Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mika sat in his bed, pulling the covers closer up to his neck. His roommate Ritsu seemed to have been in a deep sleep, so maybe it was for the best that he head off to sleep, too. Valkyrie had recently finished work for a magazine, so Mika would probably have a few days alone ahead of him. With Shu already on the plane back to France, he didn’t really get to spend his days off with him either. It had only been a few hours, but Mika deeply missed him. Mika reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled up picture of Shu he carried around with him for moral support. Not only was it taped back together, but it also had a little bit of wate damage. He stared at the paper and considered replacing it, but he decided against it. Mika tucked it back away and laid in his bed, tired and pretty bored. Really, what Mika needed was something fun. Suddenly, his phone resting on his cluttered nightstand vibrated.

“Ngah–? My phone..? I coulda’ sworn I turned it off…”

Mika turned over and picked his phone up, flinching at the bright light stinging his face. A text message popped up, the contact name ‘Naru-chan ♡’ at the top of the banner. Mika’s eyes widened. “A text from Naru-chan..? At this hour??” He opened it. The text read, “Hiiiiii Mika-chan! I noticed you’ve been feeling a little down lately.. I got invited to a party, and I want you to be my +1! What do you say?? ~ ♡” Mika bit his lower lip to think and then tapped up a reply. He typed and untyped a couple of times, flipflopping between what to say. Arashi’s chat bubble popped up again, and another follow-up notification pinged onto his screen. “The rest of the Pretty 5 will be there! Of course, no pressure, but if you wanna just let loose tonight, I’ll come pick you up~~ ♡( •ॢ◡-ॢ)✧˖° ♡” Mika felt a little more comfortable knowing there’d be more people he knew at the party, so taking a deep breath, he typed up his reply. “Alright, I think I will! Love ya Naru-chan (╹ꇴ◠) ~~”

And… send. Uh oh, now he’s committed. Did he even have anything to wear? Mika checked to make sure Ritsu was still asleep, which wasn’t really a surprise, and slid his way out of his bed quietly trying not to make a sound. He was gonna have to sneak out past curfew, which could prove difficult. And so… Mika thrust open his closet and picked out the best outfit for a party: The.. same thing he wears all the time. “Aagh… why did I never buy party clothes??” Mika grumbled and scratched his head. “Its too late, now… ‘might as well just go as is. I hope there’ll be candy at this party.” Mika tucked his phone into his pocket and put on a pair of heeled boots. If he couldn’t deliver in the outfit department, he’d deliver in SHOES!!! “Aggh… I can’t believe ‘m doin’ this…” Mika reached into his back pocket and looked at the picture of Shu he kept tucked away. “What would Oshi-san think…”

“Kagehira.. Such nonsense. I hereby order thee to pop that THANG at the party.” Mika jolted and looked around, muttering, “Wh–uh? Where did that come fro-” He looked back at the paper and furrowed his eyebrows. “Yer not Oshi-san.. Well.. ya are but- he would never say that.. AAGH.. ‘m not doing this again.” He shoved the paper into his pocket, not really receiving any moral support. Mika sighs, straightening out the wrinkles in his sweater. “Ehh… now’s a bett’r time than ever, I sh’ld just go b’fore I find somethin’ else to worry about.”

Mika finally left his Starmony Dorm room, clicking the door behind him softly. He felt relieved to live on the first floor, but he had even less room to mess up because of this. The hallway lights were for the most part all off, except for the one at the end of the hall that would lead to the common area. Mika pressed up against the wall and shuffled across as if he were in a spy movie. Hopefully the security cameras wouldn’t catch him if he took the back door. Nearly fumbling and dropping his keys, Mika pushed on the back door and exited the dorm area without a hitch.

The cold night air stung his cheeks, tinting them a soft pink as he made his way around the building. His warm breath puffed out in front of him, reminding him that he was human. Looking around for Arashi to pick him up, he jumped at the sound of a car horn. Headlights flashed against his face as Mika whipped his head around like a disheveled stray cat. “AAAHH– That stings– seriously!” The sleek convertible car window rolled down, and Mika’s eyes slowly adjusted to the light. Britney Spears and Slayyyter poured out of the car, as an elbow leaned outside the now open window. A sweet sing songy voice fluttered out of the car.

“Get in, bitch. Let’s party.”

Hiyori Tomoe. His lime hair framed his face like a luxurious waterfall, and his skin shone with youth.. And NARS highlighter. He pulled his chunky 2000’s rhinestone covered sunglasses, although knowing how loaded Hiyori’s family was, they were probably real diamonds, off of his eyes and rested them atop his head. His hand that was not resting ever so delicately on the steering wheel motioned Mika in. Mika felt a little underdressed but he shuffled over to the car, prying his way into the backseat. As he opened the car door, a whirlwind of girlish squeals came from Tori, Arashi, Aira, and.. Also Mika. After getting his fair share of giggles and squeals, Mika put his seatbelt on.

“Thanks fer pickin’ me up, Tomoe-senpai!”

“Oh, don’t even worry, Mika-chan! Me and the girls were worried you wouldn’t want to come, so as soon as I heard, we all just kind of sped over!”

“Yeah, who needs traffic laws anyway!” Tori chimed in as Aira readjusted his hand on the car’s assist handle.

Arashi turned around from her spot in the passenger seat, and gushed to Mika, “Kyaah~ ! Mika-chan, you look just adorable! Your apple bottom jeans, and the boots with the fur. Just adorable! Are they new?” She clasped her hands together and smiled sweetly.

“Oh these old things, nah… Thanks though! Ya look beautiful as ever, Naru-chan! White’s yer color, for sure!”

Hiyori put the car intro drive, and put both hands onto the wheel. “Well, girls! It’s been a while since the Pretty 5 have all hung out like this, so let’s have a Good Hiyori, yeah ~ ☆?”

“Yeah!”, cheered the rest of the Pretty 5 in universal agreement. The car started up, If You Seek Amy at full volume on the stereo in the car. Hiyori swerved out of Starmony Dorm before anyone else would be potentially woken up by the loud music.

Mika twiddled his thumbs shyly. “So, who all’s g’nna be at this party… you know, Shiratori-kun?” Aira perked up from his phone upon hearing his name being called. “Huh? Oh, I’m sure it’ll just be some other idols. The club we’re going to is a total hotspot for idols! They end up all over scandal articles for going clubbing when there’s practice to be done. Aah… I wonder if any other Knights members will be there.. I’d lo~ve~ to see Sakuma-senpai there..”

“Not to burst yer bubble, honest, but Ritsu-kun’s asleep..” Aira pauses in the middle of his fantasy and doesn’t really seem all too surprised. “Oh.” Aira frowns and then goes back to his phone, tapping away. Maybe it was Hiyori’s reckless driving with all the sharp turns, but Mika’s stomach began to turn a little bit. What would Shuu think if Mika was caught clubbing in an article like Aira said. He tried not to think about it, not necessarily because he was worried about being yelled at, he lowkey wouldn’t have minded it, but because he didn’t want it to plague his mind for the night while the rest of the Pretty 5 are having fun. A cell phone chattered against the center console organizer. Hiyori’s violet eyes widened. “Oh, god that’s me. What is it now? Arashi-chan, pick that up for me, will you? I’m driving, so I can’t right now.” Arashi nods and picks up the bedazzled phone. It’s something of a mix between of a flip phone and a smart phone, but whatever it is, it’s probably worth a fortune. Arashi answered the phone and held it up to her ear. “Hello? This is Arashi, Tomoe-senpai’s driving. Yeah? Got it.” Arashi put her hand to the speaker. “It’s Sazanami.” Hiyori sighed through his teeth, “Put him on speaker?” Arashi agreed and did so.

“Jun, I am SO SICK of waiting for you.”

“I’m so sorry, ohii-san.” Jun replied dryly over the phone.

“No matter.. What do you want, Jun-kun?”

“I’m at the club already, what do you mean you’re waiting for me?”

“Oh, you already- huh. Okay guess we don’t need to pick you up, too, then?” Hiyori swerved harshly, making a U-turn, and simultaneously rendering Aira passed out in the backseat, reminiscent of Tatsumi’s driving. Mika turned around to see the back of the car. No more seats. How exactly was Jun supposed to pile in here, anyway..?

“Nah, caught a ride with Yuuki-san.”

“...Y’know what, be a dear and grab me a drink or something. We’ll be there soon, or something!” Hiyori reached over and hung up before Jun could even reply. Hiyori took a breath and then bit onto his nail. “Well, guys, do you think I played hard to get well enough?”
“That’s what you were trying to do?” Tori cocked his head over. He thought for a second. “Hm… actually kind of smart.”

-

About 10 minutes later, the convertible pulled up to the club and the Pretty 5 piled out of the car. They all walked together arm in arm like the friend group in a coming of age movie. They came up to a tall bouncer with silky hair pulled out of his face. “ID?” He asked.

Hiyori dug into his bag and pulled out a wad of cash. “Will this do?” The bouncer pocketed the money, and smiled behind his pitch black sunglasses. “Well, come on in. A friend of the Tomoe’s is a friend of us. “Easy!” Hiyori tweeted like a bird, and led the other 4 into the club.

Mika looked around. The LED lights changed color near every second, and the dance floor was wild. He felt a little overwhelmed, but looking at it, it was no more chaotic than the crowd during a live, so he felt more at ease. Hiyori motioned the others to him, as he was chatting up with a taller guy. “Everyone, this is the host of the party tonight. Great scene, hm?” The Pretty 5 introduced themselves politely, dispersing different compliments about the party to the host.

The host smiled gently. “I’m so glad you all are liking the vibe. Me and Tomoe here go way back to like.. Middle school. A friend of Hiyori is a friend of mine so have fun, alright? Oh- almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Jackson Wang, nice to meet you guys.”

Chapter Text

“WHAT?? You’ve never heard of GOT7?”

Mika’s hands wrapped around a glass of water. Accompanied by Aira and Jackson, they sat in a booth a distance away from the dance floor. The music was anything but quiet, though, as the speaker nearby blasted Gas Pedal, or at least the ear splittingly loud bass on Gas Pedal. Purple lights flashed throughout the club, and the DJ looked to be having a little too much fun with the song choices.

Mika stayed quiet for a moment before replying, “Uh,, no, can’t say I have…”

Aira slumped down in his seat as if he was embarrassed to be here. Jackson noticed and tried to do damage control, “Oh, don’t feel bad about it. W-“

“GOT7 IS AN IDOL GROUP OF SUCH PROWESS, Ive been an Ahgase since 2014, so I don’t expect you to understand, but just think. Their discography? Chills, literal chills. Flight Log: Arrival? Oh, don’t even get me started… I lo~ve!! They’ve paved the way for artists to come after them, they’re possibly THE MOST POPULAR idol gr-“

“I wouldn’t say we were the most popul-“

Mika isn’t really understanding. “Well… ‘ve never seen ya at Yumenosaki… , so yer like… mm.. a Reimei Idol arentcha, …mister Wang?”

“Just Jackson’s fine. And I-“ Jackson begins, but is promptly interrupted again by Aira.

“Oh, no GOT7 aren’t Japanese idols! Although they’ve got a few Japanese albums, they’re a Korean group.”

“Ohhh so yer Korean, Jackson?”

“Nah, I’m Chinese. Just th-“

Aira butts in. “Just the music’s in Korean.”

The tables quiet for a minute. Jackson opens his mouth as if he wants to say something, but gets the feeling he’ll get cut off again so he just stays quiet.

“Oh, sorry, did I make things awkward?” Aira frowns and looks kind of embarrassed.

“Don’ even worry about it, Shiratori-kun! I may not really get everythin’ yer sayin.. but I really admire yer passion, so if ya ever wanna chitchat I’ll listen.” Mika fondly thinks about Ritsu and his sleepovers where they’d paint eachothers nails and talk about Shu and Mao to eachother all night, or at least until it’s bright enough for Ritsu to fall asleep on his own. Jackson turns his head around at the booth and sees a guy with wild red hair waving him over holding an equally red solo cup.

“Oh shoot, gotta go guys. Rinne’s lining up drinks, I gotta make sure him and the bartender don’t end up in a fistfight again. If you guys need something come get me.” Mika and Aira both understanding by the jarring onset of info. They wave at Jackson as he disappears into the party and turn back to eachother. Aira shoots a glare over in the general direction of the bar and returns to face Mika. He stirs around his pink lemonade with a straw, letting the ice jingle against the rim of the cup. “God, Rinne-senpais here. I kinda have to hear about him / see him whatever because he’s Hiiro’s brother, but now that he’s HERE… oh, nevermind. I shouldn’t gossip, huh.”

“Nah, I getcha! Oshi-san thinks that guy’s too rowdy, so I can’t imagine how this is gon’ turn out.”

Aira turns his head around to check the bar area again, and then back over to the DJ. “Hey, Mika-senpai, wanna go up and request a song with me? The DJ’s been playing Gas Pedal for the past 10 minutes I need to hear something else before I bash my head into the wall.” Mika nods and the two of them stand up. Aira debates on whether he should leave his bag and ultimately ends up leaving it on the seat of the booth. Bad call. The two try to awkwardly shuffle through and pass the bulk of the people on the dance floor, but it proves difficult. People are popping, locking, grinding, and not leaving any room for the Lord! Aira’s relieved Tatsumi isn’t here.

Aira attempts to get the DJ’s attention, but fails at first. The musics too loud so Aira tries yelling. “Hey- HEYYY— CAN WE CHANGE THE SONG? NOBODY WANTS TO LISTEN TO GAS PEDAL FOR THIS LONG. IM SERIOUS. THIS SUCKS”

The DJ looks up, but Aira seems to be in his own world. “YEAH, AND ITS NOT LIKE A NEW SONG EITHER. YOU HAVE LESS VARIATION THAN A WHITE PEOPLE NIGHTCL- ???Anzu-san?”

Mika perks up in surprise like a scraggly cat who just got a bucket of water thrown on them. Anzu stood there in a pink zip up jacket over a black T-shirt, and a pair of headphones on, one of the ears off of her ear so she could hear them. “How’s Anzu-chan always at the scene of the crime? Ngahh…???? anyway.. Anzu-chan, I didn’t know ya were a DJ like that.. and I definitely didn’t expect ya to play this kinda stuff.” Anzu looks at the both of them quietly and they get the gist of what she was trying to say. “Ohh, Mikejima-senpai made you stay here and take his place as DJ while he ran off? And he told ya to keep this song on? What a suspicious guy…” Anzu nods.

“Well, can’t you play another song?” Anzu turns her head, and Aira continues, “You don’t know what to play? Uhhh…”

“Why not just something ya like?” Anzu thinks for a moment, and then her eyes light up and she gives the two a smile and a thumbs up. She turned to the screen that presumably held all the songs and found one before pressing on it. Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé.

Meanwhile, across the other side of the club, Hiyori and Arashi are taking selfies together for their private Instagram stories. Hiyori takes a breath of relief, fanning himself with his free hand, “Finally they changed that song. What was the DJ thinking? One can only ‘wiggle like you’re tryna make your ass fall off’ so many times.” Arashi looks up from her phone and over to the DJ station. “Oh, is that… Anzu-chan? Why’s she at the DJ booth? Didn’t know she was into Lady Gaga… actually, who am I kidding, of course she is.” Arashi smiled to herself, until noticing her phone buzzing nonstop in her hand. “You should probably…” Hiyori starts, “OH- Yeah, totally!” Arashi checked her notifications. 8 missed calls and 26 texts. All of them from Izumi. “It’s Izumi-chan, hold on.” Arashi opened her Instagram dms to check out the messages.

What club are you at.

I know I said I didn’t wanna come but what club are you at.

If you won’t tell me I’ll figure it out

I see your story posts Arashi-chan ٩(╬ʘ益ʘ╬)۶

No like I have to be there.. please _:(´ཀ`」 ∠):_

Arashi’s face scrunched up in mild confusion and a little bit of disgust, those kaomojis were kinda gross looking, and then it clicked. She opened up her private Instagram again and checked the story. A horizontal selfie of her and Hiyori putting up peace signs. Okay… Arashi looked a little longer and then checked the people in the background. Sure enough, a bright blonde head poked out in the background. “Only Izumi-chan would’ve been able to find him in a picture as low quality as this. Poor boy. I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t see these messages…” Arashi looked up for Hiyori but instead found Kaoru sauntering in her direction.

“Heyy, Narukami-san. Aren’t you looking beautiful tonight?” Kaoru had his hands in his pockets, putting his weight onto one of his legs. He pushed his hair out of his face in a desperate attempt to look appealing. And then he flipped his hair again to the other side. And then he pushed his bangs out of the way again. Arashi looked around and pointed to herself jokingly, and then brushed it off. “Hakaze-senpai, did you… neeeeed something?”

“Just a little bit of your time, milady.” Kaoru staggered a little.

Rinne, across the bar, leapt out of his seat and hollered over, “GET A LOAD OF KAORIZZ HAKAZE OVER HERE!”

Kaoru shouted back promptly, “SHUT UP” and then returned to Arashi. Niki, nearly unfazed and still sitting at his bar stool, dragged Rinne back down into his seat, demolishing a plate of food with the other hand.

“So.. what do you say? Wanna dance?” He half smirked.

“Okay, how many drinks did you have?”

“So that Rinne guy challenged me to a drink off, right?” Arashi sighed in disappointment. “Here, sit down, I’m gonna get you a water. We may be at a nightclub, but don’t go embarrassing yourself and acting irrationally just because some reckless gambler wanted to outdrink everyone in this bar.”

“Yeah.. thanks Naru—“ Kaoru hiccuped and then slumped into the lounge seating as Arashi walks away. He slaps himself against the head. “MAN… I embarrassed myself in front of a pretty girl again..”

Arashi made her way over to the bar area and waved down one of the workers. Turning around, the front pieces of the boys light blue hair framed his face, and the rest was tied back into a small ponytail.

“Just a water is fine, plea- Wait, Hajime-chan? I almost didn’t recognize you! What are you doing working here tonight? Kinda feels like everyone’s here..”

“Wahh? Oh, Arashi-onee-chan! So nice to see you! I was actually picking up some extra jobs to pay for our upcoming live… it feels like everything’s expensive, right? I’m not serving up drinks, though, just cleaning and bringing snacks out, but I can get you a water!” The two exchanged smiles, until a deep voice continued behind Arashi. “Oh, excuse me, but do you have any meals of some sort here? Like.. meat, or something?” Arashi turned around. It was Adonis.

“Oh, no, I’m so sorry, but we really only have light snacks here…”

“But the guy over there seems to eating… maybe… buffalo wings??” Adonis jerked his head lightly to the side, indicating Niki.

“Oh, no, he brought those from home. I don’t.. i don’t actually know how he was allowed in here with those.”

“Okay, then it’s no worry, Shino.” Adonis shyly smiled, awkwardly, but equally as cute.

Hajime rushed off to find the water for Arashi, and she turned over to face Adonis. “So, Adonis-chan, what brought you here tonight? Kind of an unexpected place, don’t you think?”

“Good evening to you, Narukami. Sakuma-senpai, strangely enough, dragged out the rest of Undead to come with him here, but Hakaze-senpai seems to have ran off… you?”

“Oh, just a night out with the girls.” Adonis nods as if he knows what she’s talking about, but it’s blatantly obvious he’s a little lost on who’s she’s talking about.

“Mika-chan, Momo-chan, Aira-chan, and Hiyori-chan.” Arashi smiled and the two made shy eye contact for a moment, looking at eachother, looking away, and then back at eachother again.

“Your water!!” Hajime held the glass out to Arashi politely and waited for her to notice. She jumped at even the sound of his soft voice, and took the glass from him. “OH- Thank you, Hajime-chan! Adonis-chan… talk later?” Arashi smiled at him and made her way over to hand the water off to Kaoru. Adonis began to feel his face warm up. Arashi had captivated him with her sparkle. Her violet eyes with vibrancy to that of starlight, her silky blonde hair, and her smile. He just nodded back with a somewhat blank expression, but on the inside he was smiling.

Chapter Text

Aira and Mika had been enjoying the music for a while up front by the speakers. It turns out when you don’t have to hear the same song over and over and over again, you start to have fun! They both had their arms in the air, jumping around like Episode characters.. or like.. white girls at Coachella but it was.. Amazing ☆. Mid dance, however, Mika realized he hadn’t heard from Tori or anything in a while. He turned over to Aira, who was a little too into the music. Mika hollered over, “HEEY!!! SHIRATORI-KUN! HAVE YA SEEN TORI-KUN?”

“..WHATT???”

“‘M GON’ GO AN’ CHECK ON HIM!! OKAY??”

“……WHATTT???”

Mika groaned. “IM GOIN. TO. GO. AND CHECK. ON. TORI-KUN.”

“OH—!! OK GOTCHA! ILL STAY HERE”

Aira turned back to the music and blended to the crowd as Mika shimmied his way out of the busy area. He paced up and down the club, but found almost no sign of him. Mika grew worried and even peeked around the bathroom, where he unfortunately had to witness two people making out. He quickly left after realizing Tori wasn’t in there. Coming back out of the bathroom, the music almost pounded louder in his head. Was the bass always this hard? Mika stumbled for a second, his heeled boots clacking against the hard floor, but regained his composure and made his rounds at the bar area again.

He looked over all the heads. Blue hair.. Purple hair.. Red hair… Grey hair.. Blonde hair.. Pink hair.. Seafoam hai- wait, PINK, THERE. Mika spotted what appeared to be Tori and made a brisk jog over to him.

“One apple juice, on the rocks please.” Tori looked distressed, posture slumped, holding in his knees to his chest on the bar stool. Mika leaned over him before taking a seat. “AH, Tori-kun! There ya are!”

“Huh— oh, Kagehira-senpai?” His soft face was reddened, probably from crying. His hands were cupped around a glass of purple liquid, likely Motts grape juice with food dye in it. Mika didn’t really know Tori that well, but he saw he was crying, so it only felt right to stick by him and try to comfort him. “Hey, what’s wrong? Is it about the whole thing with yer family? Becau-“

“No, no…” Tori wiped his tears with his sleeve. “Just.. yknow… having to see and hear Jackson Wang in the flesh really jogged some bad kpop memories in me and I…”

Mika is the only one out of the loop apparently. “Uh… I don’t follow where yer goin with this.”

“Well.. Ever since Chuu got kicked out of Loona, I haven’t really been copi-“

“OHH I heard about that! I just didn’ know it was kpop!”

Tori stared at Mika in disbelief for a second. Mika took a pause and then let the context clues really seep in.

“Ngahh— uh, sorry. I should be more sympathetic right now. shouldn’t I? There, there, Tori-kun. I’m sure Chew-“

“Chuu.”

“—Chuu* will figure somethin’ out. After all, that’s what idols do!”

“You’re right, Kagehira-senpai. Just like.. I feel a deep cute person to cute person type of sympathy, so I just… yeah. Thanks for listening” Tori took a sip of his grape juice, finishing it off and gently propping it on the counter. Mika hoped to himself he wouldn’t have to hear anyone else rant about kpop groups tonight, he kind of already had his fair share for the night.

Suddenly, the sound of people cheering started to accumulate behind the two. They both turned around to see a dance-off accumulating. Jun and Makoto from Eden and Trickstar respectively seemed to be going off on eachother rhythmically. The crowds pushed back and forth on who they were rooting for, music pounding loud. Mika turned his head to try and get a good look. Tori noticed this. “Oh, you better go on, Kagehira-senpai.”

“Eh?”

“The way you’re craning your neck, you must wanna go and join in, right?” Tori smiled. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll finish up this apple juice and regroup with you in just a sec!”

“Huh, well.. if ya say so.” Mika got up from the stool, having to kind of hop off from the height. He waved bye to Tori and made his way back to the dance floor to watch along.

Meanwhile on the other side of the club, Subaru skipped off from the dance floor, seemingly having been dancing the round before. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he ran a light jog, taking his bomber jacket off, and revealing just a T-shirt with a bizarre pun on it underneath. Subaru found himself peeking his head out of the club for some fresh air. “Phew! It’s been a movie tonight, hasn’t it, Hokke?”

“Akehoshi, will you just get some water like a normal person? Sticking your head out of the door like a dog isn’t gonna cool you off any better. I would know. My grandma told me the same thing when I was like 7.”

“Oh, don’t be like that! Can a bottle of water give me pretty shiny stars to look at? Didn’t think so, Hokke.”

Hokuto sighed and joined Subaru in his stargazing. “Alright, yeah, this is kinda nice.”

“Told you so! Wasn't Ukki crazy good out there?”

“Oh, definitely. Maybe that Replay cover we had to do with Eden gave him some newfound confidence. He was great out there.”

They admired the stars for a second, and then Subaru noticed Mao taking a phone call just across the parking lot. “OH, there’s Sally! Hokke, let’s-“

“No, he looks kinda busy. Let’s just head back inside and regroup with him later.”

“Alright, alright.”

Sitting across from Kaoru sat Hiyori and Jun. Jun had his arm around Hiyoris shoulders, Hiyori doing the same as he swished around his drink. Hiyori looked Kaoru up and down, scowling at him. Jun broke up the silence and prompted, “So.. what are you doing in our booth, Hakaze?”

Kaoru looked up, as he was sort of in a daze. “OH- Um. Narukami-san let me sit here. Didn’t know you guys were sitting here, too.” He hiccuped, taking a sip of his water.

Hiyori rolled his eyes. “Aw, it’s no problem at all,” he started with the pseudo-sweet tone of his, “but you know now so you can go somewhere else now.”

“OKAY can you go one sentence without having something sly to say?” Jun sighed.

“YEAH, You get me, J-“ Kaoru blurted out.

“Shut up Kaoru.” The both of them dryly jumped in, in unison. Kaoru, realizing this was not a safe space, stopped talking for a little while.

Hiyori scoffed at the dance floor, looking away. “Only Yumenosaki students could make a dance off look so… i don’t know. Without Flavor.” He took a sip, letting the drink marinate in his mouth before continuing, “Of course, you looked great though out there, Jun-kun. Way to show Trickstar whos boss, once again.. Fufu..”

“Thanks, ohii-san. But, yknow, Yuuki-san put up a good fight, I’ll give him that.”

“Yes, yes…. God, speaking of, look at THAT trainwreck. Are they MILLY ROCKING?”

“Okay now you’re pulling my leg.”

“I’m dead serious LOOK.”

Jun whipped his head around not so subtly to see Rinne and Rei facing off in a dance off. Rinne, clearly impacted by the drinks is like mildly off beat, but surprisingly he’s still getting a lot of love from the crowd. Rei was popping, locking, dropping it low, whatever he was doing he would probably have thrown his back out by now if he was actually an old man. Eve side eyed them both, as if it were some unit bonding. Jun snickered and recorded it with the intent to rewatch it later. The dance battle ended in a draw, the both of them cheering wildly. Rei left the floor, leaving Rinne hollering wildly trying to provoke some poor innocent soul to dance against him. The tall vampire sauntered over to Kaoru, giving him a double high five up top. Their hands collided with a quick slap, as they laced fingers for a moment. Rei shoo’d Kaoru closer into the booth. “Kaoru, be a dear and rub my shoulders. My old bones can only take so much strain.” Kaoru obliged, and Hiyori glanced over at Jun. “Jun-kun, I could rub your should-“ “No thanks.” “Oh well, your loss.”

Emerging from the crowd came the rest of the Pretty 5, walking together hand in hand. Mika had gathered them all up from around the club over to the booth. “Hey, y’all!!!” Mika cheerily greeted the group. “I wanted ‘ta.. yknow.. ngahhhh… yknow like” Lost for words, Mika just pointed behind him to the dance floor. Aira butted in, “Kagehira-senpai wants to dance and for us to hype him up.” Hiyoris jaw hit the floor. “Oh you can’t be serious.” Tori pouted. “Don’t be a Debbie Downer, let’s all just support K-“ Hiyoris lips curled up into a smirk as he brought his sunglasses down over his eyes. “Oh, you misunderstand me. I’m in.”

The posse made their way over to the crowd, shimmying their way through with flair. Once they finally got to the front, Mika pushed through only to spot Rinne, and then cry out. “EEK!!!! Hell nah… ‘m good actually, I dont actually wanna dance all that bad ‘nyways, so-“ Mika began as he tried to push his way back out. But it was too late.

“KYAHAHAAHAAAA.. YOU DARE CHALLENGE MEEEE, MI-TAN?”

“NOPE, NOT ME! ‘M GOOD ACTUALLY!” Mika cowered behind Arashi. Tori’s eyes followed Mika, and he prompted, “Kagehira-senpai, what’s wrong?”

Aira stuck his tongue out at Rinne, and turned back to the group. “I think he’s scared of that freakazoid. I don’t blame him. Hey, senpai.. it’s okay! He’s a little ugly but it’s only a dance battle, he won’t hurt you!”

Arashi nodded. “Mika-chan, you don’t have to go out there if you don’t want to, but I asked Anzu-chan to play a song specifically for you, and we’ll all be cheering you on!” Mika glanced to the DJ booth, where Anzu, accompanied by Jackson stood. She put two thumbs up in the air and smiled brightly. Jackson did the same. Mika gulped. “Alright.. I guess it couldn’ hurt ta try…” Mika shook his hands and took a deep breath. “Alright. Let’s tango.”

The crowd grew excited with murmurs about a Valkyrie member clubbing. Subaru climbed onto Makotos shoulders to get a better look from the back. Adonis and Koga caught notice of the dance off and scrambled to see the commotion. Even Madara, who had snuck Kohaku in, lingered in the shadows in curiosity.

The song pounded through the speakers. G.U.Y by Lady Gaga. God this club might as well have just been the Gas Pedal ft. Lady Gaga club. However, Mika was far too familiar with this song. He used it to warm up, do morning runs, yearn over Shu, stretch his muscles out, etc. Whatever Rinne had up his sleeve, it was no match for Mika’s connection to this song. He had always been instructed to dance like nobody was watching, and that was exactly what he put into practice. After letting Rinne have his turn doing.. whatever that was, it was his turn.

He cleared his throat in an attempt to rid himself of his nerves and began. Everything he had rode on this. As the only member currently in Japan, Valkyrie’s reputation rode on this. Not only was a part of this his love story to artistry, it was his expression as a newly born human. It was him. He waacked, he vogued, and best of all he SERVED. Explosive cheers filled the club. Mika tried not to focus on everyone’s faces as his vision began to blur. He could tell, however, that Rinne was nervous. Mika showed every extent of his flexibility on this dance floor, dipping and splitting. With his apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur, the whole club was looking at him. And when he hit the floor, he hit the floor. Next thing you know, Mika got low. And when the song had finally ended, the club had made their decision in favor of Mika. The Pretty 5 rushed over to Mika, enveloping him in a tight group hug of girlish squeals. He giggled along with them, although the room around him began to spin.

“That was ICONIC, Kagehira-senpai!! I’m so relieved that I recorded it, let’s go and watch!” Aira cheered. Mika gulped, nodding but not replying. Arashi noticed. “Mika-chan, are you alright? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Tori chimed in, “He hasn’t eaten, has he?? Does anyone have anything?” “The bar has light snacks, I’m pretty sure.” “Hey, Mika-chan, what kind of snack do you w-“

Their voices faded into the dark abyss, and so did the music. Mikas vision went fuzzy as he saw stars and the rest of the Pretty 5 lunge out in concern before dropping to the floor and completely blacking out.

Chapter Text

Mika’s eyes snapped open. At first groggy, he turned over in his bed wondering what had happened. He held his head in his hands, slowly remembering the events of the previous night. Wait. How did he get in his bed? Mika looked around for a sign of what was happening, but was instead greeted by a soft, yet lazy voice.

“Oh, Mikarin, you’re up…?”

Mika sprang up, sitting upwards in bed and noticed that Ritsu of all people was up. He looked around, only to find him laid out in his pajamas, or were they his day clothes? It was all basically the same for Ritsu. Nevertheless, he exuded beauty in his deep blue Victoria’s Secret silk pajama two piece set. The matching sleeping mask lay above his eyes as if he had just woken up, yet his soft black hair remained fluffy and perfect as always. He lounged on their couch, head rested on a delicate hand perched deep into the plush-like material. His pose, although effortless, was modelesque. As Tyra Banks would say in 2011, he was tooching, booching, and giving boom-boom-boom, H - to - T. Mika nodded bashfully, as Ritsu extended the finger of his free hand to point out something next to Mika. “Your bedside table, snacks.” Mika turned as instructed and there they were, among all his things a pile of treats Mika really liked. “Oh, thanks, Ritsu. I really appreciate it…” Mika munched on one of the snacks, “I must not ‘ve eaten before I snuck ou— I mean—um. Went to my late night study group– no thats stupid, um, I mean– “

“Mikarin, I already know about all what happened last night.”

“Ya do? But… how?”

“Don’t you remember? I’m a vampire, so I don’t actually sleep at night.” Mika disregards how Ritsu was snoring a little by the time he left for the club, and listened as he continued, ”Well, I was on FaceTime with Maa-kun the whole night too. Last night really was a movie by the looks of it… I kinda wish I could’ve gone but.. Actually, nah.”

“Ohhh…… Alright, well, long as ya don’t tell anybody about it, righ-”

“Oh, I don’t need to. Everybody probably knows by now.”

“Eh?”

“That video of you dancing to G.U.Y? It’s gone viral. You’re trending on Twitter.”

“EH?”
Almost instinctively Mika scrambled for his phone, just to remember he doesn’t actually have Twitter. He looked up at Ritsu, who seemed to be one step ahead of him already, bringing a manicured hand to his phone, noticing it was dead and frowning. “Here, catch. Plug my phone in real quick, I have Twitter so you can go and check then.” Ritsu prompted and gently tossed the phone that was probably worth a fortune over to Mika. He underestimated how far he would’ve had to throw it, causing Mika to almost fall out of his bed face-first to catch it. “Oh, good save, Mikarin.” Ritsu smiled, glancing back at the TV. Mika became nervous, plugging the phone in. In an attempt to seem like he was waiting ever so patiently for the phone to charge and that he was TOTALLY NOT PETRIFIED, Mika twiddled his thumbs, tapped his fingers together, and even counted the ridges in the couch Ritsu laid on, til his eyes trailed to the screen.

“What’re ya watchin’, Ritsu-kun?”

“Jimenyan’s Drag Race.”

“Ohh..” Mika tuned in to the screen, assuming it must have been one of those variety shows lots of idols participated in. He was right. Valkyrie didn’t ever participate in variety shows, as Shu found them a low class form of art only pulled for cheap laughs. Mika agreed for the most part, but he still was a little curious about what it would be like to be in one. On the screen sat Hajime in a panel of judges, wearing very cutesy overdone Jimenyan style clothes. He looked solemn for a moment, and then looked on past the camera. “Sena-senpai… shantay, you stay… Ibanyan… sashay away.” The studio audience gasped as the camera cut to Ibara nodding his head in acceptance. He readily exited the stage. Ritsu’s jaw dropped, his eyes glued to the screen. “No way. Ibanyan like.. he definitely should’ve won that lipsync. I bet Secchan didn't even know the words to Crazy in Love before he had to air for this show. Riggory.” Mika stopped paying attention at the sound of Ritsu’s bedazzled phone charging. He pounced over the phone, almost immediately going for Twitter.

He opened the app, went to Trending.. And lo and behold, there it was. A banner stretched against the screen, featuring topics reading “G.U.Y.” and “Mika Kagehira” among others. He couldn’t believe it, checking every individual tag only to see the same clip reposted everywhere.

“What– but how did.. But-” Mika tripped over his words, and became extremely worried. What was this going to do to Valkyrie’s reputation. What would Shu say? Would he even see it? He doesn’t even have access to a computer since the axe situation, right? God, what if they have computer labs in France. He could almost hear Shu’s voice already. ‘Kagehira, by God, WHAT in the world were you thinking? Shaking it like a tambourine at a NIGHT CLUB? NON! I shan't accept this, have you no shame? As the representation of present day Valkyrie and th-’ Mika shook himself out of his worry. No, no, French people don’t have computer labs… or… do they?

“Mikarin… you shouldn’t worry so much. After all, I’m sure you and ‘Oshi-san’-San can work it out…” He yawned, patting his mouth, “and if it doesn’t work, just join Knights lol”

Ritsu’s joking around made Mika smile, but with like literal dread. Mika tried to reassure himself aloud, “Well, maybe it’ll all blow over before Oshi-san comes back ta Japan next. Thats not fer.. what, 3 weeks when our next photoshoot is?” Mika couldn’t believe he was using Shu being away to reassure himself at this point. He’d dug himself in so deep he was getting delusional.

“3 weeks? Think maybe a couple hours.”

“What”

“Yeah, word spreads fast. I heard from the Knights group chat that he got on a plane like last night.” Oh my god they DO have computer labs in France. Mika’s eyes bulged out of his eye sockets, sinking deeper in his bed in horror.

—-

Meanwhile, at the Cinnamon Café sat Hiyori and Jun. The two wore their matching Juicy Couture custom made practice uniforms with ‘Eve’ embellished in rhinestones onto the pants. They were specially commissioned by Hiyori. Hiyori sipped on a teacup while Jun was occupied on his phone, “Hey.. Ohiisan?”

“Yes, Jun-kun?”

“Did you get the new Hold Hands message?”

“No, read it to me.”

Jun sighed but obliged, “Its an announcement inviting all ES Idols to join SlayFes, to-“

“You’re pulling my leg. SlayFes is NOT it’s real name.” Hiyori stared in disbelief, smiling a little bit from the absurdity. He took a sip from his teacup.

“Honest, im telling the truth,” Jun replied, flipping the phone around for Hiyori to see and continuing, “to enter and perform. The winning unit will receive $45,000 LDollars and a brand deal with Chanel.” Near choking on his tea, Hiyori's eyes became the size of saucers. “CHANEL? Oh, we’re entering.”

“No dice, Ibara said hell no as soon as he saw the notification.”

“Seriously? Y'know I would say I’m surprised but.. he’s probably wanting to lay low for a while after the Jimenyan’s Drag Race Deal.” Hiyori sighed longingly. He side eyed Jun, sighing longingly a little louder.

“Wow, Ohiisan. I’ve got this great idea,” Jun replied, playing into Hiyori’s theatrics, “how about we enter as Eve into SlayFes?” Hiyori gasped in delight, “Jun-kun, you boy genius, I knew I could count on you.” The two smiled deviously, Jun adding in, “That SlayFes reward is as good as ours.”

—-

“Thank you for choosing Compagnie Aérienne Airlines,” a voice on an intercom spoke, and then again in French. The airplane had been up in the air for a few hours at this point, and screaming babies had long since been put to sleep for the night. A passenger by the window seat stared wistfully into the sparkling nighttime view. He turned to the airplane table set out in front of him, journal opened with fabric swatches tucked between the pages. He ran his smooth fingers down the pages before turning them, making small notes in sketched designs. He turned the next page.

Dark haired figures dressed in his intricately elegant ruffled designs lay in pencil across the pages. He remembered this page, drawn in a middle of the night haze after a long call on the phone. The sketches were messy, yet fluid. Unfinished, yet refined. My heart is full to the brim of you, he nearly called out through every pencil stroke he made. Remembering that night, he grew embarrassed. His pink brows furrowed, unsure if he was able to capture his muse’s dark yet equally as lighthearted essence through his pencil strokes. Still, no matter, it was a draft. The final pieces would come together once he actually was able to make the garments. He closed the journal. Suddenly, he felt a buzz from his pocket. His phone. Admittedly he forgot he had one of those. Picking up the phone, he cleared his throat.

“Yes, I’ll be there in a few hours. Thank you for offering to carry my luggage, Kiryuu, but I assure you I didn’t bring too much.”

Chapter Text

Shu stepped off of the airplane, immediately feeling his life force drain from him. He much preferred the never-boring atmosphere of France. But now that he was back on much more familiar soil, he grew increasingly bothered with it. From his bag, he whipped out a vintage pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses and rested them snugly onto his nose. He provided a matching pair for Mademoiselle, who laid comfortably in the nook of his arm.

Shu didn’t waste a moment in the airport. He was a man on a mission, he collected his luggage and set out. His eyes scanned the dozens of signs held by passerby people. Hm… no.. no… no… OH. There he is. A tall young red haired man held a sign with one arm, his other nestled comfortably in his jean pocket. He sashayed prettily over like a CEO who was very busy and had no time to waste and had already made his assistant grab 4 coffees for him. Which would be true except hes not a CEO and Mika was not here. So no coffee for him. Whatever. Its fine. He wasn’t mad. Not at all. If Shu didn’t get any coffee it probably wasn’t any good ANYWAY. And today wasn’t Thursday anyway, so it wasn’t croissant day. And what good is a mediocre coffee without a TRÈS BIEN croissant to go with it? NON! He wouldn't have it any other way. No matter. NEXT Thursday, if he could even bear to stay here any longer, Shu would have his croissant, Shu would have his coffee, and Shu would HAVE some peace and quiet.

“Oi, Itsuki… anyone home…? Its- HELLO? 💀” Kuro waved his hand a comfortable distance from Shu, which was more than enough to pull him from his inner monologue, although a little startling at first. “Hu– UH! KIRYUU good HEAVENS when did you get here?”

“..??I was picking you up”

“Well, it’s good to see you nonetheless, Kiryuu. I appreciate you coming such a distance at such an early hour to collect my bags for me. Or is it early? I’ve been in France so long, it seems the jet-lag and the mode de vie I long for is really.. Getting to me.” Shu smiled longingly off into the distance, catching Kuro staring at him in confusion through his peripheral vision. “I don’t expect you to know what that’s like though, after all, you’ve never experienced Paris outside of my close friends Instagram story. I’d love for you to come with sometime, though. Kakakakakakakaka..”

“..eh? Um.. whatever ya say, Itsuki.”

The two walked out of the airport together.

–

Meanwhile, Hiyori and Jun had boarded the COSPro elevator. They had boarded making small talk, Jun chatting between sips of his to-go Cinnamon Cafe coffee. Hiyori opened his compact mirror and applied a thick layer of his Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Plumping Lip Gloss in shade 001 Pink. He put it away in his vintage Chanel purse. Bloody Mary poked her head out from the purse, and Hiyori petted her, cooing at her like a baby.

“You have the papers to sign up for SlayFes, yes? Well, not to get ahead of myself but I think we should definitel-” Hiyori stopped mid-sentence to glance at Jun, noticing his puzzled expression. "Hm? Jun-kun, you're thinking so intently, what's on your mind?"

"Well.. $45,000 LDollars is a pretty hefty price, and Ibara LOVES chasing the bag, so now I'm kinda puzzled why he wouldn't wanna enter."

"Actually, I'm quite pleased you're curious! I act-", a sergeant-esque voice behind them beamed loud and proud.

"GODDAMN!!" Jun choked on his americano. The two stared at each other before Ibara continued, walking between them slightly. Ibara cleared his throat and continued.

".. I actually didn't enter because I'm on some of the behind-the-scenes team! The Lady Producer did more than enough with our connection to secure me a pretty influential spot in the project!"

"Oh my god, Ibara-kun, I almost didn't see you there! You're just so... fun sized. Fufufu!"

"Your Highness, as much as I appreciate what you think is an doting compliment, next time I'm not letting that slide."

“Dude, how long were you on the elevator”

“Actually, I’ve been here the entire time. I even greeted you two, but you seemed to have been too occupied with whatever you were talking about on the way here.”

“Ah. Sorry, Ibara.”

The three stood in the elevator quietly, accompanied by the elevator music. It seemed to be an elevator music version of Yubisaki no Ariadne by the sounds of it. Hiyori noticed it a little quicker than the others, remarking, “Why don’t they ever make elevator versions of our songs?”

“They do,” Ibara mentioned, “You two just tend to choose the elevator that only plays Crazy:B music.”

“That’s a thing?”

“Of course it’s a thing. We have one too, its just closer to the front entrance than this one!”

“..So,, why are you in this elevator knowing that?”

Jun interjected, “Ohii-san, respectfully not everyone wants to listen to Fantastic Days ◎ every morning at 6am.”

Hiyori pouted a little, “I WOULD! Jun-kun, you know where I’ll be starting tomorrow.” The three smiled as the elevator slowed to a halt. The three flooded out of the elevator, walking to the meeting room.

–

Mika paced back and forth in his dorm. If he had any more momentum, he probably would have burned a hole in the floor. “AAAAHHH!!??!!?!?!!! Why’s Oshi-san comin’ back so soon? I haven’ even had any time ‘ta clean up around here.. UUUGGUUUUGGUUUHH…. Ritsu-kun, whaddya think I should do???”

“Mm… do a fakeout on him and go to France while’s he’s in Japan.”

“Ritsu-kun this is serious! Mmn… ahgghh… ummmm.,... ‘m gonna ask the group chat.” Mika mumbled as he opened up the Pretty 5 groupchat on his phone.

R0tten_d0llxx: guys…

naru_sweet: mika-chan !! ur awake ^_^ how are you feeling?

R0tten_d0llxx: NARU CHAN!!!!!! m good… m head hurts a lil but im good… but..

naru_sweet: but?

iihiyori: omg forgot to silence my phone before this meeting LOL warui hiyori…………. TT TT

R0tten_d0llxx: oshi sans back in japan EARLY M SO SCARED WHT DO I DO

naru_sweet: early? but why?

R0tten_d0llxx: dunno

little.prince: mayb he saw the video of u trending (=^-ω-^=)

R0tten_d0llxx: I WAS WRRIED ABT THAT… M TERRFIED I HIPE NOT

naru_sweet: isnt he banned from using electronics…

R0tten_d0llxx: NJASNJDK IDK… IF I REMMEBR CORECTLY… YES…

loveswan: OMG YESSS JIMIN WAS SO HOT IN THE NEW MV I LOVE~~~~~~ (((´♡‿♡`+)))

R0tten_d0llxx: huh

naru_sweet: ????aira

little.prince: off topic but ok

loveswan: OH MY GOD IM SO SORRY WRONG GC

loveswan: BUT GOOD LUCK MIKA SENPAI U SLAYED <3<3<3

little.prince: OOPSIE NO WORRIES THEN

little.prince: “8-( ●｀ε´●)爻(●｀ε´● )-8”

naru_sweet: mika-chan if that mean “oshi-san” gives you any trouble, just tell me ok!! Im sure itll be fine and all so not to worry you but.. Just incase

R0tten_d0llxx: thanmk u naruchan… but i hav a question

naru_sweet: ya?

R0tten_d0llxx: ritsu-kun told m that the knights gc knows oshi san came early but.. How tho

naru_sweet: oh? Yeah i havent really had time to check the gc. Im sneaking my phone under the table rn

R0tten_d0llxx: y?

naru_sweet: Izumi-chan’s chewing me out again

R0tten_d0llxx: ohnoooo 4 clubbing?

naru_sweet: nah because i didnt tell him makoto chan was there.. Gtg love u guys!

Mika put the phone back down after texting, paranoid about the inevitable. Arashi’s unwavering support was always very comforting to him, but although it seemed to help a bit, he was still TERRIFIED. “Hey, Rits-” Mika began, only then noticing Ritsu flopped over the couch, curled over buried into a pillow. He was deep asleep, and unless you were Mao, there was no waking him for a WHILE.

“Aw, rats.”

Mika bit his nail, checking his phone over and over again. He had come so far with expressing himself to Shu, even being confident enough to suggest his own concepts and aesthetics for Valkyrie’s image, so why was it that he was so PETRIFIED this time? Was it the guilt? The fear that he might’ve ruined Valkyrie’s image just by throwing it in a circle for one night. Mika thought just one night out would be fun to clear his head but all it did was make things WORSE.

Suddenly, a silky voice beckoned Mika. “Kakakakaka… do not be afraid, Mika.”

“EH?!@?!#?@? OSHI-SAN?!@#?HELO????” He sprang up, scrambling to look around for the souce of the voice. It was Shu’s obviously, but it was gentle and calming. He didn’t seem the slightest bit upset.

“Mika… look within your heart…”

“...M’ heart?”

“Your pocket.”

Mika reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled up tattered decrepit picture of Shu from it. “AAHHHGHHH NOT YOU AGAIN.. What do ya want from me…. It’s all yer fault… tellin me to.. Pop my thang or whatevr..”

“And shook that thing like a tambourine you did, Kagehira. Phenomenal job. Except, now it seems you have to live with the consequences of your actions. It’s not MY fault that a bolts for brains like you is listening to me, is it?”

“Sorry Oshi-san… I shoulda known better.”

Mika paused.

“Wait a min…Am I bein’ berated by a piece of paper?”

“That’s not the issue here, M-“

“God, I have not been sleepin’ enough, huh. Well listen here Mister Oshi-san Not-Oshi-san Piece of paper. You can’t make fun of ME when you’re jus’ a PIECE OF PAPER.” He adjusted his grip on the paper, about to rip it but paused. As irritating he was, it was a really, really pretty picture. Every picture of Shu is pretty, sure, but this one. BRROOOOOOOO. Mika sheepishly held the paper as normal again.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Mika quickly shoved the paper into his pocket again, jolting up into place. “Kagehira?” Mika meekly stared at the door. He shuffled quickly to the door, unsure of whether to open or not. WJHYFYU KIS THIS SO HARDDD GRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRRGRG. He was greeted by another firm knock, which caused him to jump. He paced for a second, and impulsively decided to whip the door open. ITS NOW OR NOTHING MIKA! MAYBE IT’S NOT SHU! MAYBE ITS JUST THE PIZZA GUY.. A PIZZA GUY WHO SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE SHU AND KNOWS HIS NAME AND IS DELIVERING HIM A PIZZA DESPITE HIM NEVER ASKING FOR A PIZZA! YYYUUPPP THATS BELIEVABLE OPEN SESAME.

Mika opened the door, and sure enough there was Shu. He stood tall in his vintage french heels, luggage in hand. It seemed like he was really in a rush to see Mika, considering he didn’t bother dropping anything off at his dorm. Upon meeting eyes, Mika noticed a stern look on Shu’s face. He gulped, a lump in his throat and quickly broke eye contact, looking away. He could barely breathe, maybe it was because shu looked so FINE maybe it was because he looked MAD. Maybe it was a mix of both actually. “Oshi-san! ..Madonee! Hi-” Mika started but paused. Shu was quick to speak, breaking up the silence near-instantly.

“Oh, GOODNESS GRACIOUS Kagehira. You look pale. Have you been eating well? Lord help us all. Don’t let me do everything myself. Here, take this. I’ve got a word to have with you.” He chattered fiercely as he dropped a thick binder into Mika’s hands. Mika accepted it in both hands, nearly doubling over. He wondered how Shu was able to hold it in just one arm, holding Mademoiselle with the other.

“Kagehira, SHOULDERS STRAIGHT.” He scolded. Shu’s design binder was something he wouldn’t let just anyone touch, let alone TRY to touch, so Mika treated it like a second Mademoiselle, holding it securely with both arms like someone was trying to steal it off of him. Shu invited himself in, heels clacking with each step. Mika followed behind, worried about Shu’s stern, restless expression. Oh god, he had definitely seen the video. He was more distant and cold than usual. Mika began spouting words like a broken faucet. Simultaneously, Shu began a sentence, but quickly stopped speaking once he noticed Mika spewing words left and right.

“I’ve caught word of something. Since, I’ve been working tirelessly on designs, and I believe Valkyrie should enter in this.. ‘SlayFes’, s-”

“Listen, Oshi-san, if this is about the whole.. uhh G.U.Y. thing… ngahh.. Um.. it wasn’ m– that’s a terrible lie nevermind that, um.. Well I jus’ wanted to say that ‘m SORRY! I DIDN’ MEAN TO… AND YA CAN ADMINISTER ANY PUNISHMENT Y’SEE FIT.. I WASN’T THINKIN’.. I really do have bolts fer brains sometimes, but I PROMISE I wasn’ tryna tarnish Valkyrie’s name in ANY WAY. I would nevr’ do that.. EVER. And this whole clubbin’ thing was a ONE TIME THING.. And WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAI-”

“...???”

It was silent. Shu’s model-like face was painted with a look of pure confusion. He pulled the sunglasses from his eyes, revealing his violet eyes squinting in pure bafflement.

“Kagehira, what in God’s name are you talking about? Clubbing? G.U.Y.? Like the Lady Gaga Song? Excuse me? Explain yourself at this once.”

Oh no.

Chapter Text

Mika gulped in dread, feeling his entire body heat up with stress. The two sat in front of the computer, Shu leaning over Mika like the manager of a Starbucks trying to fiddle with the espresso machine. The web-browser twitter video had just concluded. Mika would’ve been more at ease if Shu was making his usual comments like he did with their dance practice for shows. However, for the past few minutes he has not said a word. He paused the video to stop it from replaying and turned slowly up to Shu, being barely a few inches apart. “Um… Osh-“

He paused mid-sentence, eyeing Shu. He was just silently gawking at the screen. His eyes were wide open, and his mouth had lingered agape for a moment before he promptly closed after trying to fix his lips to say something but ultimately deciding against it. His face was adjacent to that of a man in the Victorian era seeing an ankle in broad daylight. Maybe he’s jet lagged. He had only really been gone for a day before he had hopped back on the plane. After a long long lingering silence, he finally spoke, attempting to shake himself from his daze of disbelief. He cleared his throat. 

“I……….. ahem. I’ve nothing to say at the moment. Kagehira we’ll talk tomorrow. Good evening.”

“Wait Oshi-san where are ya goi-“ and with that the door shut abruptly. Shu had been so frazzled that he had left behind everything he brought with him, including Mademoiselle. Mika turned to look at Mademoiselle, curious how Shu could’ve forgotten her. 

“Oh, Madonee, don’t feel too bad about it, ‘m sure he’ll be back in lickity split.” 

Ritsu crawled back up from the couch, poking his head out from behind the back of the couch. “Yaaawwwnnn….”

“AAAAAHHJDFHOLYFUFUCDJJWHWENDIDUOUGETHERE” 

Mika yelped from reflex, remembering he wasn’t alone. Ritsu blinked near unaffected, shaking his flawless bangs from his eyes. “Mikarin… let’s take a breather, kay? In and out… or out and in… or.. whatever.” Ritsu took a few deep breaths, and Mika followed. However, those deep breaths slowly spiraled into Ritsu nodding off back into a deep sleep. 

Mika wished he could fall asleep as easily as Ritsu could. He tended to have a hard time sleeping in general, but hard time could go to difficult if he had something on his mind. Mika thought that night at the club would make things more easy and relaxing for him, but it seemed that it only seemed to make things more difficult for him. If Shu had just said something, it would’ve brought him some easier closure, but he had never seen him SILENT. 

Mika pondered for a minute, and in the spur of the moment he decided that a sleepover might be able to help him take his mind off of things. “Ritsu-kun, do ya wanna have a sleepover tonight? I mean… not that we don’t have one every night but ya know what I mean. Like.. one with Naru-chan.”

“………”

“ohh wait nevermind yer aslee-“

“Sounds good.”

“Ngahh????. ok nevermind yer awake that’s alright. I’ll call Naru-chan.”

—-

After a few minutes, Mika hung up. The three had a date. “Say… do ya think we should buy some snacks for tonight? A cool night time walk might feel nice.”

“Hmmm….. yeah I think that should be alright. Let’s go to Trader Joe’s though.” Mika was surprised to see Ritsu so eager and particular to go to Trader Joe’s but he wasn’t complaining. Mika was very caring to Ritsu and was happy whenever he could get him to go outside of his cozy bed. Mika got up from the desk, shutting down the computer and turned to Mademoiselle. “Mmm, maybe it’s for the best ya stay home for this, Madonee. It’s nice and warm here, and I don’t want ya gettin’ hurt or cold, is that alright?” He pleaded gently. He smoothed out the pleat on her long skirt before going back to getting ready. 

Mika began to get changed, and once his hands had reached around the waistband of his pants, he noticed something through the reflection in the mirror. These pants had buttons on the sides that could be easily done or undone to increase movement. Usually, he would only undo the first two for style, but he had only just noticed they had been unbuttoned past his knees. Oh god, was he dancing that hard that he had popped so many buttons? Were his calves just? Flying in the wind? Did the same go for his KNEES? Mika brushed it off. Nobody probably even noticed, he thought. And plus, even if they did, it’s not the 1800s. It’s fine. Mika slipped into a new outfit, and turned in the mirror to look at himself. He looked like a black cat. His whole closet was black. Just how he liked it. :)

By the time he had finished getting ready, Mika was just sliding on and tying up his black combat boots. He absentmindedly turned to check for Ritsu, who was ready shockingly fast. In fact, he barely even changed clothes, still dressed in his silky navy Victoria’s Secret two-piece pajama set. Overtop of his very cozy ensemble, he wore a cream colored Miu-Miu coat to keep himself warm, and peeking from under his long pants were slide slippers. He looked like he just rolled out of bed. But if an extremely chic and rich model off duty total natural beauty had rolled out of bed. 

“Ready t’ go?” Mika asked softly. Ritsu nodded, wiping his eyes and muttered softly, “Ready as I’ll ever be.” He swung the car keys around his finger like a high school sophomore who had just been given a car from their parents. Mika glanced over to their window. It was getting dark outside. Looks like Ritsus finally waking up for the night. Ritsu tossed up the car keys casually as Mika caught them in the nick of time. The two set off, sneaking out again. Except this time, it was snack it time not shake it time. The two slithered out the door, stealthily sneaking through the parking lot. They jumped into the car and turned it on. 

“Ritsu-kun, are ya sure ya want me drivin’ yer car? I mean… I’ve driven a lil bit before but I’m no pro.” Mika awkwardly asked, fumbling with the hair tie on his wrist. Ritsu had already long made himself comfortable in the passenger seat and nodded. As Mika began to drive, Ritsu casually followed up, “Oh, this isn’t my car. It’s Secchan’s.”

“What., wait then how did you get the key-“

“Step on the gas.”

“,,Yessir.” Mika stepped on the gas, and quickly the two gained speed. Ritsu leaned over to the near thousands of buttons on the car, fiddling with them willy-nilly until he got to the radio. It was unclear whether he actually knew what he was doing or was just playing around. “You good with Keshi?”

Mika nodded. He was very open to hearing out his friends’ tastes in music and thoroughly enjoyed when they would share them with him. Ritsu clicked the song on. It was nice to listen to music without having to memorize all the words for an upcoming live. It was nice to just listen and relax like normal teens. Normal teens sneaking out…. Yeah. :)

The car pulled into the parking lot of Trader Joe’s. Mika and Ritsu stepped out of the car, shutting the doors behind them. The two walked into the grocery store chatting and making small talk. Mika had just been following Ritsu around as they made a bee line around the store. Once the two were satisfied with their haul, they made it to the registers. 

Ritsu craned his neck around looking at the registers. He looked mildly disappointed and then walked into the aisle directly in front of him as if he had nothing better to be doing. A brunette with his hair tied up behind his ears in a half-up half-down hairstyle grinned pleasantly to the two. He seemed to be taking inventory behind the register, but closed it back up to help the two out. “Hey, welcome to Trader Joe’s, what’s up, fellas?”

“Oh hey Mikejimaman… good to see you.” Ritsu replied softly, not yet placing anything onto the conveyor belt. Mika began to pick up things to load up onto the surface, but Ritsu stopped his hands. Confused, Mika paused, but obliged. 

Madara pointed out the cinnamon rolls Mika was holding, chirping, “Ooh those are my favorite!”

“Really? I haven’ tried em yet, but they do look pretty good!” said Mika, who was now curious to look at the label. Madara turned back to Ritsu and smiled. “Sorry, I must’ve cut you off there! So what were you saying?” Ritsu twirled his inky black hair around his finger, appearing as if he was caught off guard by the attention being on him again. Quickly, he adapted, asking, “..Hm? Oh, right. Heyyy.. soooo do you know if Maa-kun is working tonight?”

Simultaneously, both Madara and Mika came to realize this was the reason Ritsu was coming to a Trader Joe’s in the middle of the evening/night. Madara nodded, pretending he didn’t know what was going on. “Oh, yeah! Uh… let me see if I can get him for you.” Madara turned and hollered, “HEY! KOHAKU-SAN!”

A pink haired boy poked his head up from where he was sweeping on the other side of the store. He looked around curiously til he spotted Madara. “YEAH?”

“DO YOU KNOW IF MAO-SAN’S WORKING TODAY?” A pause followed as Kohaku shrugged. 

“I DON’T REALLY KNOW… I MEAN. I CAN CHECK.”

“PLEASE DO.”

“OK!”

“THANKS!”

“NO PROBLEM!”

“APPRECIATE IT BUD!”

Ritsu leaned over to Mika, whispering, “How much longer are they gonna keep yelling…”

“No clue..”

Madara turned back to the two. “So sorry about that! It’s a big store.. and our intercoms are broken because of the incident.” Mika furrowed his brows curiously. “Oh…. what’s the incident?”

“Well, it st-”

“MAO-HAN??? DID YOU CLOCK OUT YET?” Kohaku hollered across the store.

Madara waited a few seconds for it to go quiet again. “... Well-”

Suddenly, a redhead with his bangs clipped back hurried in, holding a pile of boxes. He set them down on the register behind the group. He pulled on the top of his t-shirt, fanning it in and out to give himself some air. The poor guy probably sprinted here, by the looks of it. “NOPE, I’M STILL HERE– HUFF.. HUFF…”

Without even missing a beat, Ritsu changed demeanors and clung to Mao. “Maa-kun, what a surprise! I didn’t know you were working today.”

“Ritsu! I’m sweaty, don’t just cling to me.. Not that I’m not happy to see you, though!”

“That’s okay I’m just gonna stay here for a min.”

Despite Mao’s best effort, Ritsu stuck to him like a koala, and eventually he gave in and hugged him back awkwardly. He tried to ignore the fact that Madara and Mika were just staring at him quietly. Mika turned around and continued to check out the groceries they were planning on buying.

“Maa-kun, you should open up a register and help us check ou-”

“Oh, no need! We just finished up.” Madara chirped, handing Mika the receipt. Ritsu sighed in disappointment. “What a bother…… can’t you just come back home with me?”

“Ritsu, I’m still on my shift.”

Mika wanted to get back to the car, but he also understood the sentiment of wanting to spend some more time with someone you love. Honestly, if Mika was around with Shu for a positive reason at any given time, he’d wanna maximize their time together. But.. maybe not be so obvious. Oh well, Mao and Ritsu will be Mao and Ritsu. Mika tapped his chin, coming up an idea. 

“Oh! Ikkun, can ya walk us to our car? It’s kinda dark outside, y’know?” 

Mao turned his attention to Mika, raising his eyebrows to indicate he was paying attention. “Oh- uh, yeah! I can do that!” He nodded and smiled. Ritsu broke off the hug, allowing Mao to help the two pick up their groceries and the trio set off into the parking lot. Ritsu mouthed a “thanks” to Mika while Mao wasn’t looking. Mika didn’t mind being the third wheel tonight. After all, considering the amount of times Shu’s come into the dorm room unannounced, it’s only even. 

Ritsu and Mika piled into the car, Mao holding the door open for Ritsu. “Alright, are you guys all good?”

“Would be better if you were in here with us, Maa-kun. But yes, we’re good. Enjoy your shift or something. Love you.” Ritsu yawned and put his hands on the wheel. Mao smiled, but Ritsu just stared at him. 

“,,,aw thanks Ritsu. Why are you staring at m-“

“You gotta say I love you back.”

“…. I love you too Ritsu. Now drive safe.”

“Alright I will, thank you! ♡︎ ♡︎”

Ritsu watched Mao go back into the Trader Joe’s and he rolled up the window. He sighed with a smile on his face, relaxing deeper into the seat. “Alright, ready to go?” Mika nodded. “Yup!!! I’m all ready to go, so I’ll start up th-“ he started, but quickly realized that he wasn’t in the drivers seat anymore. Huh. He must’ve gotten into the wrong side. Either way, it was too late. Ritsu had a sinister grin on his face. Mika shivered. The only thing that worried him more than Hiyori’s driving was Ritsu’s. He tightened his seatbelt and gulped. Ritsu pulled out of the parking lot and sped off like he was in a GTA chase. He swerved. He served. Hands Up blasted from the car.  

“Uh- Ritsu-kun, I didn’t know ya liked this kinda music, too! I,, thought ya liked Keshi.”

“Oh, I like both. I thought it’d be better to play something that won’t give you driving anxiety. But well, I’m driving now. it’s night. Which is the prime time for clubbing,” Ritsu glanced at Mika with a smile and then back at the road, “among other things. It’s a vibe. I’m a vampire, you’re a scene kid. You get it.”

“Ehehe.. yeah, I guess so!” :] 

Ritsu turned the steering wheel abruptly. It’s highkey scary how he can look so calm as if Mika wasn’t almost slamming into the window every 2 seconds. Mika patted the ceiling of the car trying to feel for the handle only to realize there wasn’t one. He gulped, trying to keep it together only to realize THEY WERE DRIVIJG IN THE WRONG LANE. 

“Ritsu, ya have your license, right?”

…

“RIGHT?”

“Shhhhhh don’t worry about it, we’re almost home.”

“RITSU-KUN THE COPS ARE FOLLOWING US” Mika yelped as he turned in his seat to look behind them. Surely enough? Red and blue lights flashed as the sirens blared. Mika groaned and turned back to face the front. 

“Mikarin, turn the volume off give me a min.” Mika turned off the music, and it was quiet save for the sirens. Ritsu’s face grew serious as the two began the car chase. Ritsu made a U-turn and went in the other direction. As they came to realize, the cops continued the other way and probably weren’t pursuing them in the first place. They both let out a sigh they didn’t know they were holding in. 

“I wonder who they were chasin’ if they could ignore yer drivin’ ..”

“Trust me, I’m not the worst driver in the ES.”

The car pulled up to the Starmony Dorm and the two got out. Mika glanced at the car. The parallel parking was atrocious but… Surprisingly not a scratch was left. Sure, a little water from driving in puddles but nothing permanent. Ritsu had already begun walking, as if he had expected to not completely total the car. “Cmon Mikarin, let’s head in. Nacchan’s probably waiting.” 

“OH! NARU-CHAN! YER RIGHT!” Mika, heart pounding from the whole big so far, stumbled after Ritsu, carrying the bags of snacks. The two lived on the first floor, so it wasn’t a far walk. Down the hall, they caught the eye of a pretty blonde girl dressed in white pajamas holding a bag. 

“NARU-CHAN! WE’RE HERE! SORRY FOR MAKIN YA WAIT!” Arashi looked up from her phone, delighted to see the two boys approaching. “Mika-chan!!! Ritsu-chan!!! Oh my god it’s been too long since I’ve seen the both of you!” The trio group hugged and once they broke it off, they headed into the dorm. The night had just begun, but they all knew one thing: The slumber party of the century was about to commence. 

Chapter Text

Arashi and Ritsu piled onto the latter’s bed, dropping all their bags by the door. Mika had gone to put his pajamas on before they started the sleepover. At this point, the three had had so many sleepovers, that they figured they’d all be sleeping in Ritsu’s bed by the end of the night anyway. It was by far the coziest bed, so no need for sleeping bags or anything of the sort.

Mika came back into the main room dressed in his usual pajamas: his favorite hoodie, patterned with a skeleton ribcage, and a random pair of pajama bottoms that didn’t really match anything. He stumbled upon them at the bins and was instantly drawn to them, patching them and making them his favorite pajamas. Excitedly, he joined the three on the bed, climbing onto the highly stacked mattress.

“Soo.. what do you guys wanna do first?” Arashi asked, hugging a pillow in her arms. Ritsu yawned, stretching back like a cat onto the bed. “Mm… dunno.” Mika tapped his chin. “Alright.. Ngahh… we can do.. Uhm….m m……… movies… makeov’rs… truth’r dare…ermmm….i dunno..”

Arashi’s eyes brightened as Mika began to list off activities, a particular one crossing her mind. “Ooh! Truth or dare, that’s the one!” The trio all agreed on it, and it was set. Activity #1: Truth or Dare.

The three sat facing each other, and the game started. “Mm…. Nacchan… truth or dare?” asked Ritsu, as he munched on a cinnamon bun.

“Hm… Truth.”

“Boo..” Ritsu teased lightheartedly before continuing his question, “Is there anyone you like?”

“I like you guys—“

“You know what I mean.”

Arashis face softened with blush, her ears the first to burn a bright red. “HHHUH??? Where’s all this coming from all of a sudden?”

“Let’s just say I have my sources.” Amazed, Mika bumped into the conversation, “Hwaa??? That’s amazin’ Ritsu-kun! So.. who ‘re yer sources?”

“You.”

“WH-HUH? Whaddya mean Ritsu-kun?”

“You actually talk a lot in your sleep. Aside from the usual ‘Oshi-san’s and other incoherent mumbles.. you tend to talk a lot. We’ve had full conversations while you were unconscious.”

“EH???? I DO?”

Ritsu nodded, smiling to an equally red faced Arashi and Mika. Mika curiously turned over to Arashi. “So… Naru-chan… is it true? Do ya have anyone ya like?” Arashis hesitant look faltered a little bit as she seemed to give in. “Ehe.. you boys got me with that one.. I guess I didn’t seem to realize it since I’ve spent so much time with this person but…”

Mika and Ritsu, equally as surprised leaned in closer, oohing and ahhing trying to figure out who she could’ve been talking about.

“Well, who is it?”

“Yeah, Naru-chan, we wanna know!!!”

“You guys…” she softly mumbled, her face rosy. “Alright, well..” Arashi brought her hand to her mouth as if she had to whisper. “Honestly, I think Adonis-chan is a bit cute.” Mika and Ritsu cheered giddily at her response. “We’ve gotta try settin’ y’two up!”

“Oh, without a doubt!” Ritsu encouraged. Arashis face flushed deeply, which made Ritsu point it out. Arashi, flustered out of her mind, blurted, “Ahahaha— Next Round.”

-

“So… Mika-chan. Truth or dare?” Arashi asked. She’d seemed to have cooled off since the previous round, and was ready to play again, feeling excited to ask everyone else questions. Still, the previous round lingered in her mind a little bit.

Mika stared off at the wall before replying, “OH! MMM–HUYEAH? Oh, yer askin’ me? Ahgg,,, let me think..” He tapped his chin, fidgeting with the plushie resting in his arms. “Mm.. how about.. Truth?”

“Boring.” Ritsu teased, causing Mika to jolt up in his seat. Quickly, Mika became flustered, sputtering out, “GWUWUWWGUWUH? Alright.. Then dare..!”

“Mikarin, I was just kidding with y-”

“Oh.. alright, then truth.”

Arashi, without missing a beat, asked, “So.. whats going on with you and that “Oshi-san” guy”

“...Nevermind, can I do dar-”

“AAHHH NOOO NOO YOU CANT YOU ALREADY PICKED TRUTH” the two both teased incoherently. Mika screamed into his pillow as the two giggled, scooting in closer to hear his response. “AAAHRHRHGEHGRHGRHGJRGHJBFGBDGD…UHG.UUEU,,URH,,” Mika groaned before peeking his head back up from the plush. “I uh.. Have no clue what yer talkin’ about, guys.. Me and Oshi-san? Soo normal… heheheh..” Ritsu and Arashi stared at him completely unamused, not even entertaining the fact that he could be telling the truth. “Mika-chan.. Both me and Ritsu-chan have noticed you’ve been acting off since last night.. And you seemed really really nervous about having to talk him. I mean you don’t have to tell me anything, it’s fine.. But.. Mika-chan, we’re your friends! You can tell us anything.”

Despite Arashi’s ‘it’s fine!! you don’t have to share anything!!’ it was EXCRUCIATINGLY obvious that she was desperate to know. Obviously Mika knew it was coming from a good place, though. He sighed.

“Alright, alright, I’ll budge.. Since earlier today, ‘ve been feelin’ real nervous about talkin’ ta Oshi-san. He saw the.. the video, y’all know the one, an’.. I was expectin’ him ta berate me about it, but.. He was silent. Like.. didn’ say a thing…”

“Nothing?” Ritsu asked, invested in the drama.

Mika shook his head. “Nope.. all he did was make a face like this, y’see?” Mika proceeded to imitate Shu’s mannerisms, gawking wide eyed. Arashi and Ritsu both snickered a little bit, shocked to see him replicate the face so easily.

Arashi giggled, sighing as her laughter subsided. “Well.. if he didn’t say anything, maybe that’s cause you didn’t do anything wrong…”

“Didn’ do anything wrong? But I-”

“Well, think about it? Isn’t it a bit romantic? Showing him your dance performance and having him watch it?”

“Well, I didn’ exactly wanna show him it..”

“Yeah but.. Maybe he liked watching it.” Arashi replied, grinning widely. Mika instantly turned a bright cherry red. Could it be true? Did.. Shu in fact not despise watching Mika vogue, waack, and dip among other things? Could.. that be true artistic expression? Ritsu’s eyes lingered on Mika’s reddening face and he cooed, “Looks like somebody’s flustered..”

“WHAJEWIFJOIOEFJIPADKSRPOR MEE??? FLUSTERED?? NO.. NEV’R,, NEVER…AHHSISIOA”

“No he definitely want you, Mikarin.”

“Ya think so…?”

The trio began getting extremely delulu talking about their crushes and other things. In what felt like mere minutes, 3 hours passed of the trio talking primarily about the meet-cutes that could have been, and the totally not at all coincidental moments that so meant some random man was SO interested. The room was filled with giggles, grins, and soon, Arashi’s stack of teen magazines filled the bed.

“Yeah, like no yeah it was super romantic.. Maa-kun was just staring at me through the window. Whew, if I didn’t have better control of myself I would’ve just yelled ‘give me those boy lips’ in the Trader Joe’s parking lot, but..” Arashi and Mika leaned in, eager to hear Ritsu spill ALL the deets.

Suddenly, a SMASH sound rattled the room, and a brick came through the window, crashing into the back of Mika’s head. He doubled over, falling off the bed from the sheer impact it made.

“MIKA–” Arashi yelled, rushing off of the mattress over to Mika. A fat brick-shaped mark was evident as she searched his head for injury. “Are you okay? OH MY GOD WHO THREW THAT?!?@”

“‘m a-okay, Naru-chan… I think m’ hoodie blocked the injury… at least a lil bit.” Mika mumbled, snickering a bit. She was equally horrified and amazed that Mika could still giggle at a time like this. She turned to Ritsu to ask him to check the window, but it seemed like he’d already gotten on to it.

“Who the f- oop. Nacchan come get your man.” Ritsu started, brows furrowed.

“What do you MEAN come get my man?” Arashi started, giving Mika a pillow. The two knights swapped spots and Arashi rushed to the curtain, shoving it open. A second brick came through the window, which she was able to catch and throw back out the window. It shattered upon hitting the ground. Arashi pulled the window up and stuck her head out the window, squinting.

“THROW ANOTHER BRICK AND WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU,” she hollered, until noticing a blonde mullet down in the streets. Arashi’s eyes widened, and then as she realized who exactly the perpetrator was, she became extremely disappointed. “Oh my god is that Hakaze-senpai?” she asked, exasperated. She groaned, gritting her teeth and yelled out the window. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH Y-”

“IM SORRY! DID I HIT YOU QUEEN IM REALLY SORRY” the voice replied. Okay, yeah, that was really Kaoru. ‘Is he bothering you queen?’ eeeww. Arashi sighed, rolling her violet eyes and then refocusing. The atmosphere was silent, aside from that of the flickering streetlights and the summer night rain.

“Maybe next time don’t throw BRICKS INTO THE WINDOW!!!” she screamed, “HOW DID YOU EVEN KNOW I WAS GOING TO BE IN HERE?” She could see the sweat bead on the blonde’s face even through the rain. “Well.. um.. Well, y’kno-”

“Oh god, I don’t even want to hear it just. What do you want, Hakaze-senpai?” With that, almost as if it was a magical cue, Kaoru straightened up his posture and from the shadows of the street came… wh.. Koga and Adonis? Adonis had a boombox over his shoulder and Koga respectively had a speaker with a microphone attached. By the time the trio had set up, Ritsu and Mika had not so sneakily joined behind Arashi to watch whatever was about to go down. While the expression of misery seemed to be slathered all over the blonde’s face, Mika and Ritsu couldn’t help but be a bit entertained. Ritsu whipped out his cellphone and started to record as Kaoru belted anything from NSYNC to the Backstreet Boys to BTS. Wait,, did.. Did they choreograph dance numbers too? Whatever it was, it was IN THE RAIN and it. was. CORNY. By the time the performance finished, all Arashi could just do is grimace at him.

“Soo… what did you think?”, Kaoru hollered, hands on his hips. Arashi silently shut the window, startled to see the two right behind her.

“What.. what was that?” Mika asked, Ritsu cracking up behind him as he replayed the video.

“God, hell if I know.” Arashi mumbled, attempting to close the curtain to give the trio even the slightest amount of privacy due to.. Y’know, the BROKEN WINDOW they had to deal with now. She sighed, thinking about how they’d have to call in for damage repair the next morning. “So, do you boys wanna watch a movie or something?”

“‘You boys?’ Lol.. makes you sound like a mom, Nacchan”

“Oh, give me a break,” Arashi sighed, playing along with the theatrics of Ritsu. She slapped his shoulder lightly, and he melodramatically leaned back into the bed, grabbing onto the remote and flicking the tv on. Mika piled in close with pillows, sandwiched between the two as Arashi slid onto the side of the bed, pulling the silk sheets over the three. Although most fun sleepovers for teen girls involve a peppy karaoke session, or dancing around the room until they drop, these three were idols. Thus, singing and dancing had sort of become a chore at times. So, the preferred activity for the besties was to snuggle up and enjoy a movie together with snacks.

“What movie you guys wanna watch?” Ritsu asked nonchalantly. Mika chirped in, suggesting, “Hey, how about we watch Sa-”

“Saw? Again?”

Mika’s lips curled in, and he looked away guiltily as if he wasn’t going to suggest it. He had a habit of suggesting dark movies for fun sleepovers, which the two knights had already grown accustomed to. While the trio were close friends, it was an understatement to say they all had different tastes in movies. Different ideas were thrown around from ‘Pearl’ to ‘Legally Blonde’, among others. Finally, in an exasperated sigh, Ritsu snatched the remote and slammed onto Netflix’s ‘Surprise Me’ button, and the three watched in anticipation as their random movie began before their eyes.

After a sequence in the beginning of the movie, the familiar tune of ‘Overture’ began. Mika could’ve never mistaken the song. The movie the three would be watching: The Phantom of The Opera. Mika had seen it many, many times. It was a perfect blend of hair-raising fear, goosebump-giving romance, and.. Less than perfect prosthetics, in this rendition at least. Mika happily bobbed gently to the songs, feeling his eyelids grow heavier with each musical number that passed. His body still felt tired from the previous night, so naturally it only made him more sleepy. Mika let his eyes flutter closed, only for a moment. But soon, he had nodded off to sleep not even 20 minutes into the movie, carried off to a dream-like state.

Chapter Text

Just a few hours later, Mika had woken up. He sat up from where he was softly resting, but.. This wasn’t Ritsu’s bed. The sheets were silky and cream colored, and as Mika looked up.. He found that.. This probably wasn’t anywhere in the ES, either. Long curtains hung around the bed, swaying like suminagashi ink on a bed of water. He pushed the curtain aside and observed his surroundings. The room was dimly lit by candlelight, looking more like catacombs than anything. He stumbled from the bed, nearly tripping on the hem of his clothes. A dressing gown styled after Christine Daaé’s herself. Mika wandered around, hearing the distant sound of water rushing and the echo reverbing every last sound he made. The sound of a somber organ filled the room, reverberating off of the walls of the catacombs. Over there, that’s where its coming from.. Mika assumed.. wandering closer. He found himself before a tall set of stairs. Atop the stairs, Mika could see a figure turned away, heavily playing on the keys. He lifted the hem of the dressing gown just above his ankles just so he could make it up the stairway. Mika sauntered up to the apex of the stairs, gently dropping the hem back down to the ground. He gulped. He could only watch as the man playing the organ went at it. The sound was like thundered, it chilled his body in a way only comparable to that of Valkyrie’s own music.

The man ended with one last note, and lifted his hands from the keys. He seemed.. Hesitant, but the music had finished. Mika stepped closer. “Th… that was mighty beautiful, sir–” he started, before completely tripping on the dressing gown and eating concrete. It’s not that Mika wasn’t used to wearing long garments, quite the opposite actually. It’s just that they weren’t typically floor length. He pushed himself up from the ground, and looked up, being met by a dark silhouette over him. It was the man playing the piano, extending an arm to him. His hair was powdery pink, and though his face was covered by a mask, his eyes were that familiar piercing violet. Oh. Oh.

Mika blushed deeply, he hadn’t expected to see him here like this. Especially not after how he’d embarrassed himself the previous day. He took the pink haired man’s hand and rose to his feet. “You always were the clumsy type.” He remarked, an air of smugness to his otherwise neutral expression.

“Eheheh.. Can’t argue with that..” Mika mumbled, looking to the floor bashfully. He was caught off guard by a finger lifting his chin up, and there he was, meeting eyes with Shu again. The haughty expression on the masked man softened into that of a gentle smile. “Now, then, my little doll.. what is it that you wish for?”

“Eh? Wish for?”

“Yes, your wish. Whatever it is that you desire, we shall have it granted.”

Mika paused for a minute. Did.. he really have anything he wanted? Where Mika was in life, he didn’t really have any complaints. An extravagant wish all for him to enjoy selfishly. It.. didn’t really interest him, oddly enough. He parted his lips to speak again.

“Well, Osh— Aagh, I mean.. Masked Gentl’man.. my life.. with you, with everyone, it’s everything i coulda’ asked fer. It’s a dream.”

Mika smiled, feeling content with himself. It was his earnest truth, right? He didn’t really want anything at all. Yet the man didn’t keep his gentle smile. Instead, his lips turned themselves into a frown and his brows furrowed deeply, casting a shadow over his eyes. Mika gulped. He was not pleased.

“Well, then. If there’s nothing you want, there’s nothing you strive for. If life is just a dream, then I suppose you ought to just wake up.” He snapped.

What? Wake up? Wake up…. Wake up Wake up Wake up Wake up… it all resounded in his head with an echo as Shu had now grabbed him by the shoulders. Mika went limp, his knees no longer being able to support him due to the sheer shock. His eyes had grown large and his pupils small like amethyst shards. His voice was like thunder, reverberating throughout the hall. Mikas body grew weak and his eyes felt heavy like thick ink. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

—

“Mika-chaaaaan! Wake up. Wake UP!!!” Arashi chanted, shaking Mikas arm. His vision was blurry, and he was drowsy as his eyelids fluttered open. Oh, oh he’s awake?

“Mgghh..MMGAAH?/?/$??” Mika shouted, springing up in bed. He placed a hand to his rapidly beating heart and he felt a cold sweat form on the back of his neck. He huffed, taking shallow breaths.

“Mika-chan, wha- cmon, deep breaths!” Arashi continued, taking a seat onto the bed again and rubbing Mika’s back. She took some exaggerated, theatrical looking breaths to help encourage Mika to match her pace. He heaved, trying to match pace.

“Were you having a nightmare or something, you started breathing really weirdly. Well, like, after all the giggling and the drool.” She flicked her eyes at the pool of drool all over Mika and the pillow he fell asleep on. Mika turned around, his embarrassment heightening.

“AGHKG— Ah.. um… I think so.. I’m doin’ a lil better, so thanks fer wakin’ me up, Naru-chan.” He put on a brave half smile. Arashi continued to rub his arm. “You wanna talk about it?” Mika bit his lip in thought. “Er… Eheheh… I’m sure it’s nothin’, so don’ worry about me. Just thinkin’ about Oshi-san is all…” Arashi flashed a gentle smile, and then went back to brushing her hair. There was a brief silence, and he continued, “Sorry fer’ fallin’ asleep mid-movie, I guess I must’ve been real tired..”

“Oh Mika-chan, don’t even worry! You should get all the sleep you need for that little date with your ‘Oshi-san’ later.. Ohh to be young and in love! Fufufufu..”

“Ehehehhehh yeahhh A’guess yer riiii.. Wait a minute- DATE? WHDJFJJS WHEN?? WHAG?h”

“Your phone!”

Mika scrambled to grab his phone off of his perpetually cluttered nightstand, knocking over a couple of trinkets onto the floor. A couple of patchwork stuffed animals bounced onto the rug below, causing Mika to wince as if he was the one being dropped. “Ngaah–!!!@! Sorry!” He winced, picking the plushies back up and gently arranging them onto the nightstand. He turned his attention back to the phone, putting in his unbelievably long password. His password he uses for everything, from his MySpace to his bank account. His only password. ‘Oshisanspookiebearbabygirl10301226’. He opened his messages and sure enough, there it was. One text message from ‘♡♡♡ Oshi-S♡n ♡♡♡’ sat before an awestruck Mika. Completely unheard of. For one thing, if Shu wants something, he’ll CALL not TEXT. And ANOTHER THING. Mika’s eyes flicked to the clock. It’s 8am. Still decently early in the morning.

‘Back when me and Oshi-san lived together.. AAGH, what am I doin’ wordin’ it like that.. Heheh.. Makes it sound like we’re a couple or someth- GAH! KEEP YERSELF FOCUSED, MIKA. Eh.. Where was I? OH. Right, right.. Livin’ with Oshi-san’s family.. He really didn’ fancy the idea of gettin’ up early.. AN’ HERE HE IS SENDIN’ ME A TEXT SO EARLY. WHAT IF H-’

“Mika-chan?”

“HUH?”

“Are you going to read that anytime soon, or are you just going to keep staring at the screen?”

Mika promptly came back to his senses and with a very sweaty hand, opened up the text conversation. He gulped and began to read, “Kagehira. It would greatly please me that we meet at Cafe Brioche promptly at 12:00. We have much to discuss. Thank you. ” Mika sweated profusely. It’s not like it was uncommon for Shu to use perfect grammar, he likely used the voice to text options but… being texted so ominously after what happened yesterday.. It gave him goosebumps.

“Well?”

“Oshi-san says I gotta get to Cafe Brioche at 12. That’s th’ fancy croissant place he loves.. Hehehe. Ya really got ma heart pumpin’ thinkin’ it was a date, Naru-chan! Ahehehe.”

“Mika-chan. I’m going to be honest here, the only thing more delusional that me is you trying to imply this isn’t a date.”

“DELUSIONAL? NUH UH!”

“YUH HUH!”

Ritsu, unmoving from being facedown in his silky red pillow, muffled, “Mikarin this is definitely fruity,” startling Mika.

Mika blushed. “I’m sure he jus’ wants ta’ talk about unit stuff or somethin’.”

“..Whatever you say.” Arashi concluded with a pout. “Buuuttt.. Let me do your makeup! Pleaaaase!” She pleaded with a cute wink and her hands clasped together.

“Ya’d do that fer me?” Mika asked, wide-eyed. Arashi simply grinned and went to grab her things.

—

“Alright, you can open your eyes now. I just need to do the lips.” said Arashi, as she took the gloss applicator and gently glided it onto Mika’s lips. “Kyaaaaa~~!! Dolling you up like this for a little date, it’s so fun!”

“It’s n-”

“Aah! Hey! I need you to be still for this part!”

“NGAAH! Sorry, Naru-chan! …NGAH! There I go talkin’ agai- WAUGH I did it agai-”

“Mika-chan.”

For Arashi, doing makeup was like getting into the zone. She lightly dabbed products onto a flushed Mika, carefully taking all of his facial features into consideration. Mika was already beautiful, so he didn’t need much, but it was really fun for her to enhance the beauty he already had. She pouted. Mika didn’t do much skincare, yet his skin was naturally smooth and clear. She couldn’t help but be a teensy bit jealous, thinking about the upwards of 18 steps she did daily in contrast. After a little bit of silence, and a decent amount of setting powder, Arashi looked satisfied and sat back with a smile. She reached into the velvety makeup bag, and from it produced a handheld mirror.

“Alright, I’m all done, so you can look now!” Arashi chirped happily, handing Mika the mirror. He took it in both of his hands and flipped the reflective side so he could see himself. For a minute, Mika’s face was visibly shocked. “Waahhh, Naru-chan! Y’made me so beautiful– and so quickly, too! Heheheh..” He studied all of his features closely, maneuvering the mirror to get a look at every angle of himself. He looked like a doll. Well, like, in a ‘pretty boy’ sense, not in a ‘i’m not a human being, i’m only oshi-san’s doll kind of way.’ two very different kinds of doll.

Mika smiled, and pulled Arashi into a hug. “Ohhh, thank you, Naru-chaaann!!!” I feel so pretty!”

“I’m just enhancing the natural beauty you already haaavvee Mika-chaaaaan!” Arashi cooed. “Now, we’ve gotta find you an outfit..” She pulled Mika out of the hug, holding his shoulders. “Any ideas?” She asked.

“Ah.. um… not really besides the usual? I dunno.. M’clothes are kinda just there.”

Ritsu slowly lifted himself up from the bed, turning onto his side so that he could prop himself up on his arm ‘paint-me-like-one-of-your-french-girls’ style. “Mikarin, you can just borrow some of my clothes. Aah…. my Mikarin’s going on a date….”

“Is– Is that really okay, Ritsu-kun?” Mika asked, receiving a response from Ritsu of a simple nod. His free hand lazily motioned to his closet. Mika turned his head in that direction, focusing on Ritsu’s nauseatingly elaborate closet display. He wandered over and pushed open the gothic black closet doors. Ritsu was so rich that he had spinning clothing racks installed into the closet, like a carousel. It was like Disney sitcom level of rich it was bad.

“Yer sure?” Mika asked, double checking.

“Would I be offering if it wasn’t fine?” Ritsu mumbled, placing his hand back onto his hip.

“Right..”

Arashi clapped her hands in delight. “Ooh! Let’s do a fashion show!”

“Ngaah?”

“Oh, definitely.” Ritsu quickly agreed.

Chapter Text

After what felt like simultaneously ten years and ten minutes, the two knights had finally agreed on the outfit Mika would wear. He turned around, donning an all black ensemble that was seriously teetering on the metaphorical tightrope line of ‘gothy casual’ and ‘would kill a Victorian child on sight.’ But most importantly.. It ate down.

“Oh wow yeah that kinda was like Style Savvy” Ritsu remarked. “You look hot, Mikarin.”

“Right??” Arashi agreed. “Alright, I think you’re ready to go on that little date with your ‘Oshi-san’! But.. do you feel ready, Mika-chan?”

Mika gulped, glancing up and to the left. He was not ready.

“Oh, ready as I’ll ever be!” ^_^

Still, his friends had gone through all of this effort to prep him for the date- the business meeting he’d be having with Shu, so Mika zipped up his cunty high heeled boots, and placed Mademoiselle into the spare protective case he kept in his dorm just in case. He picked her up ever so gently, and turned to face the knights.

“You’re taking her with you?” Arashi asked, tilting her head.

“Well, yeah.. Oshi-san left in a huff yesterday, so I figure if I bring Madonee with me, it might put him at ease a lil more. She might help an’ ease up the tension, too.”

“Ah.”

“Alright, well I’ll be o- hold on a moment.”

“Hm? What? What is it?” Arashi asked, wide eyed. “Are you not feeling up to it? Because, honestly, Mika-chan you look grea-”

“No, no that’s not it.. Heh.. um.. Our dorm window is still smashed in.” He jerked his head lightly in that direction, and Arashi turned around to look. “OH! I. I guess I forgot about that… we’ll call someone, you just enjoy your date..”

“Yeah, have fun, Mikarin. And don’t forget to reapply that black cherry lip gloss right before you guys lock lip-”

“WAAHAHGDFJ/4#?$#?#?#$WE’RENOTGONNAKISS” Mika blurted out, his face bright red as he quickly departed from the dorm. Arashi and Ritsu glanced at each other sitcom style.

“So do you think he’s gonna be oka-”

“They’re definitely gonna kiss.”

—

Mika held Mademoiselle gently, while still making an effort to be punctual to the meeting with Shu. He had already left Seisoukan Hall, and was now in the town square just outside of the ES. It was a cool day, and Mika decided to take the less crowded route by the shops. The sun was high above, but not sweltering. It was like spring all over again. As he was alone, he had a bit of time to think, especially about the dream from last night. Surely that was trying to tell him something, right? He thought of the Phantom Shu, who quickly became disfigured in his head.

“If life is jus’ a dream, then I oughta wake up..? What did he mean by that? Ngaaahhh… even in m’dreams, Oshi-san’s too nuanced for a brainless doll like me.. Oh, Madonee… I wish ya could give me some insight…” He grumbled, looking down at her through the clear box.

Mika looked at himself in the shop windows. He quickly looked away, but couldn’t help but steal a few glances every few moments. Arashi really was a makeup goddess, and Ritsu a style icon… Mika felt really, really pretty. Through the reflection, he even noticed passersby were glancing at him. He didn’t really like being looked at because of his eyes, but.. Maybe this was a bit different. OR. Maybe they were looking at him because they saw him dancing G.U.Y on TWITTER. Mika gulped hard, making him feel like there was a lump in his throat. Nope, nevermind he didn’t want to be stared at.

When he’d finally reached Cafe Brioche, he noticed Shu sitting upright in the terrace-like seating, a table-mounted parasol enveloping him in a light shade. Wow… he really looked like a fancy Parisian sipping on his tea.. waiting for.. waiting for MIKA of all people oh god it really was like a date! Arashi was right! After peeking around the corner, Mika took a nice deep breath and began walking over to Shu.

‘Everything is fine. Say somethin’ like they do in the movies like ‘This seat taken’? NGAAAHHHH DO SOMETHIN’ INTERESTIJNG!!! DO SOMETHING OH GOD OJH GOD I AM NOT READY FOR THSI’

But it was too late. Mika took a deep breath.

“‘Zisjhnfisxeattaken?” Damn it! Messed up!

“Pardon?”

Shu turned around, his brows furrowed into the most unimaginably disgusted concoction of a face one could imagine. That is, until he realized it was Mika, in which his face instantly softened. Mika felt his entire body freeze.

“Oh, Kagehira, you’ve.. arrived. Here, have a seat.” He motioned his hand elegantly out to the seat across from him, in which Mika gladly sat down.

“Oshi-san! It’s real nice’ta see ya!” Mika smiled, feeling his nerves settle, as he placed Mademoiselle onto the table.

“Yes, yes.. It’s quite nice to see your face, as well, Kagehira.” Shu replied, his violet eyes scanning over Mika. After a moment, he prompted. “Are you experimenting with your style?”

“Do ya like it?”

“Kagehira, what I think doesn’t matter. Conceptualize and evaluate with your artistic eye on your own.” He huffed, gently stirring his tea back and fourth, and then lightly placing the spoon onto his saucer again. All that is to say is, yes, he did.

Mika watched as the waiter approached them and placed a teacup before Mika. He figured Shu must have ordered it for him in advance. “So uhh.. Why’d ya call me to Cafe Brioche so abruptly, Oshi-san? Well, not that I.. uhh… wouldn’t like spendin time with ya outta the blue, but..” he mumbled bashfully, smiling and rubbing his arm as a light pink tinted his cheeks.

“!!!Kagehira, I don’t know what’s gotten into that head of yours but cease with that coquettish demeanor. This is not a date.” Shu replied in a shock, as if he was trying to convince himself that more than anything. “I simply mean to discuss work matters with you.”

“Oh! RIGHT! Uh… this isn’t about that video, is i-”

Shu shot Mika a piercing look through his soul as if he’d just been reminded, causing him to jolt in his seat.

“Nnahh!! Oshi-san’s mad at me?”

“I am not upset with you, but… was it necessary for you to put that image into my mind again?”

He took a deep breath, settling himself and clearing his throat.

“Well, I suppose that.. internet phenomenon you’ve created.. somewhat plays a part. While I’ve been off studying in Paris, cultivating my creative eye with new experiences, I’ve greatly pushed you to do the same, even here in Japan. And, although it seems like you’ve taken a different definition of said ‘new experiences’...” He paused, taking a sip of his tea, but not breaking eye contact with Mika. He continued.

“I must say, you are an excellent performer, and I believe that day I was shown a new artistic side of you, Kagehira.” Mika’s eyes widened in shock. Was.. was he actually receiving praise for something that put him in such a state of shock?”

“And, while I might not fully understand it yet, I could sense your passion, and truly, I want to explore it. I’ve been debilitatingly thinking over this, and to be honest I was not sure if Valkyrie would be able to tackle such a task at our point in our artistic development but I thought it over last night. Thoroughly. And.. I think we have no other choice but to step up to the occasion.”

“Oshi-san, what are ya sayin’..?”

“Kagehira, I want Valkyrie to participate in SlayFes.”

Chapter Text

All Mika could do was gasp as he sat there. Valkyrie? Participate in the Slay Festival?? Unheard of… Not that Valkyrie wasn’t capable of serving cunt because, oh, they mothered all of COSPro on the DAILY. But…

“What is the matter with your expression?” Shu asked, resting his teacup back into the saucer.

“Nnah… ‘s nothin’ serious, but.. Um.. Oshi-san. ‘m jus’ kinda shocked about all this.”

“What is there to be shocked about, Kagehira?”

“Well, yanno, I didn’ strike ya as the type ‘ta wanna participate in SlayFes. I was thinkin’ you’d say somethin’ like ‘It’s a cheap excuse for true art!’ or somethin’. I mean, just lookin’ at the promotion material for it.. It seems, well… pretty out of Valkyrie’s aesthetic..”

Shu nodded. “I appreciate that you’re taking our aesthetic into careful consideration and sharing your opinions…. However, I don’t appreciate your little imitation of me. Is that truly what you believe I sound like?”

Mika jolted in his seat. “Sorry, sorry! Nnah.. ‘m an idiot.”

Shu took a long look at Mika, taking a bite out of his croissant, and then resuming. “..No matter. Back to the matter at hand, the point of artistry is not just to hone one piece of art, but to delve in other environments and broaden your horizons. Only then will we be able to take these experiences into our hands and create an even stronger, more powerful Valkyrie.”

Mika took a minute to think about it, carefully considering Shu’s words. When Mika pictures SlayFes, he hadn’t imagined Shu to be so adamant on participating. But he was pleasantly surprised. Maybe he doesn’t know Shu’s tastes as well as he’d imagined but… that’s not necessarily bad, is it? Just more room to learn. 

“Ah, well.. I’ll be real’ lucky to be able to see what ya come up with for SlayFes!”

“...Me? No, no, Kagehira. You misunderstand.”

“wuh?”

—

“An’ after that, he said he’d leave me in charge of the preparations.. ‘Cause he said ‘m capable.. So.. uh.. Yeah that’s kinda what happened.” Mika mumbled, twiddling his fingers on the floor of his and Ritsu’s dorm. Ritsu looked up from his magazine, folding it and plopping it next to him. “Oh, alright. That’s it?”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I mean like, you were freaking out like you guys started locking lips at the cafe, but like all he did was compliment you and give you some busywork.”

“THAT’S WHAT WAS SO WEIRD ABOUT IT! OSHI-SAN’S PRAISIN’ ME AN’ BEIN’ NICE, I DON’T KNOW HOW ‘TA DEAL WITH IT ALL– holdon whaddya mean LIP LOCKING? What do ya think me and Oshi-san talk even about?”

“Nooooothing!” 

Mika pouted. Not that he was expecting for Shu to call him out for a date, but when you have two people as delusional as you are putting that into your head… well.. he certainly wasn’t NOT expecting a date. So what if he wanted to lock lips with Shu? Who wouldn’t? He brushed it off as Ritsu began speaking again.

“Soooo you can put this whole ‘panicking over your club escapade’ thing behind you now, yeah?”

Mika nodded. “Yeah, yer right!”

“See, that’s better. You’re finally relaxing, Mikari-”

“In favor of PANICKIN’ OVER THE FACT THAT I’M GONNA HAVE TO TAKE THE REINS ON THIS WHOLE SLAYFES THING. ‘M NOT CAPABLE OF ANY OF THIS! I-I II—-- I WAS JUS’ BARELY ABLE TO PUT SOMETHIN’ TOGETHER FER THE NEVERLAND CUP!!!” Mika blurted out, folding over onto the floor and holding his stomach melodramatically. He slammed his head against the carpet a couple of times “IF I MESS THIS UP MY LIFE IS LITERALLY OVER. OSHISANS GONNA SPIT ON ME AN’ KICK ME OUT THE FOURTH FLOOR WINDOW OF COSPRO..”

“...So it’s a problem when he’s nice to you, and it’s a problem when he’s mad at you? Geez, you’re complicated, Mikarin.” Ritsu remarked, rolling over to lay on his stomach, his elbows holding him up. “I dunno why you’re treating this like it’s life or death. Whenever you come to me with whatever art stuff you’ve put together, it’s always really nice. I’m not one of those artsy people, so maybe what I’m saying has no weight. But I think my Mikarin is pretty smart and capable.” 

“...Thank you, Ritsu-kun.” Mika said with a small smile. To think Ritsu, who never seemed to have much of a care about much of anything, thought that he’d be capable… it really meant a lot to him. The two shared a comfortable silence for a few moments.

“Mikarin?” Ritsu asked with a super sweet voice.

Mika was happy to respond with a, “Yes, Ritsu-kun?”

“Can you come over here and rub my shoulders? They huuuuuuuurt from driving last night.” 

“.”

“.. :3”

“Were you just tryna butter me up so I’d rub yer shoulders?”

“What, who, me?” Ritsu asked, not very convincingly as he batted his eyelashes.”So I can get a shoulder rub or.”

Mika scoffed. That is, until he saw the piece of candy in Ritsu’s hand. He immediately crawled over across the carpet and took the bribe.

— 

On the way out of the COSPro building, Hiyori and Jun strutted out. Hiyori handed Bloody Mary off to Jun, who cradled her like a baby as they got into Hiyori’s convertible, the Eve-mobile. Hiyori popped his chunky sunglasses on and started up the car. 

“So, Ohii-san. What are we thinking we’ll do for the SlayFes? I figure you’d be the better one at this, so I’ll be in your care–”

“Jun stop pretending you haven’t been every Jimenyan’s Drag Race lipsync in secret. You KNOW what we have to do.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“I literally SEE IT on your computer whenever I come over.”

“... Okay, that’s literally just cause I wanna have something to talk about with Sakura-kun, so-”

“Doesn’t change the fact you’re watching them. Yeah, and I bet you LOVED watching Alta Moda win that lipsync against Mother Mikejima”

“Actually Mother won that lipsy-”

“SEE WHAT I MEAN, JUN? If you weren’t invested, you wouldn’t have CARED to correct me! Jun you know I don’t have hate in my heart but I really really can’t do liars!”

Jun sighed and rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine, ya got me… but, Ohii-san, do you really want my guidance for SlayFes? I mean, I’d be fine if we just follow your lead as per usua-”

“No, no Jun. You hurt my delicate beautiful heart to say such things. You sound like a sad little puppy, oh please spare me…” Hiyori sighed, “We need all hands on deck for this performance, because, well I hate to say it.. But I think Eve has some formidable opponents for once.”

—

Shu walked into the small, quaint antique shop he adored so much. He took in the vintage woody scent the place gave off. This truly was his happy place, a shop he’d been frequenting since middle school. It was a long walk from where he used to go to school, but no distance wasn’t worth this nostalgic place. An elderly lady behind the counter gave him a fond smile which he returned as he made it past the threshold. 

“Good afternoon, Shu.”

This antique shop was a place that brought him many fond memories. It’s where he’d gotten inspiration and even small pieces for Valkyrie’s aesthetic back in the day. He let the wooden floor creak softly beneath him, taking a look around to see if anything new had come in the shop. His eyes trailed over the music boxes before he found himself coming back to the front counter.

“See anything you like?”

“Oh, I’m just looking around..” He said, trailing off.

“It’s been a while since you’ve last visited..” The old lady smiled endearingly. “You’ve grown into such a handsome young man.”

Shu couldn’t help but feel bashful. It’s nice to be complimented by your elders. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement. “Thank you.” Before he’d realized, the sparkle of a jewel behind the counter caught his eyes, and he felt himself taking a look back down at it, even though he knew exactly what it would be. Before his eyes were a pair of golden rings, a pair he’d always had his eyes on, but never seemed to be bought.. Even after all of these years of them sitting in the display cases. 

“Got your eyes on those rings again?”

Shu was startled by immediately being found out. Although he wasn’t exactly being subtle, there were several other jewelry sets surrounding that area.

“I– Well you see, I was simply–”

“There’s no need to be bashful, now. Here, you can have an up close look at them.”

The antique store owner’s hand picked up the container the rings were being held in. She took the box out and placed it onto the counter, urging him to look more closely. His gaze softened as his eyes trailed over it. For years he’d come just to ogle at these rings, but this was the first time he’d seen them so closely. It seemed every time he’d come back to the rings, he’d have a different intention in mind for them. He picked up one of the rings, admiring the jade colored gem embedded in it. Completely lost in the moment, he couldn’t help but slide the ring onto his finger and admire it. It fit him perfectly. Shu took a longer look at the other ring. It didn’t quite feel real being able to try on a piece that lingered on his mind so often. He reached for the other ring to place onto his other hand but then he paused. There were two rings, and he had two hands, sure. But… they were a set.. as if one ring was meant for the buyer, and the other for a beloved person.

Suddenly, as if he were in a dreamlike state, he could picture himself so clearly, holding the other ring. Before him was Mika, wide eyed. Shu took the ring and slid it onto Mika’s ring finger. For just that moment, they were the only two people in the world. This, this is what the other ring is for, I’m certain. Before Shu could finish his daydream, he was immediately pulled out of it, remembering where he was. He’d shaken his head a bit to try and clear his mind, taking the ring back off and putting it into it’s velvet case.

“Apologies, I’ve gotten carried away, haven’t I? Here, I was simply admiring them, and yet I’ve gone and tried one of them on without permissi-” 

“Don’t worry about that, dearie. You’re thinking about that ‘Kagehira’, aren’t you?”

Shu tensed him, immediately growing flustered. He tripped on his words before ending up on a “Pardon?”

“You only seem to smile that fondly when you talk about him.”

Shu took a gulp, and tried to avert the topic, too embarrassed to want to unpack that. “ Ahem , er.. Why is it that these rings have been here for so long? Seeing as the jewelry at this antique shop are usually purchased up quite quickly.. But, on the contrary, these seem to remain static. Does no one desire them?”

“Oh, quite the opposite, Shu. But I simply let the customers know that they’re reserved for another customer.”

“Reserved? Is it really alright for me to be looking so closely at already reserved jewelry?”

“I don’t see why not. Because, Shu, you’re the one it’s reserved for, anyhow. After all of these years these rings have spent together, all of these lives lived throughout them, I think they’d be best in your hands. You seem to know very well what you’d like to do with them, anyway.”