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It's dark out. Chiaki's borrowing the common room to catch up on the latest season of a tokusatsu show, what with his roommates being students that need sleep and the space being open for use. It's late enough that no one has come by in the past hour, and this episode is getting increasingly complex in its twists and turns, so he can't really be blamed when he didn't see Kanata enter the room, right?
"Chiaki."
"Whoa—!" He nearly jumped off the sofa, the other boy appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "Uh, Kanata?"
Before Chiaki can react, Kanata already has his arms wrapped around Chiaki tightly, face buried against his torso. Bewildered, Chiaki starts prodding his body. "Kanataaa, are you okay? Are you sick? You didn't get hurt, did you??!"
"I am okay," Kanata mumbles, curling up to fit more comfortably on the sofa. "I just want to ‘be’ with Chiaki. Can I?"
Oh. "Of course. Whatever you need, Kanata! You can always count on me!!" He yell-whispers. It is late.
He's a little surprised. It's not that Kanata is shy with public displays of affection, if anything he's the opposite, but he's rarely clingy like this when they're out in the open. Then again, only idols are allowed into the dorms, and he's pretty sure all of their friends know already. He doesn't mind! It's kind of cute, Kanata nuzzling against him like this, even if he does have a slight hunch something is up.
He doesn't get the time to worry about it. Another familiar figure rushes into the room, a worried furrow on his brows basically confirming Chiaki's suspicions.
"Chiaki-san, there you are! Hey, have you seen—ah?" Madara stops midsentence, spotting the figure currently curled up against Chiaki.
"Yeah." He throws Madara a sheepish smile. "I think he's tired?"
"I am ‘awake’, you know. Tell the bothersome rogue to leave, please."
"Ouch!" Madara throws his hands to his chest in mock pain. "Kanata-san, that hurts. I've been looking aaaaall over for you, you know?"
The arms around Chiaki tighten, almost possessive in the way they hold onto him. "I do not want to ‘talk’ to you right now."
"Um—?" He blinks, glancing back and forth between the other two. Clearly, there's something he's missing here. "Did uh, something happen between you two?"
He feels Kanata sigh and sees Madara scratch the back of his head. "I wouldn't say anything happened, really? It's just this and that, nothing particularly important."
"Nothing you have to worry about," Kanata mumbles in agreement, which really adds up to most likely the issue being something Chiaki doesn't understand, and probably having to do with Kanata's family. Madara probably has a better handle on it than him, so he should just do what he can, for now.
"Well, it seems Mikejima-san was worried about you, Kanata! You could at least hear him out?" Chiaki tries, gently stroking Kanata's blue locks.
Kanata lets out a long whining noise and he shifts so he can look Chiaki in the eyes, revealing the pout on his lips. "You give him too much credit, Chiaki. He will ‘turn’ you against me too...."
"There's no one to turn to! We're all on the same side, Kanata, the side of good!" Chiaki tries. It doesn't do much. Not that he expected it to, really, Kanata is always difficult when he gets like this.
"It's fine, it's fine, Chiaki-san," Madara waves it off, coming over to lean against the back of the sofa and peer at Kanata. Like some sort of grumpy cat (wait, that sounds wrong, isn't Kanata supposed to be a fish), Kanata quickly looks away, refusing to even look at Madara. Chiaki's getting really curious about what happened, now.
"Kanata-san," Madara starts, voice quieter than usual. Gentle. Whatever he caught in Kanata's expression seems to have softened him up. "We don't have to talk about it right now, alright. Are you okay?"
"I do not want you of all people asking me that..."
Madara laughs nervously. Kanata sighs again, but whatever might have been bothering him about Madara's presence seems to have at least been put aside, which pushes a wave of relief through Chiaki. Kanata acts that way around the other boy often, but it's always nicer when they get along! In Chiaki's opinion, anyway.
Kanata suddenly buries his face back against Chiaki, making him yelp. "Woah! What's wrong now, Kanata?"
"Tired. Chiaki is ‘warm’. It is nice."
"Ah, so you were tired after all! You should have said so! Come on, we can move somewhere comfier, you'll get sore if you fall asleep out here," Chiaki exclaims as he attempts to push his partner up. Attempt being the keyword, since Kanata is definitely stronger than him and is currently clinging on hard.
"Chiaki-san has a point," Madara chimes in cheerfully. "Rinne-san and Hiyori-san are out, aren't they? We should at least move back to your room!"
He knows better than to ask why, exactly, Madara knows that Kanata's roommates aren't in the dorms right now. "That's right, Kanata! I'll stay with you if that's what you want," he says, right at the same time as Kanata lets out a quiet, "Who invited you?"
"Kanata, don't be like that!" Chiaki ruffles blue locks gently. He can practically feel the way Kanata is pouting right now, even though his face is out of sight. Behind them, Madara laughs easily. After all, Kanata's hostility likely comes from a place of stubbornness and frustration, rather than any actual hatred towards his childhood friend.
"I'll carry you if you're tired~" Madara teases in a sing-song tone. It works wonders, Kanata immediately bolting up, trying to move away from the taller idol. Madara in a state of determination really is a beast to behold, as he quickly manages to run around the sofa and secure Kanata into his arms, lifting him off the ground even as he yelps.
"Stop that!" Kanata hisses. "I am not a ‘child’—you are always like this!"
"Sorry, sorry, but just until we get to your room, okay?"
The two lock eyes for a moment, exchanging looks Chiaki can't quite read properly. He finds himself curious, but childhood friends will always be different, he supposes! It's quite sweet, or at least he might have said so if Kanata didn't just huff loudly and relax in Madara's hold.
"Well then." Chiaki doesn't know what to say to that, but Kanata doesn't seem to be struggling anymore, so that's good! "Should we... go?"
"Please." Kanata sounds defeated. Chiaki laughs, a little sheepish, as the group of three make their way to Kanata's room. The joy of it being so late is that no one's there to see them. Not that they haven't seen stranger things around these dorms. This isn't the weirdest sight they'd find from the three of them specifically.
As Madara said, the room is empty when they get there, both Hiyori and Rinne's beds made in a way that says neither has been here for a while. Maybe they're staying outside? No wonder Madara suggested they come here. They'll probably have the room to themselves for the night.
Madara sets Kanata down on the bed, gently. Chiaki settles down at the edge of it, figuring he should accompany his partner if Kanata went all the way to go look for him earlier. He turns to Madara, who starts, "Well, Chiaki-san seems to have it covered, so I'll—"
"You should stay, Mikejima-san!"
"You can stay."
Their sentences come out in unison. Chiaki glances at Kanata, who throws him a smile, before looking expectantly back at Madara. Now, he knows Madara well enough to be aware, even if he can't read past it, of the ways he tries to keep his expressions under control. Chiaki sees it now, a brief widening of the eyes, a quirk of his brows, before Madara shakes his head and laughs. "Honestly, you two... alright."
Madara settles at the other side of the bed, the three now stuffed into Kanata's bed. It's a tight fit, but it works with some shuffling, none of them really minding the way they end up tangled in one another. It's nothing new. They've always been caught in each other's orbit; this sort of thing became part of that, at some point.
By the time they made themselves comfortable, Chiaki just remembering to ask Kanata what's going on again, he finds said boy with his eyes shut, comfortably slotted between the two brunettes, and definitely no longer responding to his words.
"Aaah, I guess he really was tired, huh?" Chiaki comments, brushing through blue locks with his fingers. "Honestly, I wish he'd just say something about it. He fell asleep so quickly…"
"It is late, Chiaki-san," Madara points out, his tone quieter than usual out of consideration for the sleeping boy. "In fact, I think you should be getting to sleep, too! How long were you out there watching that show, huh?"
Chiaki feels his face flush. He really can't get anything past Madara. "Haha, you got me there! It's just…" His voice drops—there's no one else here, so that's fine, right? "It feels like I should be better at handling everything by now. It's so uncool, isn't it?"
"Nah, that's normal."
He blinks. Madara gives him a knowing smile because he does know, Chiaki should've realized. Green eyes darted to Kanata's sleeping form before continuing, "It's normal not to know how to do everything. But you keep trying anyway. I think that's what’s really impressive. You guys are the real deal."
You two, Madara's words seem to say. As if he wasn't a part of them, too. Chiaki shakes his head. Whether it'll be accepted or not, he says, probably a little too loud, "Mikejima-san's impressive too! I'm sure even Kanata thinks so!"
"Shh." Madara's eyes sparkle with amusement in the dark, putting his fingers to his lips as Kanata stirs between them. Oops. Chiaki continues petting Kanata's hair to hopefully keep him asleep, almost not catching the soft, "Does he, really?" from Madara.
It probably wasn't meant for his ears, so he's not going to say anything about it.
"You should rest, too!" Chiaki says instead. "It's been a while since we've had you around. Kanata's asked you to stay, after all."
"Haha, guess I shouldn't make him more upset than I already have, then."
"So you did do something?"
Madara grimaces. Chiaki bites down on his lip, hoping he hasn't overstepped, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried. It's not usually a good sign when Kanata is cagey about things, even if he does trust him! He watches as Madara looks down at Kanata again, still so careful not to really touch him, and sees that gaze grow soft.
Chiaki thinks he gets it, now.
"Well, he'll tell me if he feels like it," Chiaki amends his question, giving the other space not to answer if he doesn't want to. "I'm not sure I can help much anyway, other than this."
Madara throws that look at him this time, so soft and affectionate it makes Chiaki lower his gaze. "I think you already help plenty, Chiaki-san. That's why we don't want you to get hurt, you know~?"
He chuckles softly. "I'll… do my best not to make anyone worry."
"You—"
Suddenly, there's a hand tugging on his shirt, a sleepy voice mumbling, "Sleep. Both of you."
"Kanata, you were awake?!"
No answer. The two brunettes glance at each other and exchange a quiet laugh. Whatever conversations they need to have can wait until morning. Right now, the quiet lull of Kanata's aquarium filter is practically urging them to sleep.
"Well, he has a point!" Chiaki pulls a blanket over them, but not before reaching out to give Madara’s hand a quick squeeze. "Good night, Mikejima-san."
"…Sleep well, Chiaki-san."