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Shouto wanted to get out. Despite his whining, his girlfriend had dragged him to the crowded mall downtown to get a birthday gift for her best friend. Who Shouto did not even know. They had been running around for about two hours, trying to find the perfect present, entering so many stores just to walk back out a minute later. When she noticed Shouto lagging behind, Momo proposed they take a break and head for the food court. He could barely contain a sigh of relief when they finally sat down with their food.
“Hey Shouto, isn’t that your brother?”
She pointed somewhere over his shoulder and he did not even bother turning around to confirm.
“Nah. Natsuo won’t be home until—”
“Not Natsuo! Touya. And it looks like he’s with someone.”
Shouto put down his fork and sighed, turning around to humor Momo. It turned out she was right; his oldest brother, who he hadn't seen in months, was there in all of his provocative glory, excessively tattooed body and ripped clothes. And he was not alone. He was with a guy with bright red wings and they seemed to intensely stare at each other while talking. Touya even smiled and laughed. He seemed… happy? What the hell?
“We should go say hi!”
“No. I don’t know that guy he’s with.”
As those words left Shouto’s lips, his brother and his friend stood up, apparently preparing to leave. The guy approached Touya gently and kissed him on the cheek, an arm wrapped around his back.
Feeling like he and Momo had somehow intruded on a very public display of affection, Shouto turned back around and looked at his girlfriend, shocked.
“They…”
“They seem to be on good terms…”, said Momo, face flushed. “You think we’ll see them together this weekend?”
He knew what she was implying. Their monthly family dinner should be interesting for once.
—
“You mean they don’t know?”
Touya shook his head, arms crossed and resting on the table, the constant buzzing of the food court burying his and Keigo’s conversation.
“Nope. I got out when I was seventeen, I never brought a guy home and it never came up.”
Keigo rolled his eyes, incredulous. He felt used.
“So you’re gonna use me to come out to your family tomorrow night? What if it goes wrong?”
“Then we’ll just leave and I’ll stop talking to them again.”
Touya slurped his iced tea loudly, uncaring, as if cutting contact with his family once more was no big deal.
“You told me we would stay the night. I’m not driving all the way back if things turn to shit, Touya.”
“Fine, I will drive! Fuck. My dad might flip but the others won’t open their mouths, I promise.”
“Your dad flipping scares the hell out of me, to be honest…”
Touya almost scoffed, but he noticed Keigo seemed genuinely worried. He hated seeing that expression on his boyfriend’s face, he hated seeing apprehension twist his soft features.
“Don’t worry. My dad might be scary, but he’s got a small dick. He knows better than to piss me off now.”
Keigo smiled softly, almost convinced.
“Because you are so scary, Touya.”
“Ha. You should’ve seen us the time he busted me with weed. We almost burned the house down.”
“Yeah, but this time you’ll be busted with a handsome boyfriend. Think it’ll be different?”
Touya reached out to take Keigo’s hand in his and stroked it lovingly with his thumb, trying his best to be comforting.
“Again, don’t worry, angel. We’ll get the fuck out if things turn to shit. I’ve done it before, I don’t mind doing it again.”
Keigo squeezed his hand, willing to trust Touya but still a bit unsure. Touya squeezed his hand back, reassuring.
“Alright, let’s go. There’s still one more store I want to check out.”
They both stood up, Keigo reaching around to wrap an arm around Touya’s waist and taking the opportunity to kiss his cheek. Holding hands, they walked off.
—
As Touya and him stood there in front of the massive door of the Todoroki estate, almost swallowed by the dark of night, Keigo clenched his jaw in apprehension, nervousness boiling inside of him.
“Relax, it’ll be fine,” Touya said as he pressed the doorbell.
His words did nothing to calm Keigo down.
There was some shuffling on the other side of the door and he straightened up. Here we go.
The door opened and a kind looking girl wearing glasses stood there, a welcoming smile plastered on her face. She threw her arms up and hugged Touya tightly, as if she hadn’t seen him in decades.
He tapped her shoulder, struggling to breathe.
“O-Okay sis, that’s enough. It’s only been a few months.”
“It’s been forever you mean,” she said before eyeing Keigo, still smiling. “And who’s your friend?”
Touya looked at Keigo as well and he seemed to hesitate.
“That’s my… friend, Keigo. Please don’t freak him out too much.”
“I won’t. I can’t promise it’ll be the same for Natsuo. I’m Fuyumi, by the way!”, as she said that, Touya took a sharp breath.
“So Natsu’s here.”
“Yeah, and for once you’re here too!”, she pushed him weakly with a finger. “His girlfriend couldn’t make it, though.”
Touya rolled his eyes and grinned, faking disappointment.
“What a tragedy.”
“I know you don’t like her, but please don’t bring her up. They’re having… problems. Oh, and Shouto is also here with his girlfriend.”
“Hmm. Oh yeah, here.”
Touya elbowed Keigo, who immediately started looking around in his bag for the gift he brought. He took out a somewhat expensive bottle of wine and handed it to Fuyumi. As she was about to thank him, heavy footsteps could be heard from behind her.
“What is taking so long, Fuyumi?”
A giant loomed behind the comparatively minuscule girl, imposing voice reverberating inside. Touya’s father?
Keigo had never been so intimidated. Whatever Touya had said, there was no way this man was not packing a behemoth in those pants. He forced a smile, holding out his hand.
“I’m Keigo Takami, Touya’s friend. Nice to meet you.”
The man shook his hand with strength, as if to establish dominance, to show him his place.
“Enji Todoroki,” he said as he let go of Keigo’s hand. He eyed his son seemingly with disdain and crossed his arms, sniffing the air not so subtly. “Touya.”
“Hey, Dad.”
Enji exhaled loudly before stepping back to let them in, as if they’d passed some sort of test.
“Your mother is still preparing dinner. Let us sit with the others while we wait.”
They took off their boots and coats and followed the patriarch further inside the lavish mansion.
—
As they entered the dining room, someone shouted and slammed their hands on the table, almost tipping their glass over.
“Touya! You-You’re here!”
There was no way that guy was not drunk as hell, not with that goofy smile and uncoordinated gestures.
“Hey Natsu. Guess Mariko couldn’t make it, hm?”
The younger brother glared at him, lips thinning into a fine line.
“Nope. She… had an exam to prepare.”
“Mhm, sure. Hey, Shouto’s here. And Momo.”
The other two persons sitting remained silent, the girl shyly smiling at them with a small wave of her hand and the boy nodded once, as if mute. Keigo introduced himself as Touya’s friend yet again and they sat down next to each other on one side of the table.
Not a minute later, a woman joined them and she went ahead to hug Touya before sitting down next to Enji, delicate like a flower. She introduced herself as Rei Todoroki, Enji’s wife and the kids’ mother.
As Fuyumi was going around the table to refill everyone’s drink and to offer Keigo something, he shook his head.
“No thanks, I don’t drink.” He felt Enji’s eyes boring holes in him, suspicious. “Because of my father.”
Enji hummed loudly, arms crossed over his wide chest.
“Do you use any substances? Touya doesn’t need to go back to that place.”
Keigo was taken aback by the question and his boyfriend covered his own face with tattooed hands, visibly upset.
“Hearing you, you’d believe I smoked crack. Get over it, Dad.”
Enji ignored him and Rei went ahead, choosing to change the subject.
“So what do you do for a living, Keigo?”
“Oh, I work at a pastry shop near Touya’s tattoo parlor. We used to see each other on our way to work. Kinda.”
A voice Keigo hadn’t heard yet cut in.
“That would be the only place to hire him.”
“Shouto, please…”, Fuyumi pleaded.
On the other side of the table, Natsuo seemed deep in thought, his chin cupped in his palm. He looked like he was about to say something incredibly stupid.
“Why bring him here though, Touya? No one else brings friends. Ouch!”
Rei had slapped his hand out of the way so his chin couldn’t rest on it anymore. Natsuo looked at her, offended.
Keigo turned his head to look at Touya. He was apprehensive but he’d follow his lead. Touya’s hand crept over Keigo’s, taking it in his.
“That’s because he’s my boyfriend, Natsu. We’ve been going out for five months now.”
The whole family was silent save for the loud hum coming from Natsuo. He looked like he was about to birth something stupid again, the cogs turning in his brain.
“But you’re not into guys. Is he secretly a girl?”
That made Keigo’s face turn bright red, but it was nothing compared to what came next.
“I’m bisexual, bro.”
What? That was news to him. Keigo turned his head to stare at his boyfriend, puzzled. Had Touya just come out to his whole family and his boyfriend at the same time?
“So you’ve sucked his dick?”
As Shouto said that, Momo stood up and excused herself, no doubt wanting to escape the uncomfortable situation. Touya crossed his arms, a telling grin stretching his lips.
“And he’s sucked mine.”
Shouto arched his eyebrows and nodded, surprised but somewhat impressed by his brother’s honesty.
“Based.”
Keigo wanted to disappear, and so did the other members of the family. Enji looked eerily calm, and that was worrying. He sighed before commenting.
“As long as you two are being careful.”
The true bomb came from Rei, who started talking softly.
“You know, honey… I’m not saying this is a phase, but when I was a teenager, I did gymnastics and… There was this girl, and I admired her. I think I might have had a crush on her. It never happened again, it passed. It was only a one time thing. Maybe you need more time to figure yourself out?”
Touya sighed loudly, visibly very annoyed.
“I’m twenty four, Mom, I’ve had enough time to figure out what makes my dick hard, thanks.”
No one had anything to say to that. Rei smiled uncomfortably before excusing herself and going back to the kitchen.
The dinner itself was uneventful. They made small talk, Natsuo trying to explain his latest lab in medical school coherently but failing, Fuyumi telling anecdotes about her students. Shouto did not say much on his own, he mostly just answered questions about how school was going. Touya told them about the time he had to turn away a drunk guy who wanted to have his topless girlfriend tattooed on his back. Keigo already knew that story, but only he seemed to find it amusing.
Afterwards, while Fuyumi and Rei busied themselves by doing the dishes (Keigo had offered to help but they had turned him down), Touya went outside to smoke. Keigo almost followed his boyfriend to keep him company but Enji invited him to the living room.
Keigo anxiously followed him. Enji sat down in an imposing chair and motioned for the guest to take a seat. Natsuo was lying on the couch in a drunken food coma, snoring loudly.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Enji cleared his throat.
“So you guys have been dating for five months?”
Keigo straightened up in his seat. They were going to have that kind of talk, weren’t they?
“Yes. We met in front of the shop I work at. His coworker Himiko is a regular customer.”
Enji took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
“Listen. Touya is… troubled. He has been difficult since he was a child. He has a hard time understanding that not everything is either black or white. His mood fluctuates a lot and he gets angry easily. He seems carefree but he has always sought external validation. Especially seeking my approval. He likes being provocative. Are you sure this is something you want to get into? You seem like a good kid and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt. I love my son and I want him to be happy, but I don’t want him to drag someone else down with him if something happens. I never knew about the whole bisexual thing and to be honest, I’m surprised.”
Keigo started playing with the hem of his shirt anxiously. He had to be as truthful as possible.
“I will also be honest, sir. I had no idea about him being bisexual before tonight. I just always assumed he was also gay and the subject never came up. I don’t believe he hid it from me, though. If he did, then he must’ve had a good reason. But… ever since we met, Touya has never been anything but kind to me. Sure, he gets moody sometimes, and sometimes he needs his space, but he never did anything out of malice. I’ve also noticed he tends to need reassurance, even if he seems so confident in the way he presents himself. I don’t want to project myself too far ahead, but from how things have been between us so far, I can say that I’m not scared. I think Touya is worth pursuing.”
Enji’s posture relaxed and the hint of a smile crept on his lips.
“I knew you were a good kid. Please don’t mind my wife. She’ll come around.”
The sound of the front door opening interrupted their heartfelt conversation. The acrid smell of cigarettes followed Touya to the living room and as soon as he entered, he kicked Natsuo in the shin. The youngest was startled awake and almost fell off the couch.
“Why don’t you go sleep this off in your own bed?”
Natsuo whined loudly in protest and turned his back to his brother. Touya then rolled his eyes and beckoned to his boyfriend with a smirk.
“Come on, dove. Time to go to bed. G’night, Dad.”
—
Touya’s room screamed teenage angst. The walls were covered in many posters, most of which depicted half naked men covered in blood or obscene imagery. Keigo recognized many of Touya’s favorite bands. While he eyed the walls, some scratches caught his attention. He brushed his fingers along them while reading out loud.
“Rot and assimilate… So hot to annihilate? Christ that’s edgy.”
“I was an angry sixteen years old. It’s still one of my favorite songs, though.”
Touya kicked the futon on the floor, no doubt prepared by his mother for Keigo.
“I guess this is for you.”
Keigo mockingly punched him on the shoulder, chuckling. He took a step forward and grabbed his boyfriend’s ass playfully.
“They thought we were friends, cut them some slack. There’s no way I’m not sleeping in your bed.”
“We’ll have to scooch.”
“I don’t mind.”
Touya planted a quick kiss on Keigo’s lips and started to take off his clothes. When he realized the blond was just standing there, he got annoyed.
“C’mon, strip. I wanna sleep.”
“But what if someone comes in? I should wear my sweatpants at least-”
“They know we’re dating, no one’s gonna just waltz in here, trust me. Maybe Shouto if he wants to be a little shit.”
Keigo reluctantly slid down his pants and unbuttoned his shirt. As soon as he was done, Touya grasped his wrist and pulled him down on the bed with him. His arms snaked around his waist and he hugged him tightly.
“Thank you for coming tonight, birdie. I’m sorry I kinda came out to you at the same time. I just thought that me being bi isn’t relevant to our relationship.”
“It isn’t. It doesn’t change anything, Touya.”
They kissed again, but deeper and longer. It was tender and warm and it made Keigo’s heart flutter as if it were their first. Touya broke the kiss and patted the pillow next to him.
“Time to sleep now. I don’t wanna stay too long tomorrow morning.”
—
“Hey Touy-”
It didn’t even cross Shouto’s mind to knock on the door before turning the knob. He instantly forgot what he was about to ask his brother when he registered the sight before him. Caressed by the rays of sunlight filtering through the window, Touya and Keigo were still sound asleep despite it being 10AM now. Shouto never thought he’d see his brother be the little spoon. It was probably so Keigo’s wings didn’t get in the way and it was adorable. They were cramped on Touya’s double bed, but they looked so peaceful. Seeing Touya happy made Shouto feel some kind of way. Like his brother is maybe finally with someone who will be there for him.
He decided to carefully close the door and leave the lovebirds in their own little nest. Somehow, he knew this was far from the last time he’d see Keigo around.