Chapter Text
The year was 2010. Many of the Chosen Children were working their way towards their career paths, while the others were still honing their craft, or studying their way through university, hoping the answer to life would appear somehow.
Koushiro was lucky to find as many answers as he had at his age. He had already graduated from university by the end of Taichi’s second year, and at 21 years old, he was the CEO of his own technology company.
Taichi had been Koushiro's roommate in their two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment for three years now, since the time he had left his parent’s home and moved out after high school. Koushiro’s startup was a success and he had earned enough to buy his own place by that point. But he was used to having Taichi as a roommate; they were best friends, so Koushiro liked living with him.
Just as much as he liked living across the hallway from Daisuke, Takeru, and Ken in the same apartment building. There was a lot of hustle and bustle between their apartments combined as they had frequent visitors among all of the Chosen, and the three younger boys visiting Taichi and Koushiro’s apartment nearly every other day. Koushiro had learned to block out the noise, especially when he needed to focus, but it was a wonder that the rest of the building hadn’t reported any noise complaints against the two apartments. Taichi himself might as well have been a noise complaint on his own - he was usually the most jovial amongst their friends; and, not to mention those evenings when Sora stayed the night.
Koushiro had less to complain about lately, including one Friday evening when he happened to have the apartment to himself. Taichi had gone over to Sora’s place; and since Taichi’s schedule was free from classes the next day, he was not going to return to the apartment that night.
So, Koushiro relaxed in his moment of freedom, wearing a casual shirt and jeans, but adding a touch of gel to his hair from what he had already worn earlier that day at his office. He spritzed on some cologne because he wanted this night to be special.
A knock came at the door, and he couldn’t help but smile when he opened it. Hikari was standing there, and she looked as beautiful to him as ever.
“Hey,” he whispered.
Hikari smiled. “Hello,” she whispered back.
Out of habit, Koushiro peered over Hikari’s shoulder and around the empty hallway, eyeing the closed door across the hall. Hikari had looked around as well, but soon after, Koushiro took her by the hand to pull her inside, allowing her to close the door behind her.
Then, she leaned forward to greet him with a kiss - a kiss that nearly took his breath away.
“Hello, handsome,” she said, this time her voice raised to normal, her tone bubbly.
“Hey, Hikari,” Koushiro replied in his attempt not to sound breathless. He found it hard to use pet names, even though he wanted to call her ‘beautiful’.
Hikari giggled, then pulled him close for an embrace. He felt her breathe in. “Mmm, you smell nice.”
He took note of the sweet, floral scent on her, but his cheeks burned as he knew that he was too meek to say the same. Instead, he settled for holding their embrace for a few more seconds, with the knowledge that the moments he had with her that night was worth savoring.
Especially since no one had known that he and Hikari had been dating for a month.
They had prided themselves for keeping this secret from their circle of friends for so long. Luckily for them, the two of them were the least suspicious of anything out of everyone; therefore, the best two at keeping secrets and coordinating with each other whenever they interacted with the members of their group. Mimi and Miyako were intuitive enough to sense that Hikari and Koushiro had new ‘special someones’ in their lives, but they were so far out of their minds to even connect the dots.
Hiding this fact from Taichi had been their greatest achievement, but with Koushiro as his roommate and best friend, and Hikari as his younger sister, Taichi’s discovery was actually their greatest fear.
Another peck from Hikari had wiped the mixture of thoughts from Koushiro’s mind.
“So,” Hikari said, moving her hands from around his back to his arms. “I stopped by the market on the way here for ingredients to make us some dinner.”
“Are you sure?” he asked her. “You must be tired from being at uni all day. Why don’t we heat up some instant yakisoba?”
Hikari scrunched her eyebrows. “Nonsense! I will make you some from scratch. It’ll taste much better, I promise.”
“I’m sure it will.”
“And after that,” Hikari drew closer again. “We can watch something together, like a movie, and after that, maybe…"
Koushiro’s felt his heart beating more quickly for some reason. "Maybe… what?"
"You know… since it'll be just the two of us here by ourselves, we could…"
"...Enjoy the movie in each other's comfort?" Koushiro guessed.
Hikari paused, then she laughed, her cheeks turning pink.
"You can be so clueless about this. It's charming."
"Charming? I guess I wouldn't think of myself that way."
"Of course you wouldn't. That's part of your charm." Hikari giggled again at Koushiro's curious stare. "I wouldn’t be here to spend time with you and make you dinner otherwise."
She let go of his arms and turned to face the kitchen. As she took a step towards it, Koushiro took her wrist, stopping her. What she had been trying to say suddenly clicked in his head.
"What if I suggested for these events to be out of order?" Koushiro asked.
"What did you want to do first?" she asked.
"Well… the part that was meant for after the movie…"
His face was heating up again, but this time, his eyes were fixated on Hikari, who gave him a look of surprise.
“Really? You want to…?”
Koushiro nodded.
Hikari’s lips curled into a smile, the kind that he recognized when she was being playful. The kind that urged him to kiss those lips again. So when he drew her in like a magnet, her lips met his once more, and he gladly accepted. He kissed her back, his heart drumming in his chest as his hands wrapped around her waist, and her body closing in until her chest pushed up against his.
That “part” he was talking about was unexplored territory for him and Hikari. They had been taking their intimacy at a slow pace, and they had found pockets of time to sneak away with each other, stealing kisses here and there, even making out in each others’ rooms before their respective roommates showed up. But this time, Koushiro predicted that they would have no interruptions, and if they both wanted to end up in his bed that night, there would be no stopping them.
Not even a step was taken toward Koushiro’s bedroom when the front door opened.
“Kouuushiroooo!” came Daisuke’s voice. “I’m bored, let’s game…”
Both Hikari and Koushiro ripped apart from each other, but they were a second too late. They both faced Daisuke’s widened eyes and jaw which dropped so far it might as well have hit the ground.
“Daisuke!” cried Hikari, mortified. “Don’t you ever knock?!”
Gah! Koushiro thought in his head, but he might have said it aloud. He had been too enamored with Hikari to have forgotten to lock the door when she arrived. He gathered that her immediate reaction toward Daisuke was out of her guilt for the same reason.
“No, no way!” Daisuke said with surprised laughter in his voice. “Kou is your mystery boyfriend?! And Hikari’s your secret lover?”
“Daisuke!” Hikari repeated, her face turning as red as Koushiro knew his face appeared.
“Oh, man! I can only imagine what would happen if Taichi found out-”
Hikari started toward Daisuke, but Koushiro was faster, with his fear, panic, and anger surging all at once. He held Daisuke by the shirt collar and mere inches away from his face.
“You cannot tell Taichi,” Koushiro spat, and he realized that the tone of panic must have prevailed based on how his voice sounded. Still, his forcefulness seemed to have caught Daisuke frightened.
“Whoa, I didn’t think this would be so serious-” Daisuke sputtered.
“Please, Daisuke, promise you won’t tell him, or anyone else!” begged Hikari at Koushiro’s side.
“Alright! Alright…” After a few moment’s pause, Daisuke’s stare relaxed, but his next question threw the other two for a loop. “What’s in it for me?”
“Why would we owe you anything?!” Koushiro asked incredulously.
“This is a pretty big secret, and you know how terrible I am at keeping them. And when it comes to Taichi, there’s no way I could keep this from him. I’d like some compensation.”
For a head like his that was always full of ideas, Koushiro was running short of them at that moment. He let go of Daisuke’s collar, having no idea what would appease Daisuke for something like this.
“Ramen,” Hikari replied suddenly. “You can cook for us,” she continued. “We’ll critique it for you.”
Daisuke’s eyes softened. This was something that Koushiro knew meant a great deal to Daisuke, as he was studying and aspiring to be in the culinary field. Not a day had gone by that he boasted about his skills and he had begged everyone in his friends group to at least taste his food to help learn what worked and what needed improvement.
Koushiro was in awe of Hikari hitting the nail on the head with this idea, and it made him adore her more than ever.
“Do you guys really mean that?” Daisuke asked, and Koushiro swore that Daisuke’s eyes were getting glassy.
“Yes! We do!” Hikari replied, and Koushiro nodded enthusiastically. “Hikari and I will enjoy your ramen together!”
“You guys… are the best!!” Daisuke stood up, then hugged Koushiro and then Hikari tightly. Koushiro smiled widely along with Hikari, knowing that they both were laughing in relief.
Then, Daisuke laughed aloud in his glee, and he balled his hands into fists and held them at his sides. “Ah, well! Nothing like a couple devouring my best noods ! Wait, that didn’t come out right…”
Koushiro blinked in confusion, then turned to Hikari once more, and she shrugged as she smiled with embarrassment in reply.
After a few hours of practicing ikebana, Sora needed some fresh air. The first idea that appeared in her mind was to check on her friends. It was easy for her - she could pay a visit to one place and she could check mark five of her male friends’ names from the list, one of those males being her boyfriend, Taichi.
That day, she had been hoping to run into Koushiro, whom she hadn’t seen in a while. Her frequent visits had come to a halt lately, but at least Taichi stopped by her place to see her whenever he had the chance.
When she stepped off of the train, she wondered who she would see this time. Taichi had yet to respond to her text message, but even if he nor Koushiro were away, Someone was always at the other apartment for her to chat with. That was always something she expected.
What she did not expect as she stepped along the platform was to catch Koushiro's spiky red hair from the corner of her eye. She watched him quickly move through the platform with someone and turn a corner. Going on her instinct, she followed them, and she kept herself at a distance to remain unnoticed, but she was able to recognize that “someone” who sat on a bench so close to Koushiro. That petite someone who had a short bob haircut and who was slightly shorter than he was, but their head tilted upward for her lips to lock with his.
That someone who was Hikari.
Sora nearly dropped her shoulder bag, just as she heard her phone ring from inside. When she saw who was calling, her eyes widened, and she quickly took a deep breath, hoping to exhale her shock and fright before answering his call.
“Hey, Taichi,” she said. “You home?”
“I’m just leaving from work. You?”
“Oh, well I was just heading to see- uh- Koushiro-!”
Her mouth hung open as she watched the two, shamelessly kissing each other like that. Sure, they were behind a wall that was normally easily missed by any passersby, but to be out in public-!
“Huh? Koushiro?” Taichi asked.
Sora swallowed her shock and gathered herself to give Taichi a reply. “I was going to stop by the apartment to say hello.”
“Really? Want me to meet you there?”
“No-”
She realized that her answer might have been too quick. She turned around and began to head in the direction away from Koushiro and Hikari, as though every frantic step further would make Taichi less suspicious. “No. I’ll be there a short while before heading back to my place. It might take too long for you to get here. Why don’t you meet me at mine? Then we can figure out what to do then?”
Sora expected Taichi's silence for him to figure out that her suggested route made sense. She also welcomed his silence for her to process what she had just seen. Koushiro? Hikari? Together? How long had they been seeing each other? How serious was it? Did any of their friends know? Did Taichi know?
There was no way that Taichi could have known. He teased Koushiro for being a top secret "playboy", and he bickered with Hikari about any of her love interests, even if she refused to tell him any names.
"I guess I’ll take the train straight to your place then," Taichi said, then, he added with a tease, "Don’t stay too long with Koushiro. You know I’m the sensitive, protective type. I might start thinking that you’re his secret girlfriend, or something.”
Sora laughed, but not out of amusement.