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Haruka | Kujo Tenn’s birthday, 2022 | begrudgingly | “ So it’s…Kujo Tenn’s birthday. I guess I should congratulate him…..”
Haruka once thought that he would never be thinking about Kujo Tenn in a positive light in his life. Before he left for Northmeir with his friends, he always found himself thinking of reasons to hate the older idol. He was too pretty, he was too talented, he was too mean, he stole my place, he ruined everything. He could see now how some of them were irrational and stupid, but he held on to a handful of them. He meant his apology, but there were just some things he couldn’t let go no matter how much he tried. But he’s slowly learning that it wasn’t Kujo Tenn’s fault and he hopes the other idol is fine by that (Not that they ever talked about it or talked at all, actually).
The truth is he knows what kind of person Kujo Tenn is now. Yotsuba Tamaki sometimes urges him to get to know Kujo Tenn better so Haruka could see that he’s kind. His professional front might be a little intimidating, but he isn’t a scary person and Haruka understands. After all, how could someone forgive him for the awful things he’d done if they weren’t that kind?
Haruka groans and buries his face into his pillows, resisting the urge to yell.
This is a problem he’s been having for this entire day. He cannot stop thinking about the pink-haired idol. His face always returns to Haruka’s mind whenever he lets his guard down and it leaves him feeling annoyed. Yeah their relationship is okay now but it doesn’t mean he has to keep thinking about the older idol. Does his brain have nothing better to do? Haruka sighs and sits up, hugging the pillow to his chest while opening up his phone. If he had to guess the reason why he’s feeling this way, it would probably be the date. July 9th. Kujo Tenn’s birthday (And Nanase Riku’s, but Haruka is not thinking about him right now). He would rather die than admit it, but he’s been nervous about what he should do.
Would it be weird if he sends him a happy birthday message? It’s weird! They aren’t close enough to become friends and have only recently become amicable acquaintances at best. But it would also be weird if he doesn’t send any messages and it’s all his friends’ faults. How was he supposed to know that they all sent a message? Now if he stays quiet, it’ll look so bad (He doesn’t want to rock the unsteady boat, but that’s a story for another time) and he'll look bad.
He stares at his open phone, fiddling with the device, feeling conflicted. Send. Don’t send. Send. Don’t send. Send. Don’t send. Send?! Don’t send?! AGH , he’s driving himself insane! Gritting his teeth, Haruka forces the muscles in his fingers to move! Just write the stupid message and go to sleep!
happy birthday
That…should be enough right? And then suddenly, it’s read and Haruka is burying the phone in his desk drawer underneath paper and notebooks and leaving it there to rot until morning. He lies down on the bed and buries his face once more into his pillows. Actually does let out a yell this time. Great. One day you’re apologizing to the guy and the next you’re embarrassing yourself through text. Haruka sighs and glances at the drawer for a moment. At least he can say that he did it and that’s enough for now. He trots over to the light switch and turns the lights off before finally lying down to sleep.
He wouldn’t see until the morning but inside the drawer, his phone lights with a notification.
1 unread message: Thank you, Isumi Haruka.
Tenn | Isumi Haruka’s birthday, 2022 | your happiness | “ It looks like it is Isumi Haruka’s birthday today. It looks like that kid has finally found where he belongs.”
Tenn is quite sure that he’s never met anyone who hated him as much as Isumi Haruka did. During that night when they met, before Haruka opened his lips to speak, Tenn thought the boy was brightly enchanting. He was seemingly confident in the way he carried himself and a certain determination glittered in his eyes as he looked at Tenn. He could only imagine how the stranger would draw everyone’s gaze if he stood on stage like a star.
And then Haruka speaks and Tenn sees the burning hatred that flares behind that determination.
The boy wasn’t shy when speaking about his hatred for him and while Tenn would not take his insults lying down, a part of him understood perfectly. He understood more than anyone around Isumi Haruka. They were similar in a way. Tenn could see himself in Haruka’s shoes had he been abandoned in such a cruel way. Haruka might now know this, but Tenn had been curious. He was focused on the task at hand of returning TRIGGER back to its former place, but sometimes, in the corners of his gaze, he would see Isumi Haruka. The sparks of loneliness had surprised Tenn but he recognized that too. Despite being only a year older, it hit him at some point, how young Haruka was. He often saw Riku as a younger twin and Haruka was even younger than that. Being seventeen didn’t make him an innocent child, and yet…he was only seventeen. Steadily, he grew worried for him, even though he knew he didn't need to be. They were rivals, even enemies.
And then the younger idol apologized and things changed.
He steps out of a meeting room one day, just finished a briefing for his next work. It’s already evening and he needs to return home soon if he wants to have dinner with his friends. He’s been trying to spend more time with his unit members lately and decreasing a little bit of his busy schedule. They’ve been through hurdle after hurdle and Tenn has been careful in maintaining the bonds that he cherishes so much. As he turns around the corner, he hears people arguing not too far away.
“Why are you mad at me?!”
“Because! I can’t believe you told Nanase about my birthday!”
“Hee ~ are you being shy about it?”
“Shut up, Torao! No I’m not! What am I supposed to say if he suddenly messages me?! It’ll be so awkward, we don’t even know each other..”
“Isn’t that nice? It’s good to have more friends.”
“See! Mina’s right, Haru. It’s fine. Riku’s a nice guy, it won’t be awkward at all!”
“I’m more worried about the fact that Touma’s close enough to Nanase Riku to talk about our birthdays.”
Tenn spots them from the corner. It seems like ZOOL is here in the studio too for work. He hadn’t even noticed them when he first entered in the afternoon. They don’t spot him and he makes sure it stays like that. They weren’t enemies anymore, but it still feels a little awkward and he doesn’t think they want to see him either. But he observes them for a moment, watching their interactions. The first time he saw them as a group, they had been cold. They felt more like reluctant members rather than friends. It reminds Tenn of how he referred to Gaku and Ryu before. As business partners rather than the best friends he doesn’t want to lose. Now, however, there’s warmth here. They’re bickering but it doesn’t feel malicious, at least in Tenn’s eyes. There’s no hint of that loneliness in Haruka’s eyes.
He finds himself smiling. Ducking behind the wall he pulls out his phone and types a simple message to Haruka. They’ve very rarely talked to each other to Rabbichat but he figures this would be a fine way to start something new.
“Happy birthday, Isumi Haruka.”
As he leaves, Tenn doesn’t see Haruka pulling out his own phone from his pocket. He doesn’t see the way Haruka reads the text skeptically before putting the phone back into his pocket. And he wouldn’t know about the slight blush coating Haruka’s cheeks as he follows his members.