Archive of Our Own

Jiro’s friends all stare at Jiro for a long long time when they all hang out to play some good old soccer. Jiro is smiling and laughing as he usually does, but there’s something… different about the way he smiles.

Everyone looks at each other like they’re crazy, but they can’t help but compare Jiro’s smiles to something life changing.

They all seem to scrutinize every movement Jiro makes throughout the day, and they can find no answers to heal them from their painful curiosity. But then they find that Jiro is wearing one extra ring to his normal set.

There’s nothing that makes the ring stand out, but it somehow does, and everyone wants to know exactly why it does.

Takahashi takes the opportunity to slide up next to Jiro and gives him an all-knowing look. “So, the ring…” Jiro looks over to him with a questioning arch to his eyebrow before he looks down at his ring and smiles again.

“Was it from Jyushi?” Takahashi asks, and Jiro nods. 

“... yeah… it was.”

That’s all Takahashi needs to hear. He figures Jiro will tell them all eventually the meaning behind his ring. 

But as long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters.

Jyushi is very invested in the recording session for Black Matrix. Takeru, Jun, and Keisuke know that Jyushi is the type to put his all into everything he does for his music… but somehow there’s even more to it.

The staff members give Jyushi a very fast okay to finish the recording and Jyushi leaves the recording booth with a beaming smile on his face. 

“Wow… it hasn’t been all that long since Jiro-tan has left, but Jyushi is still on a roll with everything!!” Takeru jumps.

“Even the staff members were shocked at the speed that Jyushi went at to record the vocal track.” Keisuke smirks.

“It just shows the profound effect Jiro has on Jyushi. They’re both trying their best in their own way… and they know that.” Jun says simply. Amanda nods in agreement as they see the red string pulsate.

Jyushi’s entire being blossoms with warmth and he looks down at his ring as it shines in the afternoon sunlight. Next to his ring, he can see the pulsating red thread and he can smile at the sight. 

“Jiro really is trying his best. He seems a bit on the embarrassed side though… perhaps he got cornered by Takahashi-kun again.” Jyushi notes. Keisuke and Takeru look at him with shock before shrugging. Jun just ends up snorting as discreetly as possible at their reaction.

“If he’s embarrassed though… shouldn’t you go and check on him?” Keisuke asks. Jyushi looks at the string for a moment before shaking his head with a smile. “No… I can wait for a little while. Maybe when all his friends leave. He’d probably feel better if I talk to him later.”

“But it’s Jiro, Jyushi. He’d be fine whenever you called him!” Amanda states, and Jun nods at the stuffed pig’s remark.

But the smile Jyushi wears is more dazzling than normal, and it makes everyone stand back. “Even so… I’ll give him some time to relax before I talk to him. The least I can do is give him some sort of reprieve before asking him what happened.”

Takeru sighs as he has little choice but to accept the answer for what it is. But then he grins and jumps up. “If that’s the case then, let’s all go out to eat! Then we can all talk to Jiro-tan after, okay?”

Jyushi laughs as Takeru animatedly pulls his hand and takes him down the street. “Take-chan! If you wanted to say hi to Jiro, you could have said so sooner!”

Keisuke and Jun look at each other with grins of their own before chasing after the other two. “Oi, Take-chan! Don’t go stealing Jyushi’s boyfriend!”

“We all care for Jiro too, Take-chan. Stop trying to steal all the attention.”

The band animatedly converses about Jiro before deciding on having some special set meals nearby.

Buster Bros!!! and Bad Ass Temple managed to set up a new tradition in the time that they’re apart. The Yamadas invited the group to their weekly game night ritual, and Kuko easily accepted the offer. It took a lot of maneuvering, but somehow they managed to play video games and board games, thanks to Saburo’s quick thinking. This week, it was Kuko’s choice to play a game, and he demanded everyone should play Dark Deception, despite being a single player type of game. They all decided to have a voice chat going, while one member from each group takes turns playing the game. 

Everyone was logged in to the voice chat, and everyone was just about ready to play…

Except Jyushi.

“What do I do, Jiro? Kuko-san is a little on the scary side when it comes to games…”

Jiro rubs his finger over his ring with a gentle smile, and he can hear Jyushi’s subtle gasp. So he thinks that his feelings came across fine. “Don’t worry, Jyushi. If it comes to it, just listen to my voice. Don’t worry about any of the other stuff.”

After a long moment, Jyushi makes a hum of agreement. “Okay! I-I’ll try!”

Jiro smiles wider at that statement. “That’s my Jyushi.”

“Oi! Lovebirds! Shut up and let's get started already!!” Kuko yells and Ichiro laughs at that. “Go easy on them, Kuko. It's not like they’ve seen each other for awhile.”

Kuko grumbles. “Yeah, and what does that mean for us?”

Ichiro’s face goes completely red for a moment and he scratches the back of his head with an embarrassed laugh. Saburo can only slap his hand over his eyes and sigh.

Jiro doesn’t make mention of the smile on his face.

Hitoya can only sigh, mumbling something about kids from his headset. It’s almost implied that he has alcohol next to him, but it was technically Kuko’s fault for barging in on his office and tearing him away from his highly anticipated drinking time. 

The monitors were ready, and while the players weren’t so ready, they knew they had to start playing the game. Over the voice chat they play an audio type of Rock Paper Scissors to decide the playing order. Unfortunately for Jyushi… he was first.

“Uuuu… I already don’t like this…” Jiro hears him say. And soon enough… he can see it as well. Saburo did some Saburo thing and managed to share Jyushi’s screen. The entrance to the level was… kind of interesting to say the least. Jiro recognized the area to reflect that of a hotel. But the monkey attendant cutout suddenly falls and Jyushi’s jumping out of his seat. 

“Uwaaah!!” Jiro keeps constant contact with Jyushi, grasping his hand which is adorned with a new ring. “You’re okay, Jyushi. It’s probably one of the things that’s supposed to scare you.”

“W-well… it worked!” Jyushi sobs as he slowly approaches the lobby. In the distance a monkey can be seen jumping around before the elevator doors close in front of him.

At this Kuko laughs and by the way Jyushi grunts in pain, his hard-hitting slaps are as present as ever. “Hyahahaha! This ain’t even the beginning of the level, Jyushi! Ya can’t back down now!”

With another sob, Jyushi inches forwards towards the elevator. As he enters and goes up, Saburo sighs. “It shouldn’t be too difficult, Jyushi. It’s a fragment collection game from what I understand. Collect all the fragments before the chaser catches you, and you’ll win the level.”

Ichiro nods. “You’re gonna want to pay attention to sounds as well. Games like these have audio cues, so then you’ll know whenever they’re coming.”

Jyushi sobs again and inches forwards towards the statue. The statue is there as an indicator that there are shard fragments that need to be collected. On the bottom of the screen, there are a large number of purple points. “Those should be the shards, Jyushi. Although you’re probably gonna want to pay attention to your surroundings, rather than the map.” Jiro looks at the display. 

“O...Okay. So should I go forward?” Jyushi approaches the place in front of him, which is covered by boards. 

“I think you don’t have any other choice, Jyushi. Breaking the boards just might be the condition to start the level.” Hitoya replies. Jiro pours his faith into Jyushi through their connection, and little does he know, but it’s like a cold shower of relief for Jyushi to feel his presence. Taking a deep breath, Jyushi breaks the boards and runs forward. His approach is quick and somewhat frantic, but that was expected for Jyushi. He starts to gain a little more confidence by the time he collects 20 shard fragments, but that’s when the screams start coming out.

Jiro hears the chilling sound of blades or scissors nearby and Jyushi is screaming while running away. “Waaaah! The- the monkey is gonna kill meeeee!!!” 

In his frantic attempt to run away, Jyushi ends up running down a portion of the labyrinth he already did clear out, and finds a strange looking orb. Without knowing what it was, he runs into it.

There’s something on the screen that indicates the enemies have been stunned and Jyushi is screaming out of joy. “A-Alright! Just stay where you are, Monkey-san!!”

For a short moment of time, Jyushi was at peace. But then it all went wrong about another half minute later. The monkey catches Jyushi from behind and he’s sobbing at the sight of bloodied monkeys invading the scream.

The sobs are very obvious. Kuko laughs at Jyushi’s sorrow.  “That was nothin’ Jyushi!”

“But-But!!” Jyushi continues sobbing and moves away from the computer setup by the way things move in the audio chat. 

Jiro feels heaviness in his heart. It is something he had expected to feel, because he’s able to feel a portion of Jyushi’s emotions to an extent. This might have been a result of their problem when they were in Nagoya, but Jiro has learned to be appreciative of their newfound connection. And at times like these… he knows he’s gonna need to calm Jyushi down, before Kuko does something to give his boyfriend a heart attack. 

… and while Jiro knows that’s just Kuko’s personal way of getting Jyushi to man up, Jiro would really like to see his boyfriend alive and well the next time they can meet. 

With a look at Ichiro and Saburo, Jiro takes off his headset and leaves Saburo’s room to go into his own. Lying down on his bed, he pulls out his phone. After appreciating the look of his lover looking cool during their concert (and a deep appreciation to Saburo’s stubbornness and activating cloud save for his phone) he calls Jyushi. 

Almost instantly, Jyushi picks up the call. “J-Jiro…?”

Jiro smiles softly. “Hey. I thought you’d like to hear me.”

“...yeah. A-actually I want to see you, Jiro.”

Jiro easily sits back up and props his back to the wall. They switch their call to a video chat and Jiro can see Jyushi’s trying to wipe his tears away. With a small smile, Jyushi continues to wipe his tears away, and Jiro somehow can’t help but feel awed in the way his boyfriend looks right now.

“I know you don’t like horror things like I do. But the fact you’re trying is amazing. I’m proud of you, Jyushi.”

Jyushi continues to sob a little but breaks out into a small smile. “...If I didn’t do this, Kuko-san  would have forced me to do it either way.”

“But even so… you’re doing things I’ve never thought you’d try for yourself. It’s like you’re changing before my very eyes… and I can’t help but feel proud that my freakin’ cool boyfriend who is talented in so many things is continuing to tackle all obstacles in your way.”

At this, Jyushi’s eyes soften. “... You’re changing as well, Jiro. Just can’t see it for yourself.”

“Oh yeah?” Jiro tilts his head. “If you say so… but I will tell you I haven’t done much.”

At this Jyushi chuckles, as if he was anticipating this response. “Even if you don’t think that, I do. You’ve become so strong, and you have become a beacon of hope for me, to drive forward that passion and desire to move forward. I couldn’t help but be stuck in the past for so long, and I kinda kept that with me as I moved on with life. And then you come into my life, always looking forward. And… I couldn’t help but be awed by your passion. Even now, you’re facing forward. That’s all that I can see… and I love it. I love you, Jiro. And every day, when I’m reminded of that, I can’t help but feel blessed by this relationship.”

They smile at each other for a long moment before Kuko’s yell makes them both jump. “FUCKIN’ SHIT! WHAT WAS THAT FOR SHITTY MONKEY!!!”

From across the way, Jiro can hear Ichiro desperately trying to calm Kuko down, and Jiro doesn’t think it’s very successful right now. Jiro looks back at Jyushi, and the only thing they can do is laugh at the outrageousness of their game night.

“Are you feeling a little better?” Jiro asks. Jyushi nods. “I’m calmer now that I’ve seen Jiro.”

“Well… we’re always connected, right? So I’ll come running if you ever need me.” To make this point known, Jiro shows off their engagement ring, which is being treated as more of a couple’s ring rather than an engagement ring. It was a decision that they agreed upon, knowing that marriage is in their future, but they are in no rush to place such a label on their relationship. They’re still taking things slow, and it gives them the chance to fully embrace their relationship as truly theirs. 

But for Jiro and Jyushi themselves? They’re just happy using it as their connection between each other.

In kind, Jyushi shows his ring and smiles at Jiro with the healthiest blush on his face. “And so will I, Jiro. So will I…”

The game night continues and Saburo looks back at Jiro with a bored expression. “It’s your turn, Jiro.”

Moving his arms around, he’s pretty confident with his attempt. Not one of them has managed to pass the level, but Hitoya and Saburo were the closest ones. Jiro expected that though, because they were the most level headed ones. 

Ichiro had a pretty good streak, but Jyushi’s screaming at the sound of monkeys, in combination to Kuko’s yelling made him lose his concentration. He got sandwiched by two monkeys, and he snapped. 

“WHEN THE HELL WERE THERE TWO MONKEYS?!!!”

Saburo awkwardly laughs. “I think there’s at least two or three in this stage. There’s rooms in this labyrinth they could be hiding in as well….”

Jiro feels a warmth bloom up his hand and he smiles. “Don’t worry Jyushi. I’ll win this.”

And it sure did look like he would. He evaded the monkeys for a majority of his level, and he just needed to circle around enough to collect the shard fragments he left behind. He was the first one of them all to pick up all their shard fragments, and they receive new instructions from the character that’s guiding them.

“Return to the statue huh… now where was it… to the left?” Jiro turns left and sees a monkey heading towards him. “Oh shit!”

A second and third monkey can be heard behind him and he’s sweating it out a little bit. “How the hell am I supposed to get back to the statue if they’re chasing after me?!”

“Just lead them to the statue, Jiro! That might be the thing you have to do!” Ichiro yells and Jiro just runs on autopilot. He finds his way back to the statue and frantically clicks the statue. The elevator doors open and he’s rushing back inside the elevator. The hoards of bloodied and crazed monkeys come out of sight as the doors close. 

Jiro sighs. “Whew! That was a close one!”

The elevator doors open again and Jiro is face to face with monkeys as they fall out of the elevators… aiming right for him. Jiro accidentally walks instead of runs and then gets killed by a huge parade of bloody monkeys.

“Ah… I died.”

“JIIIIROOOO!” Jyushi sobs for his character’s death.

“I was probably almost done though… thinking about it.” Jiro leans back and grins.

Saburo kicks him out of the computer chair. “Not close enough though. The level probably isn’t over until you return to the main portal at the other side of the lobby.”

“Well, at the very least we know that much. It should be a lot easier playing this level now, knowing what will happen at the end of the collection phase.” Ichiro says in his “everything will find a way” tone which makes both Jiro and Saburo smile.

“So now that that’s done, I guess we’ll start the cycle again…” Jiro looks at the screen. 

“.... alright. So that means I go first…” Jyushi mumbles softly.

“Oi oi! Ya don’t look so scared now!” Kuko whacks Jyushi in the back again before Hitoya pushes him away.

“W-well… I have to stop fearing everything if I want to pass the level… now that I’ve seen what happens after thanks to Jiro… I can focus on that instead.”

Ichiro and Saburo look down at the way Jiro sheepishly grins. They share a look between each other that expresses their approval and happiness towards Jiro and Jyushi’s ever-growing bonds with each other. 

Jyushi works his screen and progresses through to the lobby again. He jumps when the monkey cutout falls to the floor, as expected. But he doesn’t sob and cry his eyes out as he runs through the labyrinth to collect the shard fragments. But when he thought he was home free, he ended up getting sandwiched by a couple of bloody monkeys and had to see their bloody images once again. He sobs at the sight again, but considering the fact he had managed to collect all but 10 shard fragments, it was a huge improvement compared to last time.

After Jyushi tries to wipe his tears, Ichiro takes his spot in front of the computer and gets ready to play his round. When all seems good, though… it is exactly a bad time to be listening to a group chat.

“HOLY SHIT!” Kuko yells. That is enough to make Ichiro jump out of his skin a little.

“What?! What’s going on?!!” Ichiro tries to focus on his screen, but he can’t hear the audio cues of being chased because Kuko is yelling into his ear.

“There wasn’t anything from what I could see, Ichi-nii…” Saburo states warily. 

But then Kuko’s yelling again and Ichiro really  wants to stop where he is to look around.

Unfortunately for him, because he faltered for a split second, he died by bloody monkey.

When Kuko laughs at Ichiro’s misfortune, Hitoya can only sigh disappointedly. “That seriously was stupid, Kuko.”

“Nahaha!! I just couldn't let Ichiro beat me that easily!!”

That’s when Ichiro snaps. “I was nowhere near the end of the level, Kuko!!!”

So as payback, when Kuko sits down to play his round, Ichiro throws him off by doing something similar.

“Kuko…” he starts. His tone is deep, serious… romantic, one might say. Saburo looks at Jiro, and they share similar shit-eating grins. 

Because they know this tone, from when they sang Ohayou Ikebukuro. 

“I love you.”

And Kuko makes a strangled noise in response to the statement. Jyushi screams as he stops moving and gets killed by a bloody monkey, and apparently falls out of his own computer chair. Hitoya snorts at the sight and apparently takes photo evidence of the carnage caused by Ichiro’s statement.

Saburo’s phone buzzes and he’s falling over, laughing at the sight of Kuko apparently more or less KO’d by Ichiro’s statement. Jyushi is hovering over Kuko’s seemingly lifeless body, the only traces of life the occasional twitch of his leg or other body part. 

Ichiro is stunned that the effect of his words were that… extreme. But he quickly follows up his statement. “Seriously Kuko. I love you, so don’t die on me, okay? I want to see you alive alright?!”

Upon hearing those words, Kuko somewhat comes back to life. When he sits back up, his quiet response is sappy at best, but acceptable to all to a degree.

“Well, if you’re there waitin’ for me… I guess I got no choice than to stay alive, huh?”

Their game night continues, and Hitoya and Saburo calmly clear the level, without much of anything to say about their endeavors. 

“Well… once you see a level enough, it will be simple to recreate that gaming experience yourself.” Saburo simply shrugs. With a groan, Jiro takes his place and gets himself ready.

With a determined grin, Jiro sets out and prepares to play his level once again. Jyushi almost screams every moment a bloody monkey seems to be out to kill him, but Jiro almost taunts them, daring them to get him.

And just when Jyushi is about to brace himself for Jiro’s pending death, Jiro hits one of the few bonuses of the level, which stunned the enemies for a moment. The enemies stop chasing Jiro, and with a victorious yelp, he rushes down the remaining half of his level. 

Jiro successfully finishes collecting the shard fragments, and he hightails it to the statue. Upon hitting the statue, the elevator door opens and he rushes inside. 

“Alright. Almost done.” Jiro takes a moment to release the tension in his shoulders. 

“M-Make sure you run, alright?! I can’t fathom the thought of Jiro dying by bloody monkeys again!!” Jyushi practically sobs and Jiro smiles softly. 

“If it’s for Jyushi, there’s no way I’m gonna die.” Jiro confidently takes up his keyboard controls again and dashes out of the elevator the moment it opens. He doesn’t mind the sound of monkeys chasing after him and gets out of the lobby, rushing down the hallway and reaching out for the red portal. A large YOU ESCAPED! note is displayed on the screen and Jyushi is sobbing out of happiness over the chat. 

“Yaaaay! Jiro didn’t die…! I-I’m so glad…!”

“Oi, what are ya talkin’ about, Jyushi. You’re not done yet. Now get your ass into the chair and play your level.”

“But Kuko-san…!”

Jiro’s  gentle smile spreads on his face. 

“You saw how I managed to do it, Jyushi. You’ll be able to do it too. Just have to keep moving forward, and never feel like giving up. The moment you give up, or falter, they’ll get you. So you always have to do your best, and always look forward, instead of back.”

His hand touches the ring on his finger, the one he can’t leave behind in any sort of way. “We’ve got your back, Jyushi.”

After taking a long, collected breath, Jyushi loads the game. 

“... watch over me, Jiro.”

“As if I’d look anywhere else.”

Kuko makes a disgusted sound at their sappy statements, and Ichiro scolds him. Saburo sighs and apologizes to Hitoya for the inconvenience, and apparently the lawyer was pretty content just sitting back and enjoying some canned beers. 

“Well… everyone is happy right now. And it isn’t troublesome every once in a while if it means seeing these brats enjoy themselves.”

A warm feeling spreads across Jiro’s chest, and perhaps it is Jyushi’s reaction to Hitoya’s kind words. Regardless, Jiro only smiles. With a leap of courage, Jyushi steps into the elevator.

When Jyushi runs down the maze, he doesn’t pay attention to anything around him. Not Kuko’s attempts to throw him off, or Hitoya’s well timed whacks towards Kuko to get him to shut up. He doesn’t even tune in to Ichiro or Saburo’s voice. All he focuses in on is the sounds of monkeys chasing after him, and Jiro’s calm voice. 

Jyushi figures that Jiro is the excitable type when he plays games. However, he’s being considerate of Jyushi’s nervous state and just tries to be there for him. And it’s another reason why he loves Jiro so, so much.

When he collects all the shard fragments, he’s so far away from the statue. But he knows he needs to keep moving, so he does just that. He is pretty much in the clear until he sees a monkey turn the corner and approach him. At that point, that would have been his second or third monkey that was chasing him, but fortunately, there was a corner he could turn down. It detoured him further from the statue, but that was the game he was willing to play if it meant surviving. He keeps moving down the corridors and keeps on going “straight,” whatever that meant. He takes a left and takes the entire hallway down, and it takes him towards the statue. He manages to reach the statue and he takes the moment to just breathe. 

After calming his nerves, he dives into the elevator and yelps when the sea of bloodied monkeys try to get into the elevator with him.

“Just run, Jyushi. You’ve got this.” Jiro says calmly, and Jyushi squares his shoulders. “I’ve got this… I’ve got this!!”

Jyushi goes full blast the moment the elevator opens and he turns the corner to take him back to the beginning of the portal. The moment he sees he has cleared the level, he’s so overjoyed, he’s crying his happy tears.

“That wasn’t half bad, Jyushi!” Kuko praises him and Jyushi just picks up Amanda and hugs them tight. “I did something new, Amanda…!”

“I know, Jyushi. You were so cool doing that too! I’m so proud of you, Jyushi.” Amanda places their stuffed appendages around Jyushi’s wrists in a hug. 

Soon after, Jyushi gets kicked off the chair so then Kuko can try and finish his level. But Kuko and Ichiro keep on going back and forth with various antics to kill each other, so it takes them a few rounds just to get someone to clear the level. Jiro and Saburo had enough time to pick up ice cream from the nearby conbini, it took the two that long.

The two end up eating their ice creams and laughing at the ways Kuko dies. It was late into the night, but they didn’t say anything. Ichiro was doing this so that he could spend more time with Kuko. That much was something the younger brothers understood. They share sidelong glances with grins. 

Things were so much better now that Bad Ass Temple came into the picture. Jyushi, Kuko, and Hitoya… their friends and family in a way… gave them something new to look forward to every day. And even when summer was slowly moving away from its peak to give way to fall, the warmth in their chests said these summers weren’t going to end. Not by a long shot.

Before Jiro knew it, there was less than a week before his fall semester started. And he, of course, forgot to do any of his homework. 

Between preparing for Jyushi’s concert, the car accident, and catching up with friends, he pretty much lost half of his vacation. He practically spent a month in Nagoya, even though a portion of this stay was stuck in the hospital. And then the moment he returned to Ikebukuro, he spent more time catching up with friends and playing until the sun set. 

So of course… he forgot to do any of his homework. So he uncharacteristically is waking up early to get as much homework done as he can. And, on top of that, he doesn’t beg Saburo for his help. He tries to do it on his own, until he can’t. 

When he’s reached a mental limit, he calls Jyushi. Jyushi helps him with points he might not understand, and he pulls out his old notebooks to try to find things that Jiro needs help with. But Jyushi doesn’t have all the answers, so then Jiro has to consult the good old internet for help. 

But somehow, he manages to finish his homework. It took him a hell of an eternity, with half of the last day remaining, but he managed to finish it. When he comes out of his room, looking half dead, Saburo actually walks up to him and pats him on the back. 

“You actually did the responsible thing for once, Jiro-nii. Not bad.”

Jiro can only wearily groan in response, and then he takes a moment to gaze at the ring he shares with Jyushi. Something comes over him at the sight and he thinks that maybe he should paint his nails.

“Huh. I guess that nail polish stuff got me interested or something.” Jiro mutters and Saburo awkwardly folds his hands in front of him. “I think so too…” Saburo mutters just as awkwardly. 

Jiro stares wide-eyed at Saburo’s response and he’s blushing a bright red. 

“I-It’s only because my nails are weak, alright?!”

The two spend a long moment in silence before Jiro awkwardly asks him a question. “... do you wanna go somewhere and pick up some? Nail stuff, and whatever…”

Saburo awkwardly nods in response. 

The two pick up their belongings and get ready to head out. They go to the nearby makeup store, the one where Jiro followed Jyushi around like a lost puppy. And while the color range wasn’t very wide, the two of them were attracted to a few specific colors. 

And after seeing a multitude of clear looking polishes, Jiro gives Saburo a look. “... do you know what we’re supposed to get…?”

Saburo shrugs. “I know that they’re base coats and top coats…”

An awkward moment of silence. “... should I call Jyushi…?”

A stiff nod. “... yeah…”

So Jiro does just that. 

“Jiro? Is there something wrong?”

“Ah… maybe? Maybe not… Saburo and I just wanted to know… what stuff we need to pick up if we wanted to paint our nails… and whatever.”

Jiro instantaneously feels a large burst of emotion fill him in response, which must have been Jyushi’s overjoyed reaction of Jiro and Saburo picking up nail polish.

“Oh! Well, you’re gonna want to pick up a base coat and a top coat for one. If your entire family is willing to share the bottles, you should look for a nail strengthening formula, for Saburo-kun’s nails.”

Jiro looks down at Saburo. “Jyushi says if we’re gonna share the bottles, we have to find a nail strengthening formula.”

Saburo looks through the bottles and finds just that. 

“Besides the nail color you’re going to choose, there’s also other tools you could pick up. But as long as you have a tool to trim your nails, and a nail filer to shape your nails, that’s okay.”

“Say Saburo… do we have somethin’ like a nail filer at home?”

Saburo shakes his head. He looks up and sees the filers near the top of the nail polish display. He finds one with a fairly simple design featuring the three primary colors and Jiro shrugs in response.

“I don’t know if you guys want to invest in acetone and cotton to remove the color, but you use those to remove the nail color before applying new color onto your nails.”

“Ahhhh… we might have to remove it. School regulations or whatnot…” Jiro searches his area and finds a bottle of nail polish remover almost right next to him. 

  “If school regulations are a problem… there’s also neutral colors, or you could opt to just use a clear coat. But it’s almost a waste… you all have such wonderful nails…”

Jiro laughs at that. “Okay. So is there anything else we should look for?”

“... there shouldn’t. Just wear whatever you would like to wear. There’s a whole new world when it comes to nail art, but I don’t think it’s a world you all would venture into. I am glad that you and Saburo-kun are willing to wear nail color though.”

Jiro barks a laugh at that. “Well, don’t expect us to come out of it looking great.”

Jyushi chuckles at that. “It’s a learning process. Like with everything. You can always call me though, if you ever need help.”

“Okay. Will do.” With that Jiro looks at their mini haul of items. “Well… should we check out then?”

Saburo nods awkwardly. “It surely seems like a lot… but for the three of us… it should still last a long while, right?”

As they check out, Jyushi sends Jiro another picture. 

Don’t forget that you can paint your toenails as well!!

Jiro shows Saburo the picture of Jyushi’s black pedicure and Saburo almost snorts at that. “... okay. So it might not last as long as I thought.”

“Well… it will last as long as it lasts.” Jiro pays the total for their nail supplies and Saburo picks up the bag. 

“Should we ask Ichi-nii if he would like to join us?”

Jiro gently elbows Saburo with a grin. “After dinner. Jyushi would kill me if we did our nails and did anything without proper dry time and a thorough washing.”

Kuko lays back down on his tatami floor with a groan. “Why won’t you let us paint your nails, Hitoya?!!!”

“I already said, Kuko. Once was enough. And I’ve already indulged your request a couple months ago.” Hitoya coolly responds. 

Jyushi clenches his fists. “But even Jiro and Saburo-kun are willing to get their nails painted! Why won’t Hitoya-san allow us to paint his nails?!”

Hitoya sighs heavily. “An old guy in his thirties doesn’t really feel much joy when it comes to things like that.”

Kuko and Jyushi try to launch a joint attack on Hitoya, to possibly get him to cave. But then both of their cell phones ring, and they look at who sent them a message. 

They both get pictures of hands. But more importantly, they are manicured hands! There are three hands, featuring three specific colors. One hand is red and black. One hand is blue and black. And one is yellow and black. 

That’s when they realize. The Yamadas painted their nails.

“NnnnnnnngggggghhhHAAAAAAAHHHHHH! SEE, shitty Hitoya?! Even Ichiro them are getting in on nail polish, so just put down your damn pride and let us paint your nails already!!!!” Kuko yells. 

Jyushi leaves the conversation to phone Jiro. 

“Jiroooooo, everyone’s manicures look so gooooood!” He’s sobbing in the corner and Hitoya is half amusedly taking in the sight of Kuko acting like a child, and Jyushi sobbing like a proud mother. 

“Hitoyaaaaa!! Just let us paint your damn nails!!” Kuko continues to complain until he realizes…!

Immediately, he sits back up and phones Ichiro.

“ICHIRO!! Next time we meet, I’m doing your nails, got it!! Shitty Hitoya won’t let me do his, so you’re the next valid option!!”

“Ah, no fair, Kuko-san!! The next time I meet them, I want to do their nails too!!”

“You’ve already done them once, Jyushi!”

“How can that be brought into the conversation when we’re talking about the present!!”

“There’s no such thing as “unfairness” when it comes to matters such as this!!”

The two bicker amongst themselves until Kuko puts Jyushi in a weird hold of sorts. Hitoya snorts at the sight and he receives a phone call from the youngest Yamada. 

“I apologize for the mess, Hitoya-san… my brothers surely didn’t expect you all to be gathered as you are now…”

Hitoya leans back in his chair with another sigh. “Well. I won’t say that this mess is a good thing. But… I can’t say that it’s a bad thing either.”

Saburo laughs at this, even if it seems like none of the conversations are getting anywhere between Kuko’s yelling, Jyushi’s sobbing, and Ichiro and Jiro’s panicked voices.

“I’m aware that perhaps having a manicure isn’t…. The most comfortable. But Kuko and Jyushi… I think they would like the time to bond with you. If it isn’t too bothersome, indulge them every once in a while.”

Hitoya sighs at the response but the smile he sports could only be labeled as “soft.”

“You’re the only brat that has given a valid point to this manicure madness.”

An airy laugh. “Well, I guess I have to view things in another light compared to my brothers.”

Hitoya nods at that response slowly. “Well… I guess… individuality is important. I’m not going to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. But you don’t have to be in such a rush to change who you are.”

A long moment of silence. “... You’re the only adult who has given me such advice.”

A small huff of laughter. “Well, what do you know? I guess I can still give advice to brats.”

Jyushi wipes his tears and Kuko keeps on getting Ichiro to promise he’s going to let Kuko do his nails. Hitoya ingrains the sight in his eyes as long as he can. It takes Hitoya back to a time where they weren’t this happy. When they were suffering, or angry all on their own. 

It sure is surprising how time can change a person. 

But there’s nothing wrong with that change. Not for these two. 

Not in the slightest. 

“... thanks, Saburo.”

“Any time, Hitoya-san.”

After the chaos of the phone calls end, Hitoya looks at his unpainted nails for a long time and takes the moment to scratch the back of his head with a sigh. 

“Ah, what the hell. Just get this over with.”

Jyushi and Kuko hear this and drop their phones. Their eyes glitter with excitement as they give Hitoya a very thorough, and a very black manicure. 

And even if Hitoya grumbles about it, there’s no denying the smirk that spreads on his face.

Not like Jyushi and Kuko make mention of it either. They’re too engrossed in trying to give Hitoya the cleanest manicure ever.

Second semester begins for Jiro, and there’s a few things he begins to notice. 

One. Nail polish is apparently an acceptable thing at his school. He didn’t have to go out of his way to remove a manicure that he technically wore for only half a day. It’s either that or… his teachers didn’t want to tell him it wasn’t allowed. His friends made fun of him for wearing the stuff, but he just flipped them off with a nice black nail in sight. Besides… what was more important was the response he received from Jyushi, who seemed to sob at the sight. He probably shouldn’t be surprised if he sees Jyushi sending him some manicure shots of his own… but you know what? Jiro doesn’t mind one bit.

Two. He doesn’t really feel stable without his “engagement ring” on him. He had left it when he left for the morning, but had to come rushing back inside to bring it with him. It’s the first time Jiro really parted from his ring, and somehow, he felt like leaving it meant leaving a part of Jyushi behind. That wasn’t what he wanted to do, so he just found a chain to hook it around his neck while he attended school. 

Three. Jiro finds that he’s trying to focus on his classes. In the past, he would just lay dazed in his classes, and he wouldn’t mind not catching what was being taught. However now… he wants to pass his classes. Not because Ichiro would strangle him if he failed his classes (because that would happen regardless). But because he wants to graduate on time so he can reach Jyushi even a single day sooner. He’s actively taking his notes and he’s doing a godly miracle, as stated by Jiro’s teachers. When Ichiro hears of this, he pulls Jiro in for a tight hug and makes all his favorite dishes for dinner. And while Saburo was bummed about Jiro getting that kind of treatment… he also praised Jiro for doing something good for once.

Four. Occasionally, he wakes up feeling warm. Like he’s been out exercising, when it isn’t the case. He doesn’t understand how or why things have turned out that way… but he ends up disregarding it. Perhaps it was Jyushi doing something. 

But point number four becomes a bit more worrisome when he’s thrown out of his chair one day when he’s in class. His back collides with the lockers in the back, and it hurts like hell, but the pain in his chest is much more prominent. “Jyushi…!” Everyone freaks out at the sight of Jiro being thrown out of his chair to hit the wall hallways across the room. But Jiro quickly disregards it, despite his teacher’s worried face. After seeing Jiro return to his seat, the lecture resumes almost warily. Occasionally, Jiro feels the impact of something hurting Jyushi, and it makes him worry throughout the lecture. 

The moment he gets a chance during morning break, he calls Jyushi. 

“Jyushi, are you okay?!”

“AH, Jiro!! What’s wrong?” Jyushi seems to be out of breath, and in the distance, he can hear Kuko telling him to get off his phone.

“I… Is there something up? I kinda got flung out of my seat earlier…”

Jyushi gasps at that and Jiro’s chest feels pain… perhaps sadness?

“I’m so sorry, Jiro. I… I’m undergoing training and Kuko-san is attacking me with raps. But my damage must be transmitted to you…”

“By the string or whatever?” Jiro asks. When Jyushi affirms nervously, Jiro touches his chest. 

“I don’t mind whatever injuries I’ll get. I’m proud of the fact that Jyushi’s training, but I’m also worried that you’ll get hurt. Okay, I know injuries are an obvious result when it comes to training. But I don’t want you to surpass your limits, okay?” Jiro looks down at his hand and clenches his fist. “I’m looking forward to the day we can meet as rappers… but I don’t want us to be separated like we were back then for that to happen… alright?”

Jyushi takes a moment to ruminate over what Jiro has told him, and then a warmth spreads across the back of Jiro’s left hand. As if…

Jyushi was pressing a kiss there. 

“Something like that won’t happen, Jiro. I won’t let it happen. So, in exchange… while I’m training, I want Jiro to not worry about me and focus on his studies. There’s only a few months before the DRB, and I’m going to need all the time I can get to train.”

Jiro takes a deep breath. He surely can’t just not worry about Jyushi. But he is sure of one thing. Jyushi was doing his own thing to try and get stronger, and Jiro can only support his endeavor as best as he can. After all… he was all the way in Ikebukuro. 

After releasing his breath, he smiles, and kisses the same hand. “Okay. I’ll trust in Jyushi.”

Jyushi’s appreciation rushes through Jiro’s veins and he smiles even wider at the sensation.

“Oh thank you, my love.”

The faint blush Jiro can sport after this is innocent and lively. “Go and give it your all today, Jyushi. I’ll call you later.”

After Jiro cuts the call and returns to class, he did feel the pain Jyushi endured for his training. But he also registered a sense of stubbornness from Jyushi. He wasn’t going to give up very easily, and have Kuko’s raps keep him down for long. 

So Jiro pours everything he can into his lectures. 

If Jyushi was going to do his best, it should only serve that Jiro does his best as well. 

Jiro looks at his black and blue manicure and smiles even more. 

“Man… being in love like this is freaking awesome.”

Kuko’s mornings start earlier than Jyushi’s. To be exact, if Jyushi were left to his own devices, he’d probably be going to bed the moment Kuko woke up. But the consequence of having Kuko’s guidance is that he will have to follow Kuko’s day, from the moment he wakes up, to the moment he goes to bed. 

Kuko is already up and functioning by time the sun rises, and if Jyushi isn’t the same, he’ll get some sort of water treatment or some other punishment to wake him up. Jyushi has learned that the hard way when he’s had to stay over at the temple for training. 

But this time, Jyushi isn’t staying over at the temple. He’s doing something different, which means that he needs to satisfy Kuko’s standards, as well as perform what he aims to do each day. 

And what do you suppose Jyushi is doing now?

Morning exercises!

Jyushi hangs up his deep blue track suit Amanda jumps on his shoulder to admire it. The color is a few shades darker than Jiro’s blue jacket, which Jyushi is proudly (and shyly) wearing right now. 

“Are you sure about these morning exercises before your training sessions with Kuko-san?” Amanda asks. Jyushi nods stiffly. “I’ll have to do it, Amanda. Stamina was never an important thing to me, but I’m gonna need it while I’m training with Kuko-san. There’s so little I can do the way I am now… so even if I can extend my limits so I can withstand another one of Kuko-san’s raps, it will be worth it.”

Amanda just looks at the track suit for a long moment before sighing softly. “If you think you’ll be okay, Jyushi, I’ll trust you. Remember what Jiro said, and don’t push yourself. Nobody would like you to force yourself into doing anything… and I really wouldn't know what to do if you forced yourself to the point of collapse.”

Jyushi gently holds Amanda into his embrace, gentle, caring, and appreciative. “I know you’re worried about me, Amanda. I’m sorry that you’re worried about me, but this is something I must do. If I want to succeed and push past everything that has been holding me back, I have to do this training.”

Amanda just stays in Jyushi’s hold for a long moment in silence.

“Thank you for caring about me, Amanda.” Jyushi says softly.

“Of course I’ll care about you, Jyushi. I love you, after all…” Amanda sobs softly. Jyushi tries to not let his tears escape him as he smiles. 

“I love you too, Amanda.”

When Jyushi actually starts his morning routine, it’s still dark outside, and the stars are still visible. He pulls on his track suit and brings Amanda with him. Hair braided and pulled into a high ponytail, Jyushi looks like he’s ready to conquer the entire world. He begins with about a kilometer’s walk around his town. It wasn’t running per say, but speed walking was still a way to exercise. He gets to see how his lovely Nagoya Division lights up and begins to thrive as the sky lightens and the sun begins to rise. And when he sees the sun rise as he’s about ready to head into his apartment building, he’s smiling at the sight. 

“Amanda… sunrises are really beautiful, aren’t they?” Jyushi asks softly. Amanda looks up at Jyushi, his lightly flushed face and bright blue eyes illuminated by the hue of the sun. 

“Yeah… they really are, Jyushi.”

Saburo readjusts his gakuran when he gets a message from someone. He looks at it and snorts at the message he’s received. 

It was from Kuko, who took a picture of Jyushi while he was stretching his arms. His hair was pulled up, and he was wearing a blue track suit. The look in his eyes proved that he was prepared for the day’s events, full of determination. It was a hybrid of Jyushi doing his best, and Jyushi getting ready to perform on stage. But for Jyushi, he wore such an expression very well. 

“If your big brother saw this, he’d probably freak the fuck out.” 

Saburo could practically envision the scene already. It would be similar to the first time Jiro sent Jyushi off, and Jyushi wore his flannel. Jiro had landed face first onto the floor, and his phone slid far enough away from him that Ichiro and Saburo could see the carnage from the sight. For Jyushi to have such an effect on Jiro, with just one picture though…

Now that was always something Saburo looked forward to seeing. 

“Should we test it then?” Saburo ends up asking Kuko, who ends up sending him some insane looking sticker in response. Regardless of the sticker set though, he was saying “Yes! We should try it!”

And so begins Saburo and Kuko’s joint attack to disrupt Jiro’s peace in the morning. 

Luckily for Saburo, he could test it out starting today. Jiro was having one of those problematic mornings where he couldn't wake up like normal, and he was about to barge into his room to wake him up anyways. 

So instead of such an… abrupt entry… why not wake him up in a different way?

Saving the picture, Saburo attaches it to the Buster Bros!!! group chat. 

“You better wake up, Baka-Jiro. Even Jyushi is up already.”

With that said, Saburo leaves his room, school bag in hand. He comes face to face with Ichiro, who only gives him a cheeky smile in response. 

“And should I even ask you who sent you this picture?”

Saburo calmly takes his seat and leaves his deceptive smile out on display. His black and yellow nails shine underneath the overhead light. 

“You’d probably know who it was without me telling you, Ichi-nii.”

After that response, Ichiro just hands Saburo his breakfast just as a heavy thudding sound can be heard.

“Saaaabbuuuuurrrrrooooooo!!!!! HOW DID YOU GET THIS -!!” Jiro yells as another thudding sound can be heard. 

“At least it was a successful way to wake him up.” Saburo says smugly. More heavy thudding can be heard from Jiro’s room and Saburo looks up at Ichiro. With a nod, the two go to Jiro’s room, who more or less is tripping over his own clothes. 

“Jiro… are you alright?” Ichiro asks. Jiro looks up at Ichiro and Saburo as he’s trying to put his school pants on and hops the wrong way. Falling to the floor again, Saburo snorts as he takes a photo of Jiro’s disheveled state. His backside is up in the air as he landed on his frontside once again, and his tank top he wore to sleep slides up his back. 

“I-I’m fine, Nii-chan…! Just… didn’t… expect… to see Jyushi… so early in the morning…” Jiro successfully manages to get back on his feet and put his school pants on. Jiro doesn’t mind his brothers watching him frantically strip off his tank top and slip on the rest of his uniform.

And because he was focused on trying to put his own clothes on, he didn’t notice his brothers with their red and yellow smartphones taking pictures of the entire process. 

“Saburo… just how did you even…!” Jiro groans and turns around. His brothers have already pocketed their smartphones and look very comfortable at the doorway. 

Saburo tilts his head and gives Jiro one of his signature shit-eating expressions. “There’s no way I’d tell you something like that, you dunce~!”

“Why you…!!” Jiro exclaims. 

“Alright! Hurry up and finish getting ready, Jiro. Saburo, eat your breakfast before it gets cold.” Ichiro effectively shuts down the argument and guides Saburo away from Jiro’s frantic way of getting ready.

As Jiro continues to finish his preparations, Ichiro and Saburo look at their phones, and they catch a pretty good shot of Jiro putting on his uniform shirt. The white material gets in the way of Jiro’s pretty toned body, but there was enough to be seen… that Jyushi most likely hasn’t seen much of.

“So, what did you and Kuko plan, Saburo?” Ichiro asks him after Jiro opens his door to go into the bathroom.

“It’s nothing much, Ichi-nii… Kuko just sent it to me, saying that Jiro-nii would probably freak out. And just like he predicted, Jiro-nii freaked out.” Saburo easily responds as he bites into his toast. 

“Hm… so, in theory… the same should happen to Jyushi if we send something like this to Jyushi, right?” Ichiro says with a mischievous grin on his face, and Saburo raises a point. 

“How about sending it to Kuko? It might deliver a stronger response rather than just sending it to Jyushi himself.” But Ichiro can see Saburo’s mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“Aha… I see…”

Ichiro files that away for later the moment Jiro comes out looking as ready as he could possibly be. 

“So, Jiro… did you know what that was about?” Ichiro makes small talk as Jiro scarfs down his breakfast in a semi-composed manner.

“Well… I can’t say for certain, but Jyushi told me he’d undergoing some sorta training with Kuko… or somethin’ like that.” Jiro says in response. 

“Well… it isn’t Jyushi exactly being there to wake you up, but it’s good enough, right?” Saburo promptly finishes his food and sets out to leave for school. With his prompt goodbye, Jiro is left stunned. 

Ichiro shrugs as he gets ready to send Jiro off as well. “Jyushi is doing something that only he can do right now. I know you’ve probably been worried over whatever Jyushi has told you, but that is the path he has chosen for himself. It isn’t a bad thing, being able to think of those things. But, he just wants to get stronger, and that photo is proof of that.”

Jiro looks down at his remaining piece of toast and grins. “Something only we can do, huh? I guess…. it will be the only way to not think about the distance between us. Thinking about what we can do while we’re apart, rather than thinking about what we could’ve done together if we were together.”

When Jiro swipes up his toast, he gets up on his feet. “Alright! Then I just gotta do what I can, so I can live up to Jyushi’s expectations!”

“You two don’t have expectations for each other, Jiro.” Ichiro picks up Jiro’s plate and puts it into the sink to soak. “It is better that we don’t. But you know? I just feel like… I wanna make him think that I’ve become freakin’ awesome or something while we’re apart. Or something like that.”

“I think Jyushi would be impressed with everything you did, Jiro.” Ichiro states and Jiro laughs happily at that response. “Aha, y’think so, Nii-chan?” His slightly flushed face tells Ichiro all he needs to know. 

His brother really is living the time of his life as Jyushi’s boyfriend. 

After pushing Jiro out to go to school, Ichiro turns to washing the dishes before he sends a message to Kuko.

“If you think Jyushi needs something to inspire himself, feel free to use Jiro’s response to the picture you sent Saburo.”

Attached to his message were pictures of Jiro on the floor, trying to put on his uniform, as well as Jiro’s “cool” shots.

A few minutes pass and just as Ichiro is getting ready to start his work day, he gets a response from Kuko.

“And what if I need some inspiration?”

Ichiro snorts at that response. It has been difficult trying to act like normal, responsible teenagers, especially with Jyushi and Jiro steadily progressing their relationship. Ichiro and Kuko have spent all their time focused on other people, that they haven’t focused on their own relationship.

… or the years of “physical intimacy” they missed out on because of their forced falling out.

Ichiro hums for a moment before deciding on sending Kuko a voice memo.

“If you need some inspiration, I’ll give you a reward for training Jyushi this early in the morning.”

Ichiro thinks he’s going to have to lock the door to his bedroom for the first time ever, but, he doesn’t want to possibly traumatize Jiro and Saburo with what he’ll be doing with Kuko. 

Ichiro laughs at the way Kuko spams him with some interesting stickers, but he ends up smiling in his seat again.

Man, being in love really does feel nice.

“I think Kuko-san has been taking pictures of me…” Jyushi sends Jiro a message attached with a photo. It’s a photo of Kuko as he’s trying to cool down. His signature jacket is thrown off his shoulders, exposing the bare skin while Kuko is fanning himself with his hand.

“So… you want me to send this to Nii-chan as payback?”

Jyushi sends a shrugging sticker. 

“I don’t know for sure… it just feels like I’m being watched when I turn away. We’re the only ones here… Hitoya-san will come by after he finishes work. So it would mean Kuko-san is taking the pictures, right?”

Jiro takes a bite out of his yakisoba bun and hums for a long while.

“... well… do you dislike it?”

Almost instantaneously, Jyushi sends something back that makes Jiro almost choke on his lunch.

“If it was for Jiro’s eyes, I wouldn’t mind it at all.”

After trying to safely get his food down, Jiro takes a deep breath. 

“Well, I received some pictures of you from Saburo earlier this morning… so can I ask you if your hair’s pulled up right now?”

It takes Jyushi a long moment to respond, so Jiro just forwards the picture of Kuko to Ichiro via the Buster Bros!!! group chat.

“Nii-chan! Jyushi thinks Kuko has been taking a ton of pics of him, so he took this one as payback!”

Saburo, who shares the same lunch break as him, sends a laughing sticker. 

Meanwhile, Ichiro’s response was a lot of garbled nonsense, accentuated with a lot of question marks and exclamation points.

“Well, as payback, I shall counter with this picture Kuko sent earlier!” Ichiro sends Jiro a picture of Jyushi as he’s lifting up his black T-shirt to wipe the sweat off of his face. The angle catches Jyushi’s toned abdomen almost cruelly in the morning light, glistening with sweat and Jiro can not be seeing something like this at school!!

Jiro promptly falls off of his chair and his carton drink falls down with him. All his classmates look at him worriedly, and Jiro groans. 

“You’re so mean, Nii-chan!!!”

As Jiro readjusts himself, he gets a response from Jyushi. 

It’s a photo of Jyushi’s shy smile and bare face. But the angle highlights the various braids Jyushi has tied into his hair before letting his layers fall freely in a ponytail. 

At this, Jiro groans out loud again and his classmates look at him worriedly again. 

“Why are you so freaking beautiful…!!!!”

Apparently, he pressed his phone the right way to send a voice message and it sent to Jyushi.

Jyushi sends some embarrassed stickers in response, and the last thing Jiro expected was that Jyushi would have supplied a response. But he did…

“... It’s only because of Jiro that I wanna look my best…!”

Jiro hears the message loud and clear in contrast to the noise in the classroom and he ends up smiling in defeat. He sends the best selfie he can with his face half obscured by his arm, but the mere expression of love-filled resignation should tell Jyushi all he needs to.

“You are gonna be the death of me Aimono Jyushi. There’s no way I could be even more in love with you, and yet, you seem to find ways.”

Jiro feels a warmth fill his chest from Jyushi, and he feels another kiss on his hand, where his engagement ring would rest if he weren’t in school.

“Well, it’s only because you do things that make me fall in love with you every day. Just consider it payback.”

Jiro hides his face into his desk again and lets the warmth envelop him.

Just as the bell rings ending lunch break, he sends a message to Ichiro and Saburo. 

“I really love my boyfriend…!!!”

Saburo ends up slapping Jiro with another picture of Jyushi running his hands through his hair. “We know that already, Jiro-nii.”

And Ichiro follows it up with another picture of Jyushi and Amanda while the blue track jacket is thrown to the side. “Well, does this serve as inspiration?”

Jiro has to slap on multitudes of YES! stickers in response to their responses. But the warm feeling he has doesn’t leave his body as he gets ready for his next period. 

Maybe after class he can talk to Jyushi and enjoy some alone time.

Amaguni Hitoya was hoping for a peaceful lunch. Just one peaceful lunch. 

But even when he desires such things, they never happen. 

Especially when he’s teammates with a couple of teenagers.

And he’s friends with another family of teenagers.

His phone buzzes, and with a heavy sigh, Hitoya picks up the call. 

“Hello, Jyushi.”

“Hitoya-saaaaaaaaaannnnn!!!! Kuko-san keeps on sending me these pictures of Jiro, and I can’t concentrate on today’s training!!!” Jyushi cries. In the distance, he can hear Kuko yelling at Jyushi. 

“Oi! I did it to get you more motivated! And it’s been working, hasn’t it?! You’ve been handling my raps a lot better than normal!”

“But still-! Why can’t you just send me normal pictures of Jiro!! Why do you even have pictures of Jiro in the first place!!”

And the only thing Hitoya can do is sigh. 

“Jyushi. Hand the phone to Kuko.”

“O-okay…”

Jyushi gives his phone to Kuko and Hitoya sighs again. 

“Kuko… I’m not aware of how… suspicious these pictures are, but training is going to be worthless if Jyushi can’t concentrate. If you want Jyushi to survive the rest of the day training well… at the very least send them in moderation.”

“Ah, so you’re tellin’ me I can still use them?”

Hitoya lets a smirk grace his features. “Well… motivation is important.”

Kuko barks out a laugh. “Alright, I hear ya. I’m hangin’ up then!”

After Hitoya ends the call, he looks at his phone for a long while. 

He confides in the most sensible teenager there is in this group of brats. 

“What is this I’m hearing about suspicious pictures of Yamada Jiro?”

Saburo sends Hitoya pictures of Jiro. The pathetic way he lays on his floor is indeed, hilarious. He takes a look at the other pictures, which can only be interpreted as Jiro’s desperate attempt to get ready for the day. 

“It all started because Kuko sent me a picture of Jyushi as he was getting ready for the day’s training, or something. But it’s devolved into some sort of … picture train of sorts.”

Soon after, Saburo explains in his limited understanding what has been going on throughout the day. Because he sent Jiro pictures of Jyushi from Kuko, Ichiro and Saburo sent pictures of Jiro to Kuko. And then Ichiro and Kuko have collected some pictures throughout the day, which were somewhat given to Jiro during their lunch break. And then Jiro joined in the chaos when Jyushi told him that Kuko was taking pictures of him.

Hitoya sighs as he sees this pretty succinct explanation. “And why couldn’t you guys just send pictures to the actual person rather than this roundabout way?”

Saburo just laughs in response. “It’s more amusing this way. To see how everyone reacts to these pictures.”

When Hitoya reads the message, he can only let out a little laugh. “You brats…”

“By the way… shouldn’t you be attending classes right now?”

“We’re having a study hall during this period. I already reviewed all the material from past classes by the time you messaged me.”

Hitoya just leans against his desk with a sigh. “You’re such a diligent brat.”

When Hitoya is left to his own devices, he wonders how much more chaotic this situation could become by the time he visits Kuko and Jyushi after work. 

Well, if it’s these brats…

It shouldn’t be that bad.

Saburo looks at the mini collection of pictures he’s received from both Kuko and Ichiro in regards to Jyushi. Over the span of the entire school day, he’s received so many shots of Jyushi it’s no joke. Something that was originally a little motivator to get Jiro to wake up has turned into this deliberate attempt to make Jiro simply lose his mind. 

And Saburo wasn’t blind to the sex appeal Jyushi was exuding… or perhaps actually, the way Kuko was deliberately portraying. Too bad he and Jiro didn’t share the same building for school. It would have been simply hilarious to see Jiro’s utterly wrecked expression over these pictures. But alas, he and Ichiro haven’t done much to send these to Jiro during the school day. The only time was over their lunch break. 

But Saburo has to say, the picture Ichiro sent to Jiro was pretty potent in itself.

As Saburo looks at the pictures, he’s gradually coming to a realization. 

“... Is Jyushi’s clothes getting more ripped…? Or am I just imagining things…?”

Well, Saburo doesn’t think too much about it when he sends Jiro the picture of Jyushi as he’s taking a drink from his water bottle. His free hand is pulling at the collar of his T-shirt, exposing his collarbone again. 

“Ah, I hope Jiro isn’t walking and looking at his phone.” With a snicker, Saburo presses the send button.

Jiro slumps over his desk the moment the class day ends. 

“Yooo Jiro! What’s got you sighing like that?” Takahashi asks. 

Jiro looks at his friend with another sigh. 

“I feel like my brothers and my boyfriend’s friend are out to kill me.” Jiro gets another notification and sighs.

He looks at the notification with weary eyes and reacts in such a way that worries his friend. His phone almost falls out of his hand and Takahashi saves it. Chancing a look, Takahashi looks at the picture and snorts. 

“Wow~ I knew Jyushi had sex appeal but this is something!”

“That wasn’t even the worst one to date….” Jiro says wearily. 

Takahashi looks at the images of Jyushi stretching, taking off his track jacket, wiping sweat off his face, playing with his hair, etc. It’s pretty potent in innocent sex appeal, but these aren’t the ones that have KO’d Jiro?!

“So… which one is the one that took you out?!”

Jiro groans. 

“Check the chat log with Jyushi.”

Takahashi does as he’s told and blinks blankly at the most recent image. 

Jyushi sent a picture to Jiro, pointing at a rip in his T-shirt. 

“Uwaaaaahhhh! Kuko-san is ripping my clothes!!”

Takahashi looks at Jiro with an awkward glance. 

“And um… should I ask what is going on?”

Jiro looks at Takahashi with a half-dead gaze. “Jyushi is training with a friend. He’s trying to gain some resistance to effectively withstand an attack in a rap battle… and I guess their training is leading to… that. ”

Takahashi lets out a long whistle in response. “Well! I don’t know what I can tell you, Jiro. Good luck I guess?”

With that, Jiro groans even more. 

“After my accident and all that, I thought the question about sexual tension would have like- gone away?! But then things like this happen and now…”

Takahashi takes the seat in front of Jiro’s desk and leans forward. “Well, just because something insane like your accident happened doesn’t mean feelings already there magically just disappear.”

Jiro opens an eye to look at his friend’s gentle smile. “You and Jyushi have had something. You’ve known it since the moment you two kissed that first night. You’ve experienced it going haywire in different ways. But you know? Your fear of actually finding out what it is that you fear about what lies ahead is actually hurting you more than you think.”

Jiro’s rise of his eyebrows makes Takahashi laugh a little. “But knowing you two, you guys haven’t even thought about things like that right? Sex.”

Jiro’s ears grow a little pink in response. 

“I can’t push you into things. Only you and Jyushi can take that active step towards that outcome. But, I will only say that having that physical closeness won’t break a relationship. Sure, things may seem different after being aware of said things. But that’s how relationships evolve, like people. So, just think about it a little while you two are apart like this. And if you consciously realize that, “hey, going the next step is what I wanna do,” don’t feel bad about it at all, Jiro! It just means you’re ready to have an adult’s relationship with your boyfriend!”

Jiro takes a deep breath and thinks about it for a long while. 

“... well… I’ll give it a thought.”

Takahashi grins. “That’s all I can ask you. But you know, I could introduce you to a bunch of sites if you ever need reference on how two dudes do it-“

“I refuse.”

Ichiro looks at the current state of Jiro and Saburo as they’re getting some down time before dinner time. Saburo keeps on chuckling at Jiro’s deflated state. Even if he’s outside, his mind is kinda out of it. 

“Say, Saburo… do you think that the pictures have possibly… changed Jiro?” Ichiro asks while Jiro dazedly looks outside the Yorozuya Yamada window. 

Saburo looks at Jiro’s expression and shrugs. “Who knows? I mean, Jiro is like this all the time when it comes to school, so maybe it’s just taking him a while to come back to himself or something.”

Ichiro finishes the last of his paperwork and turns off his monitor. “Well, it looks like we’re done for the day! What do you guys wanna eat for dinner?”

“Sushi!” Saburo exclaims. 

Jiro seems dazed for another long moment before muttering, “I wonder if Jyushi is eating napolitan right now…”

Jyushi is probably exhausted from the day’s training, but Jiro is being considerate of the fact that he might still be undergoing some rounds of trying to withstand Kuko’s raps. 

Considering the fact he hasn’t really felt much of the pain means that either Jyushi has gotten the hang of withstanding such a powerful rap attack, or it means that he’s done. But he continues to wait until Jyushi contacts him.

Saburo wants to try and whack Jiro back to his senses, but Jiro’s phone buzzes before he can do anything. 

When Jiro looks down, he sees it’s a message from Hitoya. With a swipe, Jiro reads the message and the attachment, and promptly comes back to his senses.

“They’ve been going at it for a few minutes already. Somehow, Jyushi got in some raps that pushed Kuko back as well. You should be proud of him, Jiro.”

Jiro smiles at the note, and then presses the button to download the attachment. 

It was a short video, and with a curious look, he presses play on it. 

“Gyaaaah!!” Jiro hears Jyushi’s scream as he’s being pushed back by Kuko’s rap. But his feet stay on the ground. His legs tremble, and his track pants have small tears alongside the sides, but stays where he is. 

“C’mon Jyushi! Is that all ya got?!” Kuko yells. With a scream, Jyushi attacks Kuko with a powerful rap. It’s powerful enough to push Kuko back a little bit, but Kuko is also getting some tears in his clothing. 

The relay goes on until the two of them are out of breath. And by the end of it all, Jyushi looks like he’s on the verge of collapse.

After Jiro and his brothers see the video, Hitoya sends Jiro another photo. 

And this one, was the true image that short circuited Jiro’s mind.

Jyushi’s clothes are half torn. He’s covered in dirt and sweat, and he’s really gonna have to get changed, but he looks like he’s conquered the earth or something. 

A sleeve has almost torn off from the seam. Microtears have led to more skin being exposed than the black T-shirt. But, Jyushi looks like he’s made a huge step forward, and that’s the thing that Jiro focuses in on more. 

His mind will most likely say that a practically half naked Jyushi (in the most modest of standards, might it add) will torment his dreams for a little while though. 

Just how is it that an entire day’s worth of training led to a half destroyed set of clothes though… is the question.

But Jiro can’t think much about it when Jyushi gives him a call. Pushing all miscellaneous thoughts to the side, Jiro picks up the call. 

“Oh, Jyushi!”

“Jiro! I’m finished with today’s training!!” Jyushi says brightly. “My clothes are a total mess though… which is sad.”

“Well, maybe Keisuke can fix it for you. But I think that those tears are proof of your diligence, and your efforts towards the outcome for the day’s training.” Jiro says calmly. In the distance, Ichiro makes an exclamation like that of a dying animal and Saburo looks over to see Kuko’s practically half naked state displayed on Ichiro’s phone. 

“I… wonder if I’ll be a little cooler … the next time we meet up…” Jyushi asks almost shyly. Jiro tears his focus away from Ichiro’s half-dazed state and looks at his hand, adorned with his most important ring. 

“Why ask that, when I always thought you were cool in your own way?”

Jiro feels a sensation in his chest, as if Jyushi’s heart flipped at that response. Soon after, Jyushi is doing one of his adorable groans again, and Jiro smiles at the response. “Jiiirooooo! You’re not supposed to be the one that says all those cool things!!!”

“Well, we can’t see each other at the moment, so you’re just gonna have to deal with my “cool” statements until we can see each other again.”

“Uuuuuuuu…” Jyushi sobs in response. 

After a moment to laugh, Jiro leans back on the sofa. “So, you’re gonna have dinner right? What are you planning on having?”

Jyushi makes a humming sound, and asks Kuko and Hitoya what they were planning on having for dinner. Kuko exclaims that they need to have ankake spaghetti. 

“I guess we’re gonna be eating ankake spaghetti today.”

“Hm? Ankake spaghetti, huh? What is that?” Jiro asks. He looks up to Ichiro and Saburo, who only shrug in response (thankfully, Ichiro was quick to recover from Hitoya’s discreet attack).

“What?! Ankake spaghetti is freakin’ delicious, and you don’t even know what it is?!!” Kuko yells and Jyushi is fretting over the subsequent loss of his cell phone. 

“Well, I guess it’s just something that we don’t see much over here!” Jiro responds. 

“Well, next time you come over to Nagoya you’re definitely gonna eat it, alright?!!”

Kuko’s loud demand takes Jiro by surprise, but he ends up laughing at it in response. “Alright, alright. Nagoya is your home, so you’re gonna have to introduce us to all the good places.”

“Damn right we’re gonna do that!” Kuko throws Jyushi his phone back and Jyushi frets over almost dropping it. After safely retrieving his phone, he talks to Jiro again. 

“I guess I’ll just talk to you later then, Jiro.”

Before Jiro is about to let Jyushi go though, he flushes a bright pink. “Before you go out to eat and stuff… get changed. I don’t want to have to fight over you even more than I have to…”

A redness spreads to Jiro’s neck and cheeks, half in combination to Jyushi’s heavy blush and Jiro’s own embarrassment.

“O-Of course I’ll get changed! I can’t go out looking like this anyways-“

Ichiro has to phone Kuko the moment Jiro mentions their ripped clothing and he demands the same from him.

Saburo just sits back and videos the entire situation of his brightly flushed brothers and their frantic speeches to save their faraway boyfriends from unnecessary trouble. 

With a snicker, he sends the scene to Hitoya.

“Thanks to your direct attack, my brothers are gonna be like this for the rest of the night.”

The only thing Hitoya can do to that response is snicker in his own way.

The weeks pass, and fall begins to envelop Japan in its entirety. And as the weeks pass, so did the embarrassment that came with sending pictures of everyone to an extent. 

Ichiro and Jiro eventually got used to the fact that their boyfriends were getting out of training sessions with torn clothing and exposed skin. 

Their respective boyfriends, though, could only laugh at the pathetic states their boyfriends ended up in, courtesy of Saburo's picture taking. 

But it didn’t mean that they weren’t escaping the situation scot-free. 

Sometimes, Saburo would send them images of Ichiro and Jiro hard at work, perfectly timed images of exposed abs or wet and exposed skin greeting their chat logs in the most unexpected of times. 

But if people were to ask who the true “winner” of this image train was though…

Well…

It was Hitoya, of course.

He was the one who would manage to get the most “provocative” images of all in regards to Jyushi and Kuko. He would be the one to find them in some sort of battle, be it with their hypnosis mics, or in other cases. And in addition, he’d also find the most “adorable” images as well. 

Like the time a week ago where Jyushi and Kuko had fallen asleep on top of the tatami, and Jyushi was hugging Kuko like a body pillow. Kuko, in response, had ended up linking his legs on top of Jyushi’s, and managed to grab a fistful of Jyushi’s hair in his sleep. 

Of course… when they woke up, Jyushi was sobbing because Kuko was pulling his hair, and even when he tried to remove himself from Kuko’s hold, he couldn’t succeed very well. But that was a story that Hitoya casually omitted to the Yamada brothers. 

As a result, Ichiro and Jiro respectfully had nightmares about possibly losing their boyfriends to a body pillow, or to each other. But this happened in the middle of a week though… and they couldn’t exactly just drop what they were doing to take a trip to Nagoya, no matter how much they desired that outcome.

For the next couple of weeks, Jyushi and Kuko were overrun with texts and messages to “Not forget I’m here!” Or “Don’t settle for Kuko’s/Jyushi’s presence because I’m not there!!”

With raised eyebrows, they turn to Hitoya, who only disguises his smile with the smoke of his cigarette. 

More time passed, and everyone did the things they could do to succeed in their own way. And then something big happened some weeks later. 

It was about mid-October when things were officially ramping up for the Division Rap Battle. Prime Minister Touhouten Otome made a public announcement signaling the start of the second DRB. They were doing things differently this time around, which meant two phases of preliminary battles were going to take place. The first wave of preliminary battles would signify who would qualify for initial entrance into the DRB. Those who passed the first wave would be assigned musical staff who would create a group song, as well as their own individual solos for base advertisement. Then, after the new year, in February or March depending on location, the second wave of preliminary battles would take place. This would only be a battle against the “seeded” groups who received their public advertisement through CDs, and those who underwent a secondary “pity” preliminary and succeeded. 

Whoever succeeded in these two phases would be granted access into Chuohku, to participate in the Main DRB battle. Like the previous DRB, it would be a territory battle against two groups. However, they’re not limiting the amount of groups from a single division to just one. It gives other smaller groups hope that they could participate in the DRB, and it generated a larger hype for the event. 

The first wave of preliminary battles were to happen nation-wide within the beginning weeks of November, with CDs for those “seeded” members who passed this wave to be released in the following weeks, up to the new year.

“When is the preliminary battle for Nagoya happening?” Jiro asks Jyushi one day as he’s walking home from school. 

“Uh… it’s November 10. What about Ikebukuro?”

Jiro lets out a sigh of relief. “We’re having our battle on the 12th. That means I can come down there if you want me there.”

“Of course I want you there, Jiro! B-but what about me? D-do you by chance…”

Jiro just places his hand on top of his chest and smiles. “If you’re there cheering me on, I think I’d probably feel invincible.”

“Then it’s settled. We’re gonna visit each other. It has been awhile since we’ve seen each other in person…” Jyushi trails off. The longer Jiro thinks about it, the longer it seems since they actually visited each other. 

“Oh… it’s already been about 4 months since we last saw each other in person!!” Jiro yells. “Shit… it doesn’t even seem like that long since we’ve seen each other though…”

“Probably because we’ve been sending each other pictures of us, with and without our knowledge.” Jyushi chuckles at the mayhem that they’ve all been through. But it really did help them feel a little less lonely. It was like even though they weren’t there in person, they were still right next to each other.

But it didn’t help Jyushi’s desire to just run up to Jiro and pull him in for a hug and a kiss. That was most definitely a priority the next time they saw each other in person.

Amanda walks up to Jyushi and Jyushi easily picks up his best friend from the floor to hold him to his chest. “Ah, Jiro, wanna say hi to Amanda?”

“Ah, is that little rascal there now? Man, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you, Amanda! How have things been lately?”

Amanda jumps up. “As fine as things could ever be, with Jyushi buying more clothes only to get them wrecked by Kuko-san!! Even Keisuke is getting fed up with the repairs!!” Amanda looks up to Jyushi, who only cutely pouts in response, but they only smile softly, even if their stitching already has such a smile on their face. “But you know… Jyushi has gotten stronger over the past weeks. I can see it, Kuko-san and Hitoya-san see it. The training is paying off, that’s for sure. If only you could see the confident glint in Jyushi’s eyes though, Jiro…”

Jyushi just hugs Amanda a little tighter. Jyushi knew about Amanda’s apprehensions when it came to training. They didn’t want him to overexert himself with stamina training as well as mental training, but Jyushi managed to do it in moderation. 

Even if Kuko pushed him to his limit every single day, he didn’t succumb to any sort of loss. 

Jyushi was living by his motto of never, ever giving up, and look at where it brought him.

“Argh, now I just wanna go and see this myself!! Why do you have to remind me that the distance between our places is two freakin’ hours!!!” Jiro groans, and Jyushi can only chuckle softly. 

“Soon enough, Jiro. We’ll see each other soon enough.”

“Of course, that’s gonna be after you finish your midterms, right?” Jyushi slides in smoothly, and he somehow always gets such an animated response from Jiro when it comes to schoolwork and tests. 

“B-But, you know?! Maybe it will be better!! I’ve been able to focus on my classes a lot better this semester, so maybe it’s helping!!”

Jyushi feels pride swell in his chest at the sound of Jiro’s reluctant excitement. Jiro still hates schoolwork. That much is apparent. But he sounds like he’s actually able to put in some more effort into schoolwork to make it all click better. He sounds like he might actually do a good job this time around!

“Well then, I hope that will be the case.” Jyushi ends up saying. His eyes land on some locks of his hair as the sun filters into his room. His blonde highlights need retouching soon…

And then a stray idea runs through his head as Jiro continues talking about things that happened today. His heart races at his thought, and apparently Jiro feels this as well. “Jyushi? Are you okay?”

Jyushi looks down and smiles. He closes his eyes and sees Jiro’s smile ingrained behind his eyes. “I’m okay, Jiro. I was just thinking about how much I love you…”

Jiro’s response to that is nothing more than garbled nonsense, but it warms Jyushi’s heart nonetheless. After Jiro takes a long moment to recover from that very direct statement, Jiro’s calm, charming voice pierces through space and strikes Jyushi straight at his heart. 

“I love you too, my freaking awesome boyfriend.”

It takes Jyushi a little longer than Jiro to discard the healthy blush that covers his cheeks, but his smile never leaves his face. The two continue chatting until Jiro reaches home. They make a promise to chat a little later in the evening, and when Jyushi ends the call, Amanda looks up to him expectantly. 

“Okay, Jyushi. What did you end up thinking about?”

“Well… I was thinking that I’ll cancel my hair appointment. There’s something I wanna do.”

“Okay… that being?”  

Jyushi sheepishly laughs. “I want to dye one of my highlights blue.”

Amanda jumps once they hear that. “Which one though?! And- are you trying to make it obvious or not?!! Because! Because- that’s Jiro, right?!!”

Jyushi strokes Amanda’s head affectionately. “Yes… as expected of Amanda, you figured it out. I know that Jiro will be there… but I was just thinking that something small like that would be enough to keep Jiro close to me on stage. It isn’t much… but…”

“It’s your way to keep thinking about Jiro when things get tough.” Amanda slowly crawls up to Jyushi’s shoulder and touches a lock of hair that usually curls around Jyushi’s neck. It isn’t particularly long, like the rest of his layers. But it is long enough that sometimes, it can be seen in Jyushi’s periphery.

“So… will you postpone your hair appointment until the end of the month, so then the dye will still be fresh?” Jyushi pulls the strand of hair Amanda noted, and looks at the way his natural color peeks out of seas of dulled blonde. Imagining how it would meld from seas of black into a little pop of vibrant blue makes Jyushi’s lip tremble in childish anticipation. 

“... Yeah… I think that would be best.”

Jiro pretty much has a (bi)weekend habit now. 

It comes in the form of painting his nails. 

Every two weeks, Jiro will take the evening to properly care for his nails. Sitting at the counter, he’ll just hum to himself while he hears the anime playing in the background. He usually goes for blue and black nail colors, and he isn’t really decorative, or daring enough to enter the world of nail art in itself. But he feels awfully calm and proud of himself when he manages to successfully come out of the night without pushing any layers of color, or whacking his hand against anything. 

It is the weekend before midterms week when Jiro goes out to buy another color of nail polish. When he returns home with it, Saburo can only raise his eyebrow out of curiosity. 

It was a vibrant pink color, which would stand out in comparison to the black or the blue he usually wore. Now why is it that he chose that color, though… 

“Ah, Jiro! That’s a nice color! Why the sudden desire to pick it out though?” Ichiro slides into the chair next to Jiro who shrugs. 

“I was just thinking about Jyushi… and how sometimes, when I was staying over, we wore complimentary colors. And I ended up thinking that Jyushi… looks nice in pink. Now everything I see that’s pink reminds me of him and Amanda.”

“So now you’re turning a bottle of nail polish into your support blanket because you can’t see Jyushi in person.” Saburo takes the remaining seat on the other side of Jiro and the two watch as Jiro carefully paints a layer of base coat on his nails. 

“Don’t call it a support blanket, Saburo.” Jiro grumbles softly, but his smile is still apparent. “But it will remind me of Jyushi. It will make me feel like… we’re still right next to each other…together, even when we’re so far apart. Plus, I haven’t told him yet, but he’s another strong factor into my studying methods for this midterm.”

“Heeeh, so you’re actually feeling confident this time around. Surprising.” Saburo says with an amused tone. But Ichiro sees the genuine smile that spreads on Saburo’s face. 

“Heh. Only because you slapped a ton of studying methods onto my desk. It was hard to find the right one, but somehow I managed to find something that worked out for me.” Jiro’s appreciative glance and grin make Saburo blush a bright pink. 

“Oho… Saburo gave Jiro some studying methods? That’s great!” Ichiro smiles, feeling great pride in the fact that his brothers are somehow getting along now. Perhaps, it was because of the existence of Bad Ass Temple that solidified their brotherly bond.

Aaah, now Ichiro wants to go straight to Nagoya, pull Kuko into a hug and kiss, and thank him for being there to make this a reality for his brothers.

“I-I… I just didn’t want to hear Jiro cry over a bad grade!” Saburo stammers. 

“Alright, alright.” Jiro jokes softly. 

After Jiro finishes with his clear coat, he colors his nails with black, and then paints the nail on his left ring finger the bright pink. Like Saburo expected, it was a very bright color in comparison to the black. But there was a huge importance to that finger. And to this day, Jiro is wearing the ring there. 

On top of the thin band he wore already, lay the slightly thicker band of the couple’s “engagement ring,” read “couple’s ring.”

It was also on that hand where their supposed string of fate was tied. 

So in short… this would be the place where Jiro would most likely feel Jyushi’s presence. 

After the two see Jiro lean back and allow his nails time to dry, Saburo and Ichiro reach for the nail tools and prepare to paint their nails as well. They do their nails frequently, especially Saburo. He is appreciative of the way nail polish formulas have helped his nails, even in the slightest of sense. But he did them as he felt like doing them, which was usually at around 3-4 weeks, in comparison to Jiro’s strict 2 week schedule. 

And for Ichiro… he would forget about doing them for the most part. He would usually remember when Kuko would tell him to do his nails (which was usually after Jyushi would tell Kuko how much he loves Jiro for maintaining some sort of nail care routine). But he enjoyed doing them. He thought it paid off well enough when Kuko sent him a ton of stickers in response to his nail care.

So, they ended up having some sort of impromptu nail polish day. Jiro groans as the two use the pink bottle in combination to their reds or gray-blacks. “Jyushi may be your boyfriend, but we care for him too, you know.” Saburo groans and Ichiro just heartily laughs like normal.

“This will just… make me think about those we care about over there. In a way… just driving forward the fact that we’re not alone, right?”

Jiro and Saburo look at Ichiro with a short moment of shock. But the shock melds into utter glee and happiness. 

“Yeah!”

It is mid-afternoon when Kuko launches a series of raps towards Jyushi. And unlike all the other times, Jyushi stood his ground with no visible signs of injury. He was pushed back a few inches, like normal. But he was immediately ready for his rally, and sent Kuko a verse. Hitoya watches, impressed over the results of Jyushi’s exclusive training with Kuko. 

He no longer looked like the meek kid who was trembling in fear over every little thing possible. Now, was this sign of strength because he had undergone this training with Kuko, or because he was doing this for the sake of love…

That’s something Hitoya didn’t have the answer to. But the Nagoya Preliminary Battle was going to be tomorrow, and Jyushi looked like he was prepared for it.

With a satisfied grin, Kuko puts away his hypnosis mic. 

“Not bad, Jyushi! Not bad at all!”

Jyushi lets out a little sigh of relief as he also puts away his hypnosis mic. “It looks like that training has paid off… I’m so relieved…”

“Of course it would have paid off! Who do you think you’re trainin’ under?!” Kuko yells and Jyushi has to laugh in response. As Jyushi runs his hands through his hair, Kuko catches a glimpse of blue melding in with Jyushi’s normal blonde highlights and natural hair color. Blinking a couple times, he walks up to Jyushi to see the blue a little clearer. 

“Yo Jyushi… did you add this blue color into your dye?”

Jyushi yelps as Kuko pulls the strands of hair that are colored blue to take a closer look. Curious, Hitoya also looks at the hair to see a beautiful royal blue, a color that isn’t usually seen on Jyushi. 

Folding his hands together, Jyushi nods shyly. “Um… yes… it’s… i-it’s Jiro.”

Kuko didn’t really get what Jyushi meant by that, until he actually thought back to Jiro’s appearance itself. Unlike his younger brother, who wore yellow… and Ichiro, who wore red… Jiro wore blue.

And by association, Jyushi picked pink when black wasn’t an appropriate color to choose. It is the color he ended up choosing when Chuohku sent them questionnaires to fill out in order to participate in the Preliminary Battle. But what Kuko doesn’t get though is why he and his team has to go through such a Preliminary screening if Chuohku themselves made Kuko’s team a required team to participate in the DRB. That’s the part that still ticks him off. 

But Hitoya and Jyushi haven’t had practical experience with rap battles like Kuko has. So this can be considered a good exercise for them to fully grasp the workings of a rap battle. 

Kuko ends up shaking his head to get his mind thinking about the present situation. 

“So, you’re usin’ this hair dye to make ya think about your boyfriend, huh?”

Jyushi sheepishly nods. “I know Jiro will be there tomorrow. But there’s a difference between being there in the audience, and being there right next to me. I don’t think I’d be able to look out in the audience, even if I tried. So that’s why I want to… have something as a reminder that he’s there with me… to support me… and stuff.”

Kuko heartily laughs as he slaps Jyushi’s back. “Aha! But you still have your boyfriend’s jacket! Why not just wear that?!”

Jyushi blushes at the recollection. “I-I still need to return that to Jiro, okay?! A-and his jacket clearly says “Buster Bros!!!” on the back. Boyfriend or not, we’re Bad Ass Temple, not Buster Bros!!! I want to go out on that stage, and show everyone how powerful Bad Ass Temple is!”

Jyushi touches his lightning bolt earrings with a confident grin. “I will… show Jiro how much stronger I’ve gotten in these past few months. I will show him that Bad Ass Temple will be prepared for whatever is to come, and that the three of us will enter those gates to Chuohku, and enter the stage that is the DRB!”

Kuko and Hitoya look at each other for a long time before grinning like crazy. Kuko’s golden embroidered lightning bolts lay proud on his jacket, and Hitoya’s pin shines in the afternoon sun. 

“You’ve really manned up over the months, Jyushi!” Kuko grins in approval. 

“If even Jyushi is feeling like this, then we shouldn’t have any problems with the Preliminary Battle tomorrow. Of course, things can happen, so we can’t let our guard down. But, I think can say as we are…”

Hitoya smirks. 

“We’re gonna do great tomorrow.”

Jyushi visibly brightens up and Kuko just grins at that response. 

“Hell yeah we are!”

“Of course we’re gonna do great!”

“Yikes! Look at the time Nii-chan! Will we make it to the venue in time?!” Jiro yells as he jumps off the train. 

“We’ll have more than enough time to reach the venue, Jiro.” Ichiro says reassuringly. Saburo snickers as he calmly gets off the train alongside Ichiro. “Jiro is just getting antsy because it’s been a few months since he’s seen Jyushi.”

“Oi! You don’t have the right to say that, Saburo! I know you were looking forward to seeing Hitoya-san because you’re interested in those high quality meats at that yakiniku restaurant!!”

“Hey! It isn’t just about the meat, okay?!”

Ichiro just lets the fighting come over him for a short moment before he pushes his brothers out. “Alright, calm down. If you two keep on fighting, then we’re not gonna make it to the venue on time.”

“Hey, no fair Nii-chan! You’re the one who missed Kuko the most, and yet you’re the most calm about this!!” Jiro yells, and Ichiro lets a wave of redness wash over him. 

“It’s… because… we haven’t seen each other in such a long time before that… we’re kinda… getting used to this kinda stuff again…”

Seeing Ichiro stammer over his statement makes Jiro and Saburo gawk at the sight. 

Such a look on their eldest brother’s face effectively shut down their argument. As Jiro rushes ahead towards the semi-familiar sights, his figure seems somewhat different. Perhaps it is because he doesn’t have his normal jacket on, or perhaps it is because he’s walking his own path a little bit… Saburo can’t exactly place his thoughts on the exact reason why. But he keeps stride with Ichiro, and the two just walk as Jiro rushes forward. 

“Are you okay with this, Ichi-nii?” Saburo asks vaguely. 

“Of course I am, Saburo. All I’ve wanted for you and Jiro is to grow up into your own people. I’m flattered that you two look up to me so much, but I want you two to be the people you think you should be. I never expected you two to follow in my footsteps forever, but at the very least… let me be your older brother who loves you two for who you are.”

Saburo laughs at the way Jiro is trying to usher him and Ichiro along. 

“You’ll always be our respectable older brother, Ichi-nii. That will never change.”

Ichiro ruffles Saburo’s hair. “Thanks for that, Saburo.”

The Yamada brothers make it to the venue just in time for the Preliminary Battle to start. Jiro and Ichiro didn’t send any remark of good luck to their boyfriends, as to give them time to focus on their task at hand. 

“And now for their opposing team, Bad Ass Temple! This team was recently formed prior to the announcement of the 2nd DRB! Will they have what it takes to advance to the seeded Preliminary?”

“Damn right they will!” Jiro grumbles. 

The three walk out on stage and their reception isn’t the best. There’s a lot of confused mutters amongst the audience, and this ticks Jiro off even more. 

He stands up from where he is seated. 

“SHOW ME THE RESULTS OF YOUR TRAINING, 14TH MOON!!” His voice effectively shuts up the disturbing ruckus, and Saburo only sighs at his stupid brother’s outburst. But it wasn’t like it wasn’t warranted. 

“Heaven and Hell, I won’t forgive you if you guys lose!”

Ichiro smirks at his brother’s support for Bad Ass Temple. But, this was a reason why they came over anyways. It was likely that many of the teams participating in this Preliminary Battle assume that they’re just as strong as they are. 

But Kuko was his partner for a while. Long enough to survive the hellish territory battles in Ikebukuro. “Show them who they’re messin’ with, Evil Monk!”

Bad Ass Temple looks over in shock. They see the Yamadas as they usually are, and the brothers all nod at each other to raise their hands in the air. Their hands form a hand sign, with the ring finger held down by their thumbs. A simple sign, one that Kuko spoke about in passing as well-known groups have their own hand sign. 

The members of Bad Ass Temple watch in shock and love-filled awe as the Yamadas show their support in full. 

The MC tries to get the Preliminary Battle underway after a moment of stunned silence. 

Bad Ass Temple gets the first attack after a simple coin toss, and with one group verse, they take their opponents out swiftly and aggressively. 

The Yamadas evilly smirk once the members in the audience are shocked over the 10 second battle. 

And it happened another 3 times, shooting Bad Ass Temple into the semifinals with literal ease. 

“Isn’t Bad Ass Temple like, really strong? Why haven’t we heard of them sooner?”

“The DRB was only restricted to those four divisions the first time around, so it’s a first for Nagoya Division to get a chance to go in! Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard of them?!”

Jiro clicks his tongue. “Why do they easily change their minds after seeing how they fight… that’s not fair.”

“Remember, Jiro… it was kinda like that when we stood on our own stage.” Ichiro says calmly. “As long as they show everyone what they’ve got, I think that’s okay, right?”

Some grumbling later, Jiro just sits back and waits for Bad Ass Temple to come out and take these people out. 

The Yamadas, being Buster Bros!!!, knew from the get-go who the finalists were going to be. First was obviously Bad Ass Temple. And then their opponents would be the group that had been in the 3rd round. From the looks of it, their leader had developed a sort of rap skill, which enhanced the power of his teammate’s raps. If anybody in Bad Ass Temple let their guard down, it’s a possibility this group could take them out.

Jiro has a vice grip around his ring as they begin the final round. 

Somehow, the team figured out Jyushi was the weakest of the team, and tried to crush him with raps about his looks. They copied and pasted attack after attack from Jyushi’s own past, in an attempt to push him back. But they tremble as Jyushi remains unfazed. His speakers manifest, a gothic-style Western house with gravestones. Amanda comes to life in Jyushi’s hands, and with a graceful turn, he sends consecutive rap after rap towards the other team. 

“So what if this is what I look like? This is how I am, and I don’t need your validation to live the way I want! I’ve found people of my own who support me for who I am, and I have moved on from the dark days of being bullied! After seeing the brightness of the world, there’s no way you can pull me into the darkness again, and if you dare try, there will be a curse in the wind that brings you down first!”

Jyushi’s rap gave Jiro this kind of feeling, and there was so much confidence in those words, and such truth to them, that Jiro has no choice but to believe everything he says. 

And when something like this is happening before his eyes, Jiro really has no other recourse but to… watch Jyushi’s progress from the meek, lovable man he was before. He’s really moving forward. And he’s … stronger. Thanks to Bad Ass Temple, thanks to him and his brothers… his band… Amanda…

Jyushi… all on his own willpower…

Has become so strong. 

Jiro trembles in response. 

The entire group gets Jyushi’s attack and is thrown backwards. They enter the easy KO, and Bad Ass Temple becomes a seeded group in Nagoya Division with literal ease. The moment Kuko realizes this, he whacks Jyushi so hard, the taller teen almost falls over. But when his blue eyes meet with Jiro’s golden and emerald, and he sees the proud grin on his face, Jyushi’s heart blossoms with warmth. 

“Ahhh…. I want to hurry and see them now!”

Hitoya scratches the back of his head with a smirk. “Well, we’re going to have to wait a little longer. There are still things we need to do in regards to… the advertisements and whatnot.”

With that, Kuko faces the audience with the BAT Hand Sign up in the air. “Ya better support Bad Ass Temple! We’re gonna turn Chuohku upside-down, and make our mark on the DRB!!”

Everyone screams in delight over Nagoya Division’s own seeded group’s declaration. Ichiro just snorts at Kuko’s statement. “As always, Kuko’s just tryin’ to pick all sorts of fights.”

“But, I think that’s important, being newcomers in the DRB.” Saburo says sagely. 

“Who cares about that kinda stuff right now! Let’s go and greet them, and then get some food!!” Jiro jumps out of his chair and tries to find the back entry into the venue. 

With a sigh Ichiro looks down at Saburo, who has this determined look on his face. 

“Saburo, you look awfully determined right now. Thinking about our own Preliminary Battle?”

Saburo nods. “Yes, I am thinking about it. But there’s nothing wrong at all, Ichi-nii. I’m just thinking I want to hurry and do our own Preliminary Battle so we can stand on the same stage as Bad Ass Temple.”

Ichiro wraps an arm around Saburo’s shoulder and grins. “I feel the same, Saburo. For now though, let’s just enjoy the time we can spend together without thinking about the DRB.”

With that said, they follow Jiro’s route and try to get into the back of the venue. 

The first thing Jiro does the moment his eyes spot Jyushi is pull him in for a hug and a fierce kiss. The way Jyushi is pulled into the kiss would have made him lose his balance, if it weren’t for Jiro’s arms around his waist. 

“Oh my god Jyushi, how did you manage to get so freaking awesome during these past months-“ Jiro just continues to squeeze Jyushi tight and he smiles sheepishly. “I-It was because of Jiro. I was able to push forward because I imagined Jiro was doing his best… and that helped me push forward with my own training.”

The door opens again and Ichiro and Saburo come into the room as well. In a similar fashion, Ichiro zones in on Kuko and pulls him in for a hug and kiss. However, Kuko didn’t like the feeling of being lifted into the air for this hug and kiss. 

“Oi, Ichiro! I know you’re freakin’ tall and all that, but put me down!” Instead, Ichiro just hugs Kuko a little tighter. “I can’t help it, Kuko! You guys did great! There’s no way your team’s gonna get eliminated for the second Preliminary, there’s no way!” Kuko continues yelling, and Jyushi continues hugging Jiro with a leg raised behind him, and amidst the general chaos, Saburo approaches Hitoya and gives him an apologetic bow. 

“I apologize for my brothers, Hitoya-san. But I have to agree that your team is very powerful. Nobody could stand a chance.”

Hitoya takes a deep breath and sees his teammates smiling with all their might with their boyfriends. He ends up shrugging. “I don’t think I did much of anything. It was all Kuko and Jyushi. They put in the work.”

Jyushi shakes his head. “That isn’t true, Hitoya-san! You did as much as Kuko-san and I did! Your level-headed support was something we needed!!”

“See? Being in a team means every little thing is important.” Saburo smiles softly. 

Hitoya just shrugs again, but with a smile this time. “... whatever. The more important matter at hand though is that we’ve already done what we set out to do. Now we have to get these… advertisements out of the way.”

“Agh, that can wait until later! For now, we’re going for ankake spaghetti!! Ichiro them don’t know the miracles behind this delicious dish, and it’s a sin to let them leave without experiencing the taste!!” Kuko grabs Ichiro’s arm and drags him out of the waiting room. 

“I assume Kuko’s taking Ichiro to that one, so I’ll take Saburo over there.” Hitoya follows Saburo out of the waiting room, and Hitoya just smirks at Jiro and Jyushi for a moment. “Don’t take too long reuniting.”

As he closes the door, Saburo turns to him. “We could easily catch up to Ichi-nii and Kuko.”

“But they’re also a reuniting couple. Just leave them some space to have their moment. We’ll save seats for them in the meanwhile.” Hitoya walks out of the venue, and Saburo just leaves their conversation at that. But he turns to another topic. 

“So, Hitoya-san… what exactly is ankake spaghetti?”

Kuko drags Ichiro out of the venue, all the way down a few blocks. Ichiro thinks that Kuko is taking him to the restaurant, but he’s sorely mistaken when Kuko takes him to a less populated area, and very deserted looking alleyway. 

Ichiro doesn’t get a chance to ask Kuko what’s up because Kuko just hugs him inside this deserted area. Far in the distance,the hustle and bustle of a nearby mall rings life into the air. The aroma of fried foods lingers in the air. There’s a comfortable chill as the wind pushes through the alleyway. But the only important thing right now, was Kuko’s presence. That’s the only thing Ichiro chooses to focus on. 

Ichiro wraps his arms around Kuko again, and the two spend a long moment hugging. 

“I don’t know how the hell Jiro and Jyushi do this. It freakin’ hurts not being able to see you whenever I want to.” Kuko grumbles. 

Ichiro smiles sadly as his large hand rubs Kuko’s back caringly. “We had it good back then. We were both living in ‘Bukuro… and we saw each other every day. But… I don’t think that this distance problem will be a problem for us. We just have to get used to the distance problem first.”

Kuko snorts as he pulls himself deeper into Ichiro’s embrace. “Yeah, well… It’s been a few months, and all the calling and virtual game nights don’t help at all.”

Ichiro laughs softly. “I didn’t say it was going to be easy. But if Jiro and Jyushi can do it, with their rapidly developing relationship, I bet we can handle it as well.”

Kuko raises his head to look at Ichiro’s confident gaze. Light glitters in Kuko’s golden eyes at the sight before his usual smirk comes out. “Wanna bet on it?”

Ichiro’s gaze sharpens as his own toothy grin comes out. “What kinda bet are you thinking about?”

Kuko tilts his head for a short moment before he snorts. “... I guess I don’t even know myself! I just want to feel Ichiro, and not have to worry about the stuff that we’ll have to deal with until later.”

Ichiro snorts at that as well. “What the hell Kuko…. You’re already making it hard for me…”

Kuko gets a strong grip on Ichiro’s jacket and pulls him down a little, to the point that their noses touch. Kuko’s half-lidded gaze and seductive smile makes Ichiro’s hands dig into Kuko’s sides a little in response. 

“Well… we don’t have to worry about that for a little while. You’re stayin’ over here for the night, and we’re all gonna go back to ‘Bukuro for your Prelim. I’m thinking all things considered, we’ll be able to spend a week or so together. How does that sound?”

Ichiro presses their noses a little more in response. “I think that sounds amazing, Kuko. Now, shut up so I can kiss you already.”

“Hah. Who said I needed to shut up so you could kiss me?”

“Heh. Who indeed….”

Their kiss is unlike anything they’ve shared since their relationship got back on the right track. Sure, they’ve had desperate kisses, and heated kisses. Soft kisses, and love-filled kisses. But, there was just something different about this kiss. 

It was a kiss of longing and love. One that portrayed their excitement, desperation, and desires all in one complex package. If they were given the opportunity, they’d probably spend the time mapping out where all those separate emotions started and ended. But, they can’t. Not right now, anyway. 

After pulling away from their desperate kiss with a gasp, Kuko slides his hands away from Ichiro’s jacket to his face. His manicured hands push away strands of Ichiro’s hair. In the process, which exposes his flushed skin some more. 

“Shit…. if I had the time, I would have already taken you home…” Kuko groans. 

“Don’t remind me… okay?!” Ichiro groans in response to Kuko’s disgruntled statement. 

“Tonight, though. You’re not getting away from it, alright?” Kuko pulls Ichiro in for another series of desperate kisses. 

And from the way Ichiro pulls Kuko in as close as he can, that was all the confirmation that Kuko needed that Ichiro was okay with the plans Kuko just set for them.

It takes Jiro and Jyushi a horrendously long time to separate from their hug. Eventually, Jyushi was able to regain his balance on his two feet, even if Jiro thought it was, in a sense, adorable that Jyushi had to raise his leg up like that. Jiro does mention that to Jyushi, and the two end up adorably arguing over what defines “adorable” for a man. 

Amanda ends up snorting at their argument, because they both essentially argued that both of them were adorable. Jiro’s argument was that “Jyushi is always invested in his looks, so I think it would be easy enough to say that you’re the adorable one! You’re a hell of a lot better looking than me, that’s for sure!”

Jyushi’s argument was, “but Jiro! Your beauty doesn’t come from the outside like mine does! Yours is all about inner beauty, and that’s a lot more beautiful than my vanity!”

But Jiro argues that “Jyushi! Your vanity? There’s nothing about you that screams vanity in the way you’re probably thinking! This was your way of finding love for yourself, because you didn’t think you would have found someone that loved you for who you are!”

And Jyushi says, “while you seem to have a point, Jiro, I think that your inner beauty is still more beautiful than mine. You have such a big heart, and you may stumble over your words and emotions sometimes, but you know what! That’s what makes Jiro Jiro, and that’s why I love you so!”

The two would have kept on going, until Amanda pops out of Jyushi’s bag and waves their hands, laughing up a storm. 

“Okay, okay! Just… let’s put a lid on this…! Ahaha- haha!!”

Jiro and Jyushi turn to Amanda, who seems to have a hard time trying to calm down. 

“But Amanda-!” Jyushi starts.

“O-okay…. whew! Let’s just… let’s all take a deep breath.”

Everyone takes a deep breath as Amanda suggests. Even this gets Amanda to calm down, and they’re able to think a little clearly. 

“I understand what both Jiro and Jyushi have to say about each other. First off, Jyushi thinks that Jiro is beautiful because he’s got a big heart, a caring personality, and an all around appreciation for everything.”

Jyushi nods fervently at Amanda’s answer. 

“But Jiro thinks Jyushi is beautiful because of the years he’s spent cultivating his outer appearance. While Jyushi and others might call it vanity, Jiro observes that Jyushi did this out of love and protection for himself, because he had a point in his life where he thought nobody would love him for who he is.”

Jiro nods just as fervently at Amanda’s answer. 

Amanda puts their two front appendages together. “But you know? Isn’t that what makes a couple?”

Jiro and Jyushi tilt their heads curiously at the statement. 

“Jiro is about inner beauty. Jyushi is about outer beauty. You combine the two together… and you have something that’s beautiful all around. Jiro’s inner beauty influences Jyushi’s outlook on his inner emotions and how he’s perceived by everyone. Jyushi’s outer beauty gives Jiro a new look on himself, and ways that make him look… beautiful in a new way. Jiro gives Jyushi time to look inside himself, and Jyushi gives Jiro time to look at himself on the outside. The differences between you two help fill each other out, fill in the puzzle that might be missing inside you. I think… that’s what makes a beautiful couple. Don’t you think?”

Amanda’s words sink in for a long time. It gives the two time to think about things in their relationship. Namely…. How was it that they were able to click so easily?

It was Jiro’s outgoing personality. He took to Jyushi’s meek personality and instant reversion to his persona like a fish would take to water. Such an accommodating person gave Jyushi the chance to look in on himself, and spur on change for himself. 

And, Jyushi managed to get Jiro to think about some other things. While he won’t touch makeup right this moment, the fact that Jiro’s nails are almost always now colored shows Jyushi that Jiro likes the look. Or at the very least, it’s a way to connect them while they’re apart. 

“Somehow… thinking about it… I haven’t done much to change Jiro, but Jiro has done so much to change me…” Jyushi looks down at the floor as he realizes that. 

“No, Jyushi. You’ve changed me in ways that can’t be seen on the inside.” Jiro forces Jyushi’s vision to gaze back at him. With a sheepish smile, Jiro directs Jyushi’s vision to him entirely, without wavering elsewhere. 

“For me, Jyushi has made me think about how I think about myself on the inside. I’ve always thought that being Ichiro nii-chan’s younger brother was all I wanted to be. But ever since I’ve met you, and ever since I’ve seen just how much effort you’ve put into making a name for yourself and your band… I thought that I don’t think I should like where I am in my life. I think that… I need to find my own path. The path that speaks of Yamada Jiro. So then I can be myself… and then I can stand side by side with you.”

Jyushi’s eyes widen in shock, and his heart races. Jiro falters when he feels Jyushi’s emotions pouring into him, but he grins again. 

“I wanna be a man worthy of the place that’s by your side, Jyushi.”

“Oh, Jiro… you’ll always be worthy of this place. You’re the only one who can ever stand right here…” Jyushi wraps his arms around Jiro’s neck to pull him for yet another hug, and Amanda leans back in victory. 

“Ah, Jyushi! Shouldn’t you tell your parents about this?”

Jyushi turns back to Amanda and gasps. “Oh, I- I probably should! Jiro, come take a picture with me!!”

Jyushi hurries to get his phone and flips the camera to selfie mode. The two try to get good lighting in the waiting room and then Jyushi poses with his BAT Hand Sign. Jiro doesn’t know what he should do, so he ends up just posing with his BB Hand Sign. 

After a few pictures, Jyushi feels satisfied enough to send those pictures to his parents. 

“I’ve qualified for the DRB? Hm… Well, we have a second Prelim, but….”

Jiro just presses the button to send that bold statement with a grin. “There’s no way Bad Ass Temple is gonna eat it in the second Prelim, okay. Not after showing how badass you guys were today.”

Jyushi’s lip trembles and he’s breaking out another one of his teary grins. “Yeah!”

Jyushi picks up his bag, and Jiro waits for him, hand outstretched. “So, you didn’t really tell me much about how your parents were doing.”

Jyushi takes Jiro’s hand and they walk out of the waiting room. “Well, they’re kinda like archeologists? They’re always at dig sites, analyzing fossils and whatnot. They had thought that they were retiring after I was born, but they couldn’t exactly retire… not when the number of available archeologists within Japan’s field of study was dwindling. They’re usually away more than they’re here, but they have tried. I know that much at the very least. But, even if I know that much, I don’t really know too much about what it is that they do.” Jyushi smiles sheepishly. “But you know? I want you to meet my parents. Even if it’s just once.”

Jiro grins at that. “I think I’d like to meet them as well. And who knows? Maybe they’ll be able to make it to the DRB!”

“Maybe, right?! I think it will be kinda embarrassing to think about my parents seeing me rap… but it’s a performance in its own way, right?”

“Damn right it is! And, I think they’ll be proud of what you have accomplished. You’ve managed to find a way to strengthen yourself through rap. That is something that shouldn’t be forgotten.” Jiro swings their connection back and forth between them. “So! We need to go and celebrate Bad Ass Temple’s victory! Where is the place we’re going to?”

Jyushi runs his hands through his hair, and the blue highlights catch Jiro’s attention. 

“It’s this place we go to frequently. I think Kuko-san will make you all eat ankake spaghetti, which is like Italian spaghetti, but different. There’s a ton of different toppings that you can have, and the soup base is usually thicker than normal Italian pasta. I think Jiro will enjoy it.”

Their eyes meet, and Jiro’s grin is dazzling in the afternoon sunlight. 

“That does sound pretty good!”

The two continue to walk and have idle chat fill in the space between each other, but Jiro drops their mundane conversation the moment they’re at a dead crosswalk, waiting for their light to change. 

“You never told me you were interested in blue, Jyushi.” Jiro starts off with. 

Jyushi’s ears burn red in response. “I did it for support. Since Jiro is always wearing blue, I thought that I would always think about you if I had blue. But I didn’t know that Jiro was into pink.”

Jiro’s face darkens a light red. “I did it for the same reason you did. Midterms are hell, okay? So I thought that if I had something in front of me that reminded me of you, I’d be able to get through the tests okay.”

The two stew in their embarrassment for a short moment, and the light changes. They walk across the crosswalk, and Amanda pops out of Jyushi’s bag. 

“Man, you two are really on the same wavelength! You guys are most definitely destined to be together!”

“AMANDA!” Jiro and Jyushi yell embarrassedly, but Amanda laughs as their point was literally just made right in front of them. 

After they cross, Jyushi pushes them to the side and it gives the two of them time to actually… embrace their closeness. 

“... I really missed you, Jiro.” Jyushi hugs Jiro as tight as he possibly can. Jiro just returns the hug as best as he can. Just having the mere chance to hold Jyushi like this… it really was the best thing.

“How did we even manage four months this time?” Jiro laughs. 

“It really is getting harder to spend time apart…” Jyushi squeezes Jiro as tight as he can. “But, I think that being so far apart has helped us pour our efforts into our obligations.”

Jiro makes a humming noise in recognition. 

“But, it still doesn’t help the fact that I wanna spend more time with you…”

Jyushi just nods, not releasing his hold on Jiro. 

“But… we’re gonna be together for a little bit! You’re staying over today, right? And well, we’re all gonna go down to ‘Bukuro for your Prelim. I figure we’ll spend about a week together.”

“Ho? You finally said ‘Bukuro. I’m liking how it sounds from you.” Jiro runs his hands through Jyushi’s layered hair and grins. 

Jyushi just shyly giggles in response. “Well… why not? If my boyfriend says it, I thought that maybe I should too.”

Jiro gently pushes Jyushi away from the hug and looks straight into his eyes with pride. “Heh. There you go again, going ahead and doing things that will make me fall in love with you even more than I thought was possible.”

Jyushi’s chuckle is a melody Jiro wishes he could hear all the time. But more importantly, the pressing of their foreheads, the way their eyelashes innocently touch when Jyushi blinks… (Hey, didn’t Takahashi say that this was a kiss as well?) the mere ability to see Jyushi’s beautiful sky blue eyes mere inches away from him…

Man, Jiro wants to see this forever, if he could.

“I’m only doing this because you make me fall even more in love with you in every single thing you do… consider this as payback then.”

“Hey, don’t make this a competition over who falls deeper in love with who.” Jiro gently tilts his head to the side. Jyushi leans in some more, another chuckle embracing his lips. 

“If it was a competition, we’d both lose.”

“Aha. That sounds about right…” Jiro presses another kiss to Jyushi’s lips, which is used to convey all sorts of “love” and “adoration” one has for the other. Its soft, gentle rhythm is one they’re more than comfortable with because boy, they have four months of catching up to do. 

They press their kisses everywhere they can, and Jyushi ends up blushing embarrassedly when his lipstick smudged and left kiss stains all over Jiro’s cheeks. 

With a laugh, Jiro waves it off and points to the store a little ways away. “That’s the place, right? Let’s just get it fixed inside!”

“But Jiro-!!” Jyushi chases after him, Amanda just cackling away in the process. 

“Ah… Everything seems a little livelier, now that Jiro has come.”

With this, Jyushi grins widely. “Of course it would! Jiro’s the love of my life, after all!”

“And that… is something I know very well…” Amanda just gets settled inside the bag, watching at the way their red string pulsates with life.

After lunch, Kuko’s cackling over Jiro’s lipstick stained face, and animated conversations over the DRB, everyone breaks off to spend some alone time before night falls. 

“Jiro! Don’t forget that we’re gonna be staying the night at Kuko’s!” Ichiro yells before getting dragged by the man in question. 

Saburo sticks by Hitoya’s side, partially because he’s interested in conversations with the lawyer, and partially because he’s interested in Hitoya’s perspective of “vintage.”

Which left Jiro and Jyushi. But they weren’t alone for long. 

“JI-RO-TAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!!” Takeru jumps and hug tackles Jiro. 

“It’s been soooooo long! How have you been!!!???” Takeru asks while he spins Jiro around. 

“Whoa! It’s been awhile sure, but- whoa!!” Jiro yelps. 

“Okay, spare the poor kid before you accidentally kill him, Take-chan.” Keisuke pulls Takeru back, but he puts his fist out towards Jiro. 

“You’re looking pretty damn good, Jiro.”

Jiro grins as he presses his fist back to Keisuke’s. “You look pretty good yourself.”

Jun and Kou simply wave. “You look well, Jiro. That’s a relief.”

“It sure has been a while, Jiro-kun!”

“Yo! How have you guys been?”

Jyushi smiles at the group reunion. 

“Okay! So we should go to the arcade, right?!” Takeru yells.

“What about the karaoke bar?” Jun suggests.

“What about the mall?” Keisuke suggests.

“Why are we asking ourselves? We should be asking Jiro-kun!” Kou exclaims. 

Jiro laughs. “Let’s just do everything! I’m only gonna be here for today, so let’s just do it all!”

And so the entire group spent the hours doing everything and nothing at the same time. It was refreshing, being able to spend this time together. It reminded Jiro of just how much fun he had the last time he was here. 

Of course, half of that was because he was with friends, and half of it was because he was in the place his lover loved with all his being. 

“Say, you guys should come over to ‘Bukuro!” Jiro suggests after they all take a rest from the DDR machine which cursed them with the randomness that was Ievan Polkka once again. 

“Ah! That’s right! Aren’t the Ikebukuro Prelims like in a couple days?!” Takeru jumps. 

“Well, yeah. Jyushi said that he was coming down, but if you guys would like a little time to enjoy the sights, why not come over?”

“Jun-chan! Let’s go! We’re pretty much free anyways.” Kou jumps up and grabs his twin’s hands. 

“Well, if Kou wants to go, I have no objections.” Jun smiles at the way Kou brightens up at the answer.

“Well, if Kou-kun is going, then I have to go as well. To protect him from lechers.” Keisuke teases.

Jun shoots a death glare to the guitarist. “You touch Kou, you’re dead.”

“Then I have to come along too! So then Jun-Jun doesn’t kill Kei-Kei! We still need Kei-Kei to perform!” Takeru jumps. 

Jyushi looks at Jiro with a sheepish smile. “I guess your support group got a lot bigger.”

Jiro just grins happily. “I’m okay with that. I wanna show everyone this side to me anyways.”

Jyushi just wraps his arms around Jiro in silence. But from the warming of his chest, Jiro knew that Jyushi was touched.

Jyushi takes Jiro to Kuko’s temple. “This was where I did a lot of my stamina training. Kuko-san may be strict, but I think his training paid off in some way.”

“It really did, Jyushi. I mean, look at all the progress you made in these months.” Jiro grins. 

They stay together for a little while longer until Jyushi reluctantly lets go of Jiro’s hands. “I guess I’ll meet with you in the morning?”

Jiro nods. “I’ll call you when we’re ready to head out.”

Jyushi nods in response. 

With great reluctance, Jiro parts ways with Jyushi. They continue waving at each other until they can’t anymore, and Amanda immediately senses Jyushi’s sadness. 

“Don’t be sad, Jyushi. You’ll just spend one night apart.” 

“I know Amanda. But…. I was hoping…” Jyushi shakes his head. “... no never mind. I shouldn’t think like that. I should just prepare for our trip. Won’t it be exciting, visiting Ikebukuro again?”

“It really will be, Jyushi! I wonder how Takahashi and the others are doing?”

“Oh, I don’t know…. maybe we can meet up with them while we’re there!”

“That would be nice!”

With plans in mind, Jyushi turns back to make his way home.

“Thank you for letting us stay for the night.” Jiro thanks Kuko’s father for their hospitality. The man in monk robes smiles. “Any acquaintance of my foolish son’s is welcome at any time.”

“Ah, Jiro, you’re here.” Saburo spots his brother and puts his towel down. 

“Saburo! Where’s Nii-chan?”

Saburo simply shrugs. “Probably with Kuko. But you’re probably gonna have to look for Kuko first. He knows where the spare sets of clothing and bedding are.”

“Ah… yeah, he’s probably with Kuko… I guess I should look for his room first.” Jiro waves Saburo off and as he dries his hair, he belatedly realizes it was probably a bad idea to send Jiro off in that direction.

After thinking about the repercussions, he just shrugs. 

“Well, if Jiro-nii can’t handle it, then that’s his undoing.”

Jiro walks down the long hallway in search for Kuko’s room. Since it was pretty deserted, it was pretty easy to figure out which rooms were occupied and which ones weren’t. 

After turning the corner, he sees the lights are on in one of the rooms to the left. 

Jiro calls out while he grabs the handle to the sliding door.

“Ah, Kuko, are you here? Saburo told me to talk to you about-“

In front of his eyes were both his brother and Kuko. However, their jackets were thrown to the side and their shirts were pretty much on their way there. Kuko and Ichiro look at Jiro almost owlishly. 

“Ah, Jiro!” Kuko tries to clear out the awkward air as Jiro stands dumbfoundedly. 

After a long moment to process the scene in general, Jiro closes the sliding door as slowly as he could have. After shielding his eyes from the sight, his mind tells him he needs to get the fuck outta there!

“... I’m gonna sleep over at Jyushi’s for the night.” Jiro says as calmly as he can. 

“O-Okay. I’ll call you when we’re ready to go?” Ichiro tries to act as normal as he possibly could.

“Yeah… good night, Nii-chan, Kuko.”

And after saying that, he bolts out of the temple.

Jyushi hums to himself as he packs clothes for his trip when he receives some knocks to his door. Immediately, he rushes out to the entryway and sees that Jiro is there. 

He opens the door worriedly. Jiro’s face is flushed, and it looks like he ran all the way here. 

“... Let me stay the night.” Jiro only says this one thing.

It’s the only thing Jyushi needs to hear. 

Jyushi takes Jiro’s hands gently and brings him inside the apartment. 

The door audibly shuts and the sound of a lock can be heard from outside.