Chapter Text
[💄🚈]
Arashi wasn’t the biggest fan of public transportation. If it was up to her, she’d drive herself everywhere she needed to go. Unfortunately, she had yet to save enough money for a car and most places were too far to walk to, so her only choice was public transportation. And really, the transportation part wasn’t the problem. She loved the train, the gentle rumble of wheels on tracks soothing her mind in a comforting way. Her issue was the public part. More specifically, the chatter of the public.
Middle school had given her thick skin. She smiled in the face of bigots and ignored the cruel words thrown at her by transphobes. But thick skin didn’t mean she wasn’t still affected. All the dirty looks and hushed whispers and nasty sneers hurt her in a way nothing else did. Most people weren’t as open minded as Tetora was, willing to learn from his mistakes and apologize so sweetly, and even fewer yet were fine with her status from the beginning like Shu was. (Fine was a bit of an overstatement. It was more like he didn’t care, in the way a good designer saw models as an extension of design process rather than something to work around)
But still. All she could do was grin and bear it. If she reacted to their insults, it would only fuel their discrimination. It was hard, but she would live. She would hold it in, block out the noise, and wait until she made it home to cry. She scrunched her nose up for now. Her makeup was fabulous today, she would not let some silly tears ruin it.
“What’s with the weird face, Naru-kun?”
Huh?
Arashi jolted out of her thoughts and turned around at the sound of her name, coming face to face with— “Izumi-chan?”
Izumi didn’t say anything, one eyebrow raised in question. “Well?”
Arashi resisted the urge to snicker at her boyfriend’s bluntness. “It’s nothing, just some bad thoughts. You know how it is.”
And wasn’t that a sentence, because Izumi did know. Maybe not in exactly the same way as Arashi, but he had bad thoughts of his own breed, had struggled through them and helped others out of their own. Izumi, underneath all his ‘don’t know, don’t care’ attitude, was one of the most caring and empathetic people she knew. So she knew that leaving it at that would tell Izumi more than just telling him straight-up would.
“Mm,” Izumi’s harsh expression turned thoughtful, “are you on the way home?”
Arashi nodded. “My mother needed some help around the house so I offered to come by.”
The train jerked to a stop at that moment at a station in Shibuya, and suddenly Arashi was getting dragged out of the train by Izumi’s strong yet gentle hands.
“She doesn’t need you soon, does she?” Izumi asked, more out of courtesy then actual care.
“No?” Arashi replied, baffled as she let herself be dragged out of the station by her senpai, “Izumi-chan, where are you taking me?”
“Shopping.”
“…What?”
[🦐🏙️]
Izumi had a deep wallet. He knew that, his managers knew that, his parents knew that, his unit mates knew that. However, it was rare for Izumi to open up that black hole for anything other than serious purchases. He wasn’t a cheapskate by any means, but he rarely splurged on unnecessary luxuries if he could help it.
But Izumi also knew his girlfriend very well. He knew that no matter how unbothered she acted, the chatter of the public got to her. He knew that on her worse days, she would take out her piercings, wipe away her makeup, and let her voice drop to its natural tone. He knew that she had a closet full of the most gorgeous dresses that she only ever wore in the privacy of her or her unit mate’s homes.
He knew what Arashi looked like when she was on the verge of giving up, of trashing everything she had worked years and years to achieve. He also knew what Arashi looked like when she donned an absolutely stunning ball gown with the most intricate lace detailing and gave it a twirl in front of the rest of Knights with the brightest smile on her dolled-up face. (He got her that dress. It was worth every damn penny to see her shine like she deserved.)
Shibuya had good malls. The fancy stuff was further downtown, but Izumi wanted to get Arashi off that train as soon as possible, so the usual chain stores would have to do.
Without stopping, Izumi asked her, “Shoes, clothes, or jewelry?”
“Izumi-chan you really don’t need to-“
“You need cuter shoes, your sneakers don’t match your aesthetic at all,” Izumi cut her off, pausing for a second to hold her hand properly and look around before taking off again. “There should be something good around here.”
Arashi tried again, “Izumi-chan—“
“Shush. We’re shopping now. No complaints.”
“But—“
“None!”
Arashi sighed, a small smile worming its way onto her face. “You’re as bad as Shu-chan.”
Izumi turned his head away so she wouldn’t see the red blooming on his cheeks. He squeezed her hand tighter, letting his heart flutter as she squeezed back.
[🍰🌅]
Tsukasa didn’t usually do his own shopping. Back at the estate, everything was well-stocked and anything he wanted was ready by the next day. In the dorms, Souma prefered to do the day to day shopping, calling it good exercise, and neither Shinobu nor Tsukasa had any opinions on the matter. Occasionally, though, he would step out of the dorms and take the train out to the city for some fresh scenery.
Today, he had decided to explore Shibuya and its malls. He had heard a lot of Shibuya’s shopping centers and how grand they were, but nothing prepared him for the sheer size and quantity of it all. If he was being completely honest, he had been wandering around aimlessly for the past half hour with no clue where to go or how to leave. He’d picked up a few gifts for his dormmates; a handcrafted fan for Souma and a couple volumes of the manga Shinobu had been invested in recently for his younger partner. Now though, he just really wanted to go home.
He heard a couple familiar voices from inside a designer store as he was passing by and stopped to take a look. He was met with the image of Arashi rambling a mile an hour about the cut and stitch of a dress in her hands while Izumi (who was practically covered in bags) simply watched her with a small, barely there, but incredibly loving smile.
Tsukasa wasn’t a nosey person, but… it was a public store. The bell on the door jingled lightly as he stepped in.
“—and look at the neckline, Izu-chan, do you see how it dips lower than a usual v-neck? Mika-chan would call this kind of thing absolutely scandalous!”
“Would he now?” Izumi asked fondly.
Arashi nodded vigorously. “Oh yes, he would. His Oshi-san has engraved it into his brain that every sliver of visible skin must have a meaning behind it. What’s the meaning behind having your chest out in broad daylight?!”
Izumi snorted and Tsukasa clapped a hand to his mouth to stop himself from laughing. “Don’t say that to Mikejima, he’d be downright offended. It would be like a stab at his entire style! Leo-kun would also get upset if he—ahem—covered up his ‘bodacious breasts.’ Don’t laugh, I'm being serious!”
Arashi was giggling wholeheartedly, eyes squinting and shoulders shaking uncontrollably. “That’s so—“ she paused, heaving a breath as she tried to stem her giggles, “what is it with male idols and feeling the need to show off as much skin as legally possible? Adonis-chan has shown me some of UNDEAD’s outfits, and honestly, they might as well go on stage in swimsuits!”
Izumi burst out laughing at that, dropping the bags unceremoniously as he doubled over clutching his stomach. Tsukasa himself had let a chuckle slip free, but it had been covered by the sheer strength of Izumi’s wheezes.
Tsukasa slipped away before he could lose his composure any further. His upperclassmen were having a great time together. There was no need to interrupt their balance. He’d figure a way out on his own. Or ask a security guard. Yeah, he should probably do that.