp focus, gray locks messily pushed together in a small pony-tail, had spared him a glance, which Adonis hesitantly returned.
It is still fresh in Adonis’ mind: the second that had ticked by slowly, the way he had held his breath, fearing that even an exhale would interrupt the tranquility of the shrine (though now, he thinks it was more that he considered himself too big, too cumbersome, too uncoordinated, to be in such a sacred place), and how Koga was the one who broke it, with a strum of his guitar, blowing all of that away.
He had run his fingers swiftly through a couple chords, the noises filling the air suddenly like thunder on a cloudy day, an elated grin on his face when he finished. Despite some cracks in the picture, a couple missed notes, strums that rang too soft or too rough, it all came together in the end.
And when Koga scooted closer to Adonis ever so slightly, excitement evident in his voice as he asked, “How was that? Anythin’ like Sakuma-senpai’s solos?” Adonis’ fears dissipated just a bit, replaced with awe, and he had thought to himself: there are many interesting people in Japan.
Through Koga, he discovers what it means to have a comrade striving towards the same goals as he the following spring. He experiences his unrelenting ambition even after a year of upsets, of the man Koga loved and respected and desperately wanted to emulate being reduced to nothing more than a weakened relic of the past.
There was a delay in Adonis’ actions, back then. Caught between what was right and playing into UNDEAD’s wild image, he had hovered in indecision, dreading outcomes that would result in him unintentionally hurting his cherished friends such as Souma.
But one passionate look from Koga, storming into 2A’s classroom after school, once again throwing off the silence Adonis so often found himself wrapped in, dragged out something hidden in him.
Koga’s arm slung across his shoulders, his breath brushing his ear while Souma frowned at them, had felt comforting rather than imposing. He had waved his other hand around frantically, proclaiming to an empty room: “We finally revived! We can’t stop now! We’ve gotta flat-out dash to the top!”
As he turned his head for confirmation, eyes glittering, a gleeful smirk playing on his lips, Adonis’ whole body sparked up similar to how his blood ran warm before his morning runs — like his biological sense knew Koga’s words held truth, that they were embarking on something worthwhile.
Koga’s smirk dropped somewhat, and he had said, “If it’s us, we can make it. Right, Adonis?”
At the time, that was enough for him to hear. He had lacked a lot — the skills to communicate with his fans, his seniors’ wisdom and ability, Koga’s determination, Souma’s grace, a formalized dream — and he was more than aware of it, but from Koga’s words, it dawned on him that nothing would be gained from sitting around and waiting.
Days later, before their Resurrection Sunday concert, one of UNDEAD’s first activities outside of school-held lives, he also realized Koga had much of his own worries, that Koga was perhaps more like him than he previously thought.
While Rei and Kaoru were off preparing for the Easter ritual, he and Koga had lingered backstage, the shadows creeping up on them, reminding them of what they had sworn to become as idols. The Aoi twins were already performing, priming the audience for the night with their acrobatic filled act.
Koga had been pacing, running through choreography over and over when he paused, nervousness written all over him. In spite of what they had exchanged earlier (the promise to grow big and strong like how Rei had appeared to the two of them), Koga was only human; and this fact too, was comforting to Adonis, whose stomach was churning like it had never had before.
When he had risen from his chair, double-checking that his boots were all tied up and his uniform was in order like Kaoru had taught him, he simply said his friend’s name, strong and clear, “Oogami.”
Frozen, movements stiff, Koga had tilted his head to the side. Adonis remembers smiling at that, and when he spoke, knowing that since Koga took the first step, it was alright for him to take the second, that they could keep relying on each other like this until they reached their destination, he was surprised at the undeniable resolve in himself.
“We’re more than capable of this.”
Letting out a weird mix of a scoff and laugh, Koga nodded. “Damn straight,” he had replied, jaw suddenly set, walking ahead to standby for their entrance, “we’ll make ‘em all drop dead with our wild performance. They won’t know what hit ‘em.”
Koga’s back had seemed quite larger than it was when they were first years.
That summer, he comes to understand the sides of Koga that are perhaps not as obvious, not as bold: his kindness veiled behind outwards aggression, a unique worry that he holds for everyone, friend or foe, and the lengths he will go to ensure the safety of his friends.
The train-ride home after Ra*bits and UNDEAD’s joint training camp had been vacant, given the time of day — the setting sun signaling the last ride before the train service would close.
Even he, who spent long hours in the heat running to build his endurance, was utterly exhausted; Mitsuru’s boundless energy compensating for his laidback nature when he had begun to tire towards the end of the camp.
Rei and Kaoru had gotten off at an earlier stop, claiming that there was some business to sort out at Yumenosaki (though Adonis, for all that people assume he isn’t that observant, thought otherwise when he spotted Rei and Kaoru interlocking their little fingers, Kaoru’s cheeks coloring a faint pink while his senior tried to appear nonchalant).
Koga had spoken a couple moments before Adonis’ own stop, voice gruff from a period of overuse (barking orders at Tomoya as the poor boy struggled to keep up). “Are you going to be able to get to your house alright? I don’t mind walkin’ you home.”
“Don’t worry Oogami,” Adonis had said, not wanting to be a bother, “I appreciate the offer. But I will be fine.”
Here, Koga had paused, a small frown on his face, thick eyebrows knitted together — though not in his usual scowl of anger. It was softer, and also the first time Adonis had seen him sport an expression like that. Surprisingly, Adonis had thought that it fit him, not looking out of place at all.
“It’s dark. And the area around the train station isn’t the safest at night. Text me when you get home, okay?”
When Adonis had gone slack momentarily at those words, Koga’s eyes crinkled up into slight crescents just like they still do whenever Adonis compliments his singing or dancing, and he had laughed. “If textin’ is too hard, then you can give me a call instead.”
The sun casted down on Koga through the windows, in those few minutes before Adonis left: his gray hair set ablaze, the light catching on his earring like it did during their lives, blinding for a brief second, and the next basking him in warm and subdued hues of orange.
Compared to the creeping heat and quiet days of summer, Autumn was a blur, Kaoru finally participating more actively in UNDEAD’s activities. Adonis had spent that period by Koga’s side constantly, almost attached at the hip — a continuous stream of activities to prepare for: from the Halloween Party and Blood Banquet, to Rock Fes, to Yumenosaki’s famous Star Fes, there was rarely a break for him and Koga to catch their breath.
Somehow, with their practice sessions extending later and later into the night, and Adonis occasionally crashing at Koga’s apartment overnight, Adonis even learned the subtlest things about his friend’s daily routine. How he memorized covers on his guitar to wind down at night, Leon wagging his tail happily at the music, that he kept a small garden on his balcony, fresh tomatoes and garlic merely a pluck away, his fascination with old British rock bands that Kaoru loved to make fun of him for, the ease in which he interacted with animals, small or large, timid or excitable. Before Adonis knew it, Koga’s presence in his life had become a given, something fixed, like he could not go without making his way to the light music club room once he finished his classes, already knowing that Rei had some new upcoming event planned for the two of them to sink their claws into.
And then there was winter and graduation: where it almost all seemed to come crashing down on them, like the electrified dream Adonis found himself in rushing to an end with their seniors leaving them to take up their mantle.
And yet, though one dream ended, another started: a new chapter for the both of them, an era in which they would stand on their own, like they had envisioned for themselves back when UNDEAD was initially formed.
When he had flown back from his birth country earlier than expected to join UNDEAD in activities, his sisters and mother staying back an extra week, Koga was waiting for him at the airport, Leon by his feet. He had simply spread his arms: a mask covering half his face, mild dark circles underneath his eyes, sporting an old washed out hoodie. Adonis’ heart had soared at the sight, undeniably reaching a higher height than the plane he had previously been in.
There was nothing else for him to do but go running in, tumbling into those arms like it was where he was meant to be.
Koga had squeezed him back just as hard, burying his head into the crook of Adonis’ neck, and thinking back, perhaps it wasn’t the smartest of them to hug in the middle of a crowded airport where any fans could notice and take pictures, but at the moment, Adonis’ sense as an idol that he had built up over a year vanished into thin air.
“Welcome home,” Koga had said, gently, muffled by the cloth of Adonis’ jacket, and he had grasped tighter onto his partner, smiling wide.
Maybe it was a slip of the tongue, because Koga had blushed bright red after, never one to be able to hide his embarrassment, but it stuck with Adonis; and when he moved into the Ensemble Square dorms later that week, his close friends and unit members merely down the hall or one floor away, he thought about that again.
He was home, after all. Sitting on his new bed, his phone ringing next to him with messages from Koga about heading to the gym later, he had thought he was extremely grateful to find multiple places he belongs, and that if he could, he wanted to share that feeling of acceptance with his fans as an idol.
There was more of the same, after that: running with Souma in the mornings, staying up late with Koga while they poured their sweat and tears into their future, meeting with fans and improving his interview skills and studying whatever interested him. Things had changed, too, with the increasing looming absence of his seniors, only meeting them once or twice a week, and he could tell it irritated Koga as well, that it made him feel that they had not grown at all from their weak first year selves.
But that was the farthest thing from the truth. And he saw it in the concerts they held together at school, in the starstruck expressions of their underclassmen in the audience, the ones who flushed and stuttered when they ran into Koga while he and Adonis were on their way to the school store to get snacks.
Now, after many springs together, Adonis realizes he was right back when they met: Koga is a very interesting person. He’s so glad to have him in his life.
He hopes Koga understands this, especially at the present, on this day, with the Rhythm Link office currently decked out in ribbons and posters dedicated completely to him.
Their friends and seniors are all crowded in the room — off in the corner, Rei and Keito are locked in a heated debate over which season of Vampire Shogun is the best, while Nazuna and Kuro spectate in mild amusement. Kaoru lets out small gasps and apologies as he hides behind a troubled Souma from a confused Anzu, and the Ra*bits second years are busy cooing over Leon, who is positively basking in the attention, rolled over onto his back for belly rubs.
Adonis sits beside Koga, on a table filled with the idol’s favorite foods that he helped grill himself. He nervously cards his fingers through Koga’s free hand underneath the table, taking a chance. Koga’s cheeks turn pink, but he does not protest, and Adonis reads it as a positive sign. He asks, quietly, “Oogami, are you happy?”
Koga turns to him, blush disappearing, grinning so bright that Adonis thinks he could rival the sun itself. His fangs stick out in glee, and he replies, “That’s a stupid question. Of course I am. You’re all here celebratin’ with me!”
Adonis beams back. “That’s good.”
And it is. It really is.
There is countless more he has to learn about Koga — his friend, his partner, (and, he wonders, still unsure, maybe his love, too) — but, as Koga leans against his side, cackling at Souma finally getting fed up at Kaoru’s antics, unsheathing his sword while their senior falls onto the floor, Adonis knows he has ample time to do so.