Work Text:
It was odd enough alone that the common room light was still on this late, but on a weekday? Unheard of. The members gathered were even more odd: all of Spring Troupe (save their rookie) were there, just talking with a few on their phones as well.
“Is this one good Itaru-san?” Sakuya broke the small moment of silence, angling his phone towards Itaru and Citron seated on the opposite side of the couch.
It should be shocking to them at this point, but Sakuya’s luck was just a constant in their lives. With an exasperated look toward the phone, Itaru nodded while Citron simply oooh-ed and aww-ed.
“Rainbow in any game is good,” Itaru clarified, turning his attention back to his own phone. “So you already have a full team of 4 stars. ‘Grats.”
“Oh! That’s really good!” Sakuya beamed and turned his attention to the body on the floor, nudging him with his foot. “Masumi-kun, you should download it too. I can pull for you!”
“No.” Masumi replied blankly, still staring up at the ceiling.
“But Masumi,” Citron interjected. “There is a character who looks like the director! She is my oshi.”
That made Masumi shoot up, immediately handing his phone over to Sakuya. He was still easily baited.
“Tsuzuru-kun,” their resident script writer was seated on the armchair, typing away on his laptop. “I can pull for you too!”
He kept typing away.
“I don’t think I have room for it on my phone, plus I don’t think I’d have time to play. Thank you though.”
“What are you even typing?” Itaru spoke up, eyes still on his phone. “Didn’t you finish your work already?”
“I did, just drafting ideas for the next script. Writing is just a good distraction, you know?”
The mood in the room took a hit at that; a reminder of their missing member.
“All is good Tsuzuru!” Citron leaned forward on the armrest. “Chikage just had the overwork! He will be back soon.”
“Overtime,” the salaryman gently corrected, putting his phone down with a sigh. Both he and Citron knew why Chikage was still out, but neither wanted the younger members to worry. “But, yeah. The quarter’s ending soon so Senpai’s department is swamped with paperwork. Worse than last minute grinding in my mobages TBH.”
“Why aren’t you working too?” Masumi shot back, still seated on the floor but silently watching Sakuya reroll for the Director lookalike card.
“Ouch,” Masumi’s comments didn’t bother Itaru, but he was too stuck in the habit of messing with him to react any differently. He didn’t want to raise suspicion either — Masumi and Tsuzuru were a little too perceptive. “Plus different departments, duh. I saw him before leaving for the day,” That part was true at least. “He said he’d be back by now. Just give him a bit, probably ran into a random encounter on his way back.”
“Oh, like running into someone he knows?” Sakuya asked, somewhat remembering the game terms he learned from the Kniroun play. “I get that! It’s so hard to get out of situations like that… I’d feel so bad trying to leave.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Tsuzuru shut his laptop and relaxed back into the armchair. “But doesn’t Chikage-san seem like the type of person who could easily get out of stuff like that?”
“Mhm. He would just come up with an excuse and come home.” Masumi pawed for his phone after seeing the Director lookalike on the screen.
Sakuya let out a small laugh at the scene in front of him before replying as Masumi hurriedly tapped through the game’s tutorial.
“Maybe it was someone he couldn’t come off as rude towards? Someone from work?”
“But he was just at work. Why even bother him when you can go straight home.” Masumi said bluntly, still staring at his screen — not able to see the shared look of calm panic Itaru and Citron shared.
Tsuzuru hummed in agreement, about to speak before he was interrupted by the turn of the door lock.
All eyes were on the door where their missing rookie walked in, looking a bit worse for wear — though this was only noticed by the trained eyes of Itaru and Citron. If anything, to the younger members Chikage just looked a bit tired.
“I’m home.” Is all he said, his jacket and tie already off and in his arms. He’d have to take it to the dry cleaners this weekend and hope they wouldn’t question the bits of blood on it.
But all those thoughts were forgotten at the loud “Welcome back!” he received from everyone (mainly Sakuya and Citron) in the common room. Though he still wanted clarification.
“Were you all waiting for me?”
At this, Sakuya answered.
“Of course! Neither you or Itaru-san have ever worked this late, so we wanted to make sure you got home safely.”
“Senpai, when he says “we” that doesn’t include Masumi BTW. He kept on trying to sleep.”
“Why wouldn’t I. It’s late.”
“And you have no school tomorrow.”
“You—“
“Alright, alright!” Citron interjected, with a clap of his hands and a warm smile on his face. “No bitter things! Let us have peace since Chikage is back.”
“No bickering?” Tsuzuru asked, and received an enthusiastic nod from Citron. “I’d argue that’s normal around here… But Chikage-san must have had a long day, right? Let’s just have a quiet rest of the night.”
A round of agreements was heard, save for Sakuya who just made a realization with a small gasp. He turned around, and leaned over the back of the couch facing Chikage.
“Chikage-san, have you had dinner yet?”
Chikage had lied about many things in his life, and still does — but at this he faltered. Maybe he could be truthful about the small things to the rest of Spring Troupe.
“No, I haven’t yet.”
Before Sakuya could say more, Masumi joined him in leaning over the back of the couch. Stating evenly:
“We should go to the conbini across the street. Tsuzuru said he was drafting the next script and I’m out of noodles to feed him.”
“A snack run sounds good, actually. I need to restock my inventory cause someone keeps raiding me.” Itaru added, as Citron feigned innocence.
“Maybe you should add a shelf for this raider, no? I will go along and help pick snacks for the restock!”
Before anyone could say no, it was decided that the entire Spring Troupe would be going on a late night snack run. Left behind from the chaos of everyone going to grab their wallets and change clothes were only Sakuya and Chikage. It was the quietest the common room had been all night.
“Um, Chikage-san?” Sakuya called out, worry etched in his voice. “I’m excited because it’s been a while since we’ve all done something like this but… Are you sure? You must be tired, and I don’t know if snacks are a replacement for dinner…”
Maybe it wasn’t a perfect replacement, but that was okay. And that extended to this new family too; some things weren’t meant to be replaced, but that was okay. To him, it was something familiar albeit new at the same time.
The type of family that was at the door as soon as he got home. It was an odd feeling, and that too was okay. They were the type of family he didn’t have to lie to about the small things.
And with that, he finally found the right words to say.
“Don’t worry, it’s more than enough.”
A blossoming truth among the usual lies.