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Last year, Masakado had been so aphonic during their New Year's recording, they really thought he would lose his voice—it had been funny for about five minutes before Seiya got sickly worried. So, they all had him go back to the hotel immediately with a bag full of tea and medicine in hopes he would recover as soon as possible.
It wasn't New Year's Eve, anyway, so Seiya didn't mind much.
Then, New Year's Eve came and they were so busy cleaning the mess after Taisei, that none of them thought about celebrating New Year's.
This year, they had a different kind of recording for the end of the year. It wasn’t even for New Year's Eve—they hoped they could spend that with the fans—but for Christmas.
Seiya had fixed a smile on his face when he ended up picking his own present during the Secret Santa. It's true that he had liked the DeLorean since the moment he laid eyes on it—Back to the Future will forever be one of his favorite movies ever—but he was hoping Lady Luck would smile upon the two of them and let them exchange gifts.
He had ruined the whole thing the moment he chose his own gift.
Or so he had thought—until Kojima chose Masakado's.
“To be quite honest, Kojima was the person I wanted to get this the most,” he had said.
It was a low blow to Seiya. Though he had loved the DeLorean himself, he had thought for a second that Masakado might like it too if he got it—but would still let Seiya borrow it. At home. All the time.
He didn't just leave it at that, though.
“I'm sorry to say this, but probably Sano and Suezawa would have had a hard time if they got mine.”
He hadn’t thought about Seiya at all.
Needless to say, when they all opened the toy cars Masakado had received from Richa to play a little at the end of the recording, Seiya had opened his own DeLorean and played with it a little to the side.
He wasn’t pouting and he definitely wasn't throwing a fit. It was not his fault he wasn't in the mood to play with the rest.
It was Masakado's.
But when it was a wrap for the day, he realized he had missed an opportunity to have a New Year's moment with Masakado.
He wasn’t even going to count the fact that they had spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day together, just because they hadn't. They had radio work on both days, alright. That was about the whole interaction they've had. It wasn’t even worth mentioning because it had been Seiya’s fault they couldn't meet after Kanbari on Christmas Eve and it had been Masakado’s fault they couldn't meet after Yantan on Christmas.
At the end of the day, his only chance was the livestream fifteen minutes before New Year's arrived.
They had all changed into their hakamas and were scattered around the studio, waiting for all their more popular senpais to almost finish their streams so they could start theirs. It didn't sting Seiya anymore like it had when one of the higher-ups had casually thrown those words at them during their meeting. It didn't sting much because Seiya's focus was elsewhere in the room.
“Where did he get himself now?”
It wasn’t even a big studio, so how come he couldn’t find his boyfriend? He turned left and turned right a couple of steps ahead and, when he least expected it, he bumped against a solid mass of pectorals and biceps.
“I'm sorry, I—”
“Are you okay, Seiya-kun? Did you get hurt?” Masakado asked with a hint of real worry creeping up his voice.
Seiya stepped back, rubbing his nose where he’d bumped into Masakado’s arms. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “Just—where were you?”
Masakado blinked, tilting his head. “Huh?”
Seiya gestured vaguely at the studio. “You disappeared.”
“Oh.” Masakado rubbed the back of his neck. “Just grabbed a drink. Didn’t think you’d be looking for me.”
Didn’t think I’d be looking for you?
Seiya clenched his jaw but said nothing. He stepped back, ignoring the way Masakado’s hand hovered near his elbow like he expected Seiya to stumble again.
The irritation was already bubbling up.
But, before he could say anything, a loud voice interrupted them.
“Oi, Massan! Sue-san! Where’d you run off to? We’re about to go live!” KojiKen called them from across the studio.
Masakado sighed, releasing Seiya’s arms. “Let’s talk later, okay? We have a stream to get through first.”
Seiya wanted to press further, but the countdown to midnight loomed, and they had a job to do. So he swallowed his frustration and followed Masakado back to where the others were setting up.
He wasn’t even that upset about the Christmas thing—okay, maybe he was, a little—but this was supposed to be their moment, their first step into the new year… as boyfriends. And debuted idols, of course. Instead, Masakado was wandering off, wasting time searching for drinks, goofing around with Kojima and Sano, and casually announcing off-camera that he’d be going to his Hatsumode with Nishihata and Nagase like it didn’t even cross his mind that Seiya might’ve wanted to go too.
Seiya wasn’t sure exactly when the annoyance turned into something worse, something heavier sitting in his chest.
He had wanted to start the year on a good note. He really had. But, by the time the stream ended and the others were off getting changed, he found himself scrolling through the comments on his phone, letting each new complaint about Masakado’s “bad luck” fuel his irritation.
Masakado and his stupid luck.
Both times. Both times Masakado had picked five seconds. Out of all the durations in the box.
The first time had been funny, alright. But the second time? Outrageous!
And it wasn’t just that.
Richa had drawn Nounai Rhapsody —Seiya’s favorite song—and got a full twenty seconds. Twenty seconds! That was actual teasing, the kind that built hype and made fans excited. Meanwhile, Masakado had doomed two perfectly good songs to five-second clips, leaving the comments flooded with complaints.
Masakado, seriously?
RIGGED.
Seiya, take the box away from him next time!!
Seiya exhaled loudly, leaning back in his chair in the waiting room. The others were still getting changed, but he had no energy to move yet.
Masakado had also been the first to change clothes, along with Kojima. That meant Seiya, Richa, and Masaya had to wait, still in their hakamas, while those two strolled back looking comfortable. Seiya knew it wasn’t technically a big deal, but after everything else, it just added to his annoyance.
He couldn’t even enjoy that moment with Masakado after he had showed off his biceps to all their fans. Again.
And then there was the Hatsumode thing.
That shouldn’t have bothered Seiya, he knew that very well himself. Masakado had every right to do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t like they had a tradition of going together.
And yet—Seiya had found himself irritated all over again.
Maybe it was the way Masakado had said it, so casual and unbothered . Maybe it was that after spending the whole night together, Masakado already had other plans lined up.
Maybe Seiya was just tired.
“Still sulking?” Masakado asked, amusement laced in his voice—but Seiya caught the careful way he studied his face.
Seiya scoffed, shoving his phone in his pocket. “I’m not sulking.”
Masakado hummed, unconvinced. “Then why do you look like you’re plotting my downfall?”
Seiya leaned forward. “Did you rig the box?”
Masakado grinned. “Nope. Just my luck.”
Seiya deadpanned. “Twice?”
Masakado shrugged. “What can I say? Fate wanted chaos. And staff-san made sure to include like a thousand 5-second pieces of paper for every 60 and 30-second ones.”
Seiya exhaled sharply and threw his head back against the couch.
“I hate you.”
Masakado laughed, then nudged his leg. “C’mon. Come with me.”
Seiya frowned. “Where?”
Masakado didn’t answer—just turned toward the door, jerking his head for Seiya to follow. “You’ll see,” he added when Seiya hadn’t moved in 5 seconds.
Still irritated but too tired to argue, Seiya pushed himself off the couch and trailed after him. When they reached the rooftop, he hesitated.
“…What are we doing here?”
Masakado pushed open the door. “Making sure you don’t start the year in a bad mood.”
Seiya stepped out—and immediately stopped.
A small table was set up with a thermos and two cups. A blanket was draped over the ledge, and there was a clear, unobstructed view of the city skyline, where the last of the fireworks were still sparking in the distance.
Seiya turned to Masakado, brows furrowing. “You…?” He swallowed and tried to conceal the emotion dripping in his voice.” …You set this up?”
Masakado rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
"Thought we could have a moment to ourselves," he moved slowly to the romantic setup, his back towards Seiya, so he couldn’t see his face when he said, “I was gonna invite you for Hatsumode, but you looked so annoyed earlier that I figured you wouldn’t want to.”
Seiya blinked. “You were…?”
Masakado nodded, facing Seiya again.
“Yeah.” He sat down on the blanket, patting the space beside him. “So, instead of waiting for you to get over whatever this is, I figured I’d just fix it myself.”
Seiya’s stomach did something weird and annoying, but he just sat down slowly, watching as Masakado poured tea into both cups.
“Thanks for keeping me in rhythm earlier,” Masakado added, handing him a cup.
Seiya snorted.
“Someone had to.”
Masakado grinned, his shoulders doing a little slumping down.
“And thanks for putting up with my bad luck.”
Seiya raised an eyebrow.
“…I still don’t believe it was luck.”
Masakado just laughed, bumping their shoulders together.
Seiya sighed but let himself relax. The irritation from earlier had already started to fade, replaced by something quieter, something warm.
They sipped their tea in comfortable silence, the last moments of New Year's Eve stretching between them.
Masakado nudged Seiya’s knee with his own again, leaning a little closer. "Happy New Year, Seiya."
“Happy New Year.”
Masakado closed the few inches separating them both and gave Seiya his first kiss of the year. Their first kiss of 2025.
Seiya’s breath hitched. And just like that, all the little annoyances melted away.
Maybe the year hadn’t started perfectly.
But sitting here with Masakado, it felt like it was starting right .