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“MONSTER!”
A glass bottle shattered against the matte wall.
Hinata stared at his broken reflection in the jade shards. He clenched his fist. “Let’s go.”
“W-Where, Aniki? I-I…”
“Anywhere but here.” Hinata grabbed his twin’s hand and beelined for the exit.
The sobbing man didn’t call out to his kids to beg for the reason of why they were leaving. He was too busy drowning in his own sorrow.
Hinata wished their father had called out to them. He wanted the satisfaction of telling him that their mother would hate the man he became.
“Bloop!” Hinata touched noses with his reflection. Pulling back, he tilted his head and focused on how the orange strands gently reached out to his shoulder. “Hmm… It’s getting a bit longer… Maybe I’ll look closer to Yuta at this rate ♪” He giggled at his own joke before his smile weakened a bit. Hesitantly, he reached his left hand out toward his reflection.
“MONSTER!”
Hinata flinched. ...Really? Taking a deep breath, the elder twin tightly gripped the edge of the sink, cold and solid in a way reminiscent of steel railings. He huffed and slapped both his cheeks. “Wake up, Hinata!”
A couple knocks came from the dorm bathroom door. “Is everything alright in there?”
“Ah, sorry! I forgot you were waiting for me, Hiiro-kun.” After shooting one last grin at himself, Hinata skipped out of the bathroom and tagged his roommate.
“Sorry, guys~! It’s almost evening, so I’m gonna be running early today!” Hinata pulled off his guitar strap and sighed as he flexed his fingers. “We can practice more at the next Light Music Club meeting!”
Oogami wistfully stared at his guitar, which reflected the amber light slowly filling the room. “It ain’t gonna be long ‘til graduation, so we’re not gonna have easy access t’ this club room fer much longer.”
Hinata booped Oogami’s nose, ignoring the responding growl. “We’ll still have the music studio at ES! We usually use that with the rest of Band BB anyway.”
“I know… It jus’… ain’t gonna be exactly the same… Heh, maybe I’ve gotten a li’l sentimental after all. Let’s meet up soon, ‘kay? I wanna teach y’all how t’ play a li’l better before that last day.”
“Hold on. Backtrack.” Yuta suspiciously eyed his brother. “I don’t remember you having anything to do after this, Aniki.”
“It’s just a dinner, nothin’ muuuch.”
“…With who?”
“Wanna guess~?”
Yuta’s eyes narrowed. “Aniki…”
“Ahhh, you’re no fun! Fine… It’s Tetsu-kun. Happy?”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“Why are you asking so many questions!?”
Yuta scoffed. “’Cause you’re always all ‘Tetsu-kun this and Tetsu-kun that’ from the day you plan your dates up to the actual day!”
Hinata flushed, defensively crossing his arms. “W-What!? I am not!”
“Nah, he’s kinda right,” Oogami interjected.
“HUH!? You weren’t even a part of this conversation!”
The wild guitarist shrugged. “Get better at lyin’, and maybe ya won’t have people callin’ ya out.”
Hinata gasped dramatically, putting his hands to his chest as his face twisted in horror. “You wound me so, Oogami-senpai!”
“Aniki… why are you lying?” Yuta finally asked.
“I…” I should’ve known that lying to my own twin would end badly… “I was half lying… I am having dinner with Tetsu-kun… But also…”
Yuta’s calculating eyes analyzed his twin’s expression before widening. “No…”
Hinata shielded his face. “Uh, yeah…?”
“No!?”
“Uhh… what the hell am I missin’?” Oogami interjected once more.
Yuta rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. At least to them, it was. “Aniki obviously means our deadbeat father!”
“Hey!” Hinata faltered as he realized he didn’t have much of a defense. “He, uh… isn’t, anymore?”
Yuta scoffed. “Right. One heck of a time to finally be ready to give us a childhood when we’re not even living at our house anymore. You get it, right, Oogami-senpai?”
“W-WHA— Me!? I thought I wasn’t a part o’ this conversation!” Oogami rubbed the back of his neck. “Still, it ain’t like I had a bad childhood or nothin’…”
Hinata gasped. “Really!? Oogami-senpai sure doesn’t act like the type of person whose had a decent childhood…”
“What the hell’s that supposed t’ mean!?”
“Whatever.” Yuta curled up as he hugged his guitar. “It’s not like I can stop you from going or anything. You can do whatever you want.” He didn’t bother hiding his bitter tone.
“Uhh…” Dang it… Yuta’s getting even harder to read. Back then, it felt like we could always communicate telepathically, but now… “Do you want to come with me?”
Yuta only glared at his older brother.
“Hey.” Oogami strummed his guitar. “How about we practice while yer brother’s out doin’ whatever. That’ll take yer mind off o’ it. Ya can always ask Hinata how it went after.”
The conflict that flashed through Yuta’s eyes was gone by the time he blinked again, and he slowly nodded. “…Okay.”
Hinata shot Oogami a grateful smile, waving one last time to him and Yuta, who hadn’t bothered to spare his twin a glance. Surprisingly, Oogami-senpai’s been a reliable senior after Sakuma-senpai graduated… I’ll only tell him that at graduation though, so I can make him cry for sure ♪
“Tetsu-kun!” Hinata jogged over to his partner, giving a quick peck to his cheek. “Glad you could make it! Early too!”
Tetora flushed. “U~miu~ I wouldn’t miss something as important as this… I’m finally gonna be meeting your dad… He, uh… How is he?”
Hinata winked. “Guess you’re just gonna have to find out ♪” he sing-songed. When he turned away from Tetora, he put a hand over his heart. It’s beating so fast… Dying of a heart attack sure would be embarrassing. I really, really, REALLY need this to go well…
“Oh, you’re here!”
Both idols turned to the man standing at the open door of the Aoi household.
“Tetsu-kun, this here’s my old man. And Otou-san, this here is Tetsu-kun.”
“Ossu~! It’s good to finally meet you!” Tetora caught Hinata’s dad in a firm handshake, causing the older man to wince.
“W-Wow, you sure are a strange one. But I can see you have a very headstrong character. The type of person who stands up for their own justice. That’s a good trait to have.” Hinata’s dad returned the firm handshake.
“Tetsu-kun, you should meet the cats too!” Hinata acknowledged his father with a brief nod before leading his boyfriend into the house.
Two cats scampered into the hallway and meowed at Hinata, excitedly circling him as their tails flicked his legs.
“Ha… Missed you guys too…” Hinata knelt down to run his hands along the felines’ backs, fondly smiling at the purrs the two let out. “Tetsu-kun, you should try it too. These two are kinda like me and Yuta, so if I like you, they should too.”
“U~miu~ That isn’t exactly the best logic, but okay…” Tetora slowly reached his hand out.
The slightly bigger cat was the first one to bravely approach the stranger, sniffing his hand before licking it.
Tetora laughed as the cat moved its head under his palm, practically begging for attention. But when the hero tried to pet the other cat, it sniffed his hand, gave a single lick, and walked away.
Hinata giggled. “Guess you can tell which cat is which twin, huh?”
“Yeah… Though this cat is giving me more kisses than you do…”
“T-Tetsu-kun!?”
Hinata’s father awkwardly coughed behind them. “I’ve already made dinner, so you two can go to the table while I clean up in the kitchen.”
Tetora faced away from his boyfriend’s dad to avoid exposing the flush on his face. “O-Of course! Thank you, sir!”
“I’ve already embarrassed myself in front of your dad… Why did I say something like that!?” Tetora hid his face in his hands, elbows propped on the dining table.
Hinata tilted his chair over so he could rest his head on Tetora’s left shoulder. “Don’t think so hard about it! Actually, I think it eased the tension a teensy bit.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm! My dad and I haven’t really talked about much other than 2wink Lives and how Yuta and I are doing. He does call a lot when a scandal comes out… What a worrywart.” Hinata laughed. “I can almost fool myself into believing that I had a normal childhood ♪”
“…”
Father finally entered the dining room, a sheepish smile on his face. “Apologies for making you two wait. It would be a shame to have made all this food for it to only go cold.”
Tetora bowed his head. “The effort you put into the food would’ve made it delicious either way!”
“Thank you.” The weary man smiled at his elder son. “You’ve managed to get a good one, Hinata. Though I’m not surprised. Am I invited to the wedding?”
“AH!?” Tetora shrieked. “T-THAT…!?”
“Stop teasing him,” Hinata chided. “…But if it were to happen, I’d probably have to put you in the back so Yuta wouldn’t have to see you that much.”
The twins’ father chuckled. “That’s probably how he’d want it, but I think he would hate it if he found out you were moving things around for him. It’d feel like you were babying his feelings. He seems to prefer acting more confrontational, like at the Night Club Live.”
“Please don’t fight at our wedding,” Hinata groaned.
“Why’re you two talking about it like it’s already going to happen!?” From the way Tetora was sweating, it was obvious that even though the martial artist was flustered by the topic, he was definitely eagerly imagining what their future together could look like.
The mischievous twin pouted. “You’re saying that you don’t wanna get married someday?”
Tetora flushed, flailing his arms and nearly hitting his plate of food. “N-No! I would want to… one day… but, um… it’s a little soon…”
Father’s eyes lit up with mirth. “So, Nagumo. Tell me about yourself. I’d like to know about the boy that has caught my son’s eyes.”
“U~miu~ Right…”
Hinata had to admit… the dinner was going a lot better than he’d anticipated. With how long it’d been since he’d been home, and how scarcely he talked with his dad, he was sure that it’d be painful to be home. But the cats were fine, and the portrait of his and Yuta’s mom was still watching over their family. It helped that Tetora had a lot of random stuff to contribute to the conversation too… Hinata wondered how his mother would feel about Tetora…
“…And then Morisawa-senpai tried to carry Taishou in his arms too, but Taishou was too big for him to carry, so Morisawa-senpai started complaining about—” Tetora abruptly stopped midsentence, arms frozen in the air mid-gesture. “Why’re you looking at me like that, Hinata-kun?”
“Hm?” Hinata touched his face. “What? What face did I make?”
“It was a strange kinda face. Like… almost sad?”
“Were you thinking about your mother?” Father asked.
Tetora gaped and Hinata flinched.
The widowed man covered his mouth. “I…”
The chair skidded harshly as Hinata stood up. “It’s not your fault. I just… need to step outside for minute.” As he walked to the door…
“Are you sure you’ll be fine, Hinata?”
The orange-headed boy looked back at his dad and tried to smile. “Yeah… Thanks for asking.”
“Hinata-kun…” Tetora quietly shut the front door behind him and joined Hinata. When he sat down, his fluffy black hair brushed the front windowsill. “It’s already dark outside, huh… Um, you’ve been gone for ten minutes now, a-and I know it’s important to give you space, but I was just getting worried…”
Hinata swallowed down the lump forming in his throat. “Sorry that you had to see that, Tetsu-kun. I didn’t realize I was being so obvious.”
“…What do you mean?”
A large puff of wintery breath dissipated into the cool night air. “I… still miss my mom sometimes. Pathetic, right?” The weak smile Hinata offered failed to alleviate the tension.
“…Isn’t that normal?”
“She’s been gone for about a decade, Tetsu-kun,” Hinata scoffed. “And I don’t really remember much about her either. How am I still thinking about someone I barely knew, enough that even my absent father noticed!?” He took a deep breath, cringing as he realized that his voice had been getting louder and louder, the more he spoke. “I’m sorr— AH!?”
Tetora roughly pulled his boyfriend into a crushing hug, their winter coats cushioning the impact. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, you should be thanking me! …Wait, for what!? I dumped a bunch of unnecessary—”
“STOP!” Tetora’s pink cheeks deepened in hue, and he sheepishly grinned. “Sorry for cutting you off so much.” His expression grew serious. “I’m thanking you because you always do this. I know you’re used to the responsible older brother role, but you can rely on other people too, y’know?”
“I do…”
“With idol stuff, yeah. We both have our seniors, and none of us have a problem asking Anzu for help since she’s been by our side for the last two years, even though we should definitely make sure she doesn’t overwork herself… Anyway…!” Tetora pulled back from the hug a bit to jab Hinata in the chest. “You still keep what’s going on here locked up. You can trust us, your friends. You can trust… me, your partner.”
“Tetsu-kun…”
Tetora huffed annoyedly. “I’m not trying to push you if you’re not ready, but you really need to stop being so hard on yourself.”
Hinata smiled fondly, cupping his pouting boyfriend’s cheek. “I’m not ready yet. But… thanks, Tetsu-kun. That… means a lot. C’mon, let’s head back inside. I’m starting to get cold now.”
They shared a gentle kiss, intertwining their hands as entered the house.
Upon entering the dining room, Father immediately put down the book he was reading and sat up straight. “Hinata…!”
“Hey, Otou-san… Sorry about earlier, but, um… Can we… talk about my mom?” Hinata’s eyes were adamantly glued to the hardwood floor as he avoided the temptation of peeking at his father’s expression.
“Don’t you dare bring up your mother! You monsters have no right to talk about her; you had no right to be born from her.”
“…Sure. We can talk about your mother. Nagumo, do you mind?”
Tetora firmly shook his head. “Not at all, sir!” He led Hinata back to the dining seats they sat at before, still holding onto his hand. “I would love to hear about her,” he earnestly encouraged.
“…Though I suppose you could always say the twins were always like their mother in that way.” The weary man’s eyes misted with nostalgia. “Stubborn to a fault. Independent. Mischievous. She insisted that she pay for all the damages and more… and when she finished paying off her debt, she pulled a much safer prank. Ha…” Father sipped a few times from his glass of water. “I haven’t talked that much in a long time.”
“She sounds like an amazing person!” Tetora commented.
“She was… How do you feel after hearing those stories, Hinata?”
Hinata fidgeted in his seat. “I… I think I feel better? A part of me is really sad that I couldn’t find out all of this about my mom by spending time with her… But the other part of me is grateful I can learn about her at all… I…”
Hinata’s father smiled sadly. “Nagumo. How about you tell us about your family?”
Tetora’s eyes widened. “M-Me!?”
The widower looked at his elder son, who permitted it with a reluctant nod. “I would like to hear about a family other than ours.” A family that isn’t broken.
“O-Okay…” Tetora’s eyes darted between the two Aois before he assuredly grinned. “I’ve got tons of stories to share ♪”
“G-Goodbye, sir!” Tetora’s teeth chattered as he waved. “How’d it get so cold!?”
Hinata’s father chuckled. “Time sure flies, doesn’t it? It’s already eleven.”
“Tetsu-kun, this is all your fault for going off on all your long-winded stories! At least the security will recognize us and let us back in…”
“How is this my fault!? You guys are the ones who kept asking me for more stories in the first place!”
Hinata waved to his father. “Goodbye.”
Father waved back. “Goodbye… And, Hinata?”
“Yeah?”
“Never show your faces to me again.”
“Feel free to come back for dinner again.” The twins’ dad sighed resignedly. “I know he doesn’t want to see me at all, but you can still invite Yuta over… At the very least, he can visit the cats. Oh, and remember to share the stories about your mother, if he wants to hear.”
“…Yeah,” Hinata said breathlessly. “I’ll be sure to remember.”
With one last parting wave, Father closed the front door, and the cats waved at the idols from the window.
“Time to go, Hinata-kun!” Tetora hooked his arm around his boyfriend’s. “I was really worried about how that’d go, but I think it wasn’t that bad. And… it was nice to learn more about you too.”
“Tetsu-kun…”
“Huh?”
“Thanks for loving a little monster like me ♪ Maybe that means you’d love me if I was a worm too.”
“Wha— You’re not a monster! Or a worm!?”
Hinata grinned mischievously, putting only a couple centimeters between his face and Tetora’s. “Like you said before, I haven’t told you everything just yet~ I could do some terrible, terrible things…” He leaned in closer.
Tetora closed his eyes as if he was bracing himself for a kiss, but he yelped as he got flicked between the eyes. “You…!”
“Byeee!” Hinata took off in a fit of laughter.
“You’re not gonna get away! Ossu~!” Tetora ran at a faster speed, but Hinata was confident that with his acrobatic skills, he’d be able to easily dodge the martial artist.
Hinata laughed as he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding Tetora’s grasp. “Promise to keep chasing me, Tetsu-kun?”
“Whaddya mean!? Of course I will! As a man, there’s no way I’ll let you get away with this!”
Hinata grinned widely, exhaling the heaviness in his chest through his laughs as they raced into the night. “That’s just what I wanted to hear ♪”