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“they’re shit talking dice.”
it’s a simple observation, delivered in ramuda’s deepened voice; none of the sugary sweetness he shows off to the world. faintly, you register that you are the only one, save maybe dice himself, who’s seen ramuda like this-you file the information away for another time. right now, you have to focus.
“i had no idea your ears were so refined.” you reply lightly, daring him to keep up the banter. he smiles at you, blinding even in the starless night.
“there’s a lot of things gen-chan doesn’t know about ramuda.” is all he says, staring through you with his diamond eyes. “c’mon, let’s crash this party.”
you’re at izanami’s host club, petty and defensive and a little drunk. normally you’re the voice of reason for fling posse, but something in you had stirred when you’d heard the way kannonzaka spoke to dice; and you suspect ramuda felt the same. it’s not love, it might not even be friendship-it’s instinct.
ramuda throws open the door with a flourish, ditching his jacket and for the first time that night you realize what he’s wearing; a flashy, pale pink dress that falls slightly below his knees and a charm-identical to the one he wears with the ribbon, the one bearing the fling posse emblem-attached to the collar. you hadn’t thought to dress up, but ramuda is gorgeous-it’s easy to forget why you’re both here.
“jakurai jinguuji!” ramuda calls, voice high-pitched but somehow still commanding and has heads turning. jakurai himself is seated at a table, looking like some kind of fucking deity-you don’t personally have beef with him, but you can see why ramuda does. he carries himself like a god, and ramuda is anything but. maybe that’s why you’re so drawn to him.
you smirk at the onlooking izanami, grinning wider when his perfect facade falters and his eyes widen in panic. perfect.
“izanami hifumi.” you announce, faux-cordially.
“we weren’t expecting special guests…but please welcome, shibuya’s fling pos-“
adorable. he’s playing it off, trying to be the good guy here. he lost that right during the battle and he knows it.
luckily, before he finishes the sentence, ramuda jumps in. “oh, we won’t be staying! we’ve only dropped in to announce that shinjuku’s beloved wolves are three spiteful sons of bitches. ” he chirps, voice dropping at the end.
“where’s doppo-chin ?” you spit, impersonating izanami without the stupid suit jacket. “i’d like to have a word with him.”
“doppo is taking a moment to himself, yumeno. he doesn’t do well with parties.” jakurai chimes in, voice smooth and commanding and you want to, for lack of a better phrasing, rip his voice box out, and from the look of it ramuda actually might.
“unsurprised. you all win with your playground insults and childish words, and the spineless one goes into hiding.” you chuckle, aiming right where it hurts. izanami’s eye twitches, and jakurai bites his lip-score.
“this is not the time or place for this.” the doctor says evenly, but ramuda isn’t deterred-there’s a fire in his eyes that’s alluring, and you love it-not him, never him, but you love what he’s doing, love his passion. briefly, you wonder what else that translates to. instead of letting him go off, however, you decide that for tonight, you’re going to lay your cards on the table.
“oh, but sensei. it’s truly admirable how animalistic you and matenrou are, how you all think you’re the gods of japan just because you can take us down. i absolutely adore your attitude about how i dress, izanami, and how you look down on both dice and i. but of course, that’s a lie.”
technically, you could stop there, but ramuda has a glint in his eye that you think you could stare at for the rest of your life, and it spurs you on. he licks his lips, and you’re gone.
“you look down at kannonzaka, i bet, when he’s using that pretty mouth of his for something other than defending your idiotic actions, eh? don’t act so surprised that i know, you’re both obvious. but tell me, hifumi, does he love you? why, when we met the other night, all he did was apologize for your idiocy. do you truly think you deserve him? when you’re with him in the dead of night, who is he imagining? are you sure it’s your name he’s calling out?”
everyone is silent now-kannonzaka’s stumbled back into the building, and his eyes are wide. izanami is breathing heavily and you think he might be crying-you should feel bad, but you don’t. ramuda is beaming at you, and you bask in the glow of his flames. whether that’s the reason your face is flushed and warm or it’s the drinks…you don’t know.
“yumeno. that’s enough. i expected this from amemura, perhaps, but you seemed at least a bit reasonable.” jakurai scolds, condescending and with an air of superiority-you decide then and there you hate his guts, if you didn’t already.
“we’re leaving,” ramuda declares, circling small fingers around your wrist, the contact sending shivers up your spine. “i’d tell you to go to hell, jakurai, but you’ve made shinjuku your own personal one.”
with that, you’re practically running out of the host club, adrenaline pumping through your veins. ramuda is a force to be reckoned with, a storm that’s swept you up and you’re positive that you love every second of it.
“so…you’re totally drunk.” ramuda giggles, as if he isn’t wasted himself. “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you so honest.”
“you’re drunk too.” you shoot back mildly. “we’re going to regret this in the morning once the adrenaline wears off, aren’t we?”
“almost sounds like you’re talking about something else.” he grins devilishly, and you’re overcome with the sudden urge to kiss him. but you’ve got some restraint, so you keep your eyes on the sidewalk and trudge onward. of course, that won’t keep you from being your difficult self.
“i can be,” is what you reply, and then, “in fact, maybe i am. me and dice have, of course, so why not?”
he turns on you, something simmering behind his eyes and you briefly panic that he’s hit terminal levels of pissed off. instead, he grins again, and declares “but that’s a lie, right? right? dice-chan loves gentaro, but he doesn’t love him back!”
“ah, but what if i wasn’t lying?” you are, of course, but ramuda doesn’t need to know that. you file dice might love you into the part of your mind that contains all the emotions you don’t need to unpack, at least not right now.
“if you weren’t, then…isn’t it only fair that i get a turn~?” he hums, lacing his fingers with yours and turning a hooded gaze on you.
that’s exactly why you find yourself in a shinjuku alleyway, at around midnight, his legs wrapped around your waist and the taste of sugar in your mouth. ramuda is a sensory overload, you realize, but in the best way possible.
when you both finally come up for air, he stares down at you, cheeks flushed slightly and pink hair stuck to his forehead. “you gotta promise me you don’t love me, ‘kay, gen-chan?”
“of course.” you reply quickly, even though it’s a lie. you’re just desperate for more contact, since you know neither of you will acknowledge it after tonight. ramuda hums, satisfied, capturing your lips again rapidly.
you aren’t sure how much time passes like this, wrapped in each other, intertwined, before he taps your shoulder, pulling back. you let him slide off the wall you’ve got him shoved up against, and he dusts off the now-ruffled dress with a heavy sigh. he says something, and you almost don’t hear it- “maybe another life.”
“beg your pardon?” you ask, smoothing out your own clothes and falling into step with ramuda. he turns to you, repeating himself-“maybe in another life, we can love each other…but nah. you’re a good person, dice is a good person…i’m not. if what you told me back there is true, i’m happy for you two. you deserve each other.”
it’s a stunning moment of honesty from him, and you almost feel bad for lying about being with dice, but that’s something to regret in the morning. for now…”you said ‘can,’ not ‘could.’ do you believe in reincarnation?”
“not before i met you.” ramuda replies, and oh, that hurts. “when you started talking about how you and dice-chan were lovers in a past life, it made me think a little!” his voice is back to its usual pitch, and you already miss his natural tone.
“i was lying about that, you know.” you tell him breezily. ramuda shrugs.
“either way. i like to think…maybe there was a life where he…” the other man trails off, and you don’t pry. reincarnation is a fun concept to toy with in your mind.
“hey, gen-chan. i got somewhere to bounce off to…but thanks, for doing this with me.” ramuda says. before you can even blink, he’s pressing a surprisingly sweet kiss to your hand, staring up through lidded eyes, and your heart leaps into your throat before he’s off into the night, darting off in such a blaze that he’s almost like a shooting star in the night.
once you’re home in shibuya, you find your hand scrawling lyrics, weaving a tale of three people, brought together by an eternal reincarnation, and at their center, a shining star, Stella.