Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ha! Uno! Draw four, Akito!”

“Are you serious?! This is the third game in a row!”

Rui and Touya laughed quietly as Akito angrily picked up four cards from the deck. Tsukasa beamed proudly beside him at the dining room table.

Touya shuffled through his cards after Akito finished pulling from the deck. “Which color?”

Tsukasa fumbled slightly. “Uh-Blue.”

“Hmm. This is quite the pickle for us, Touya. Tsukasa might win again,” Rui whispered to the blue split haired man sitting next to him.

Touya nodded without looking up from his cards as he stared intently into his hand. After a moment, he finally put down a blue five. “I’m not sure if this is the right move.”

Rui picked a yellow five out of his deck and placed it on top of Touya’s card. “Your turn, Tsukasa.”

The glint in Tsukasa’s eyes faded slightly as he pulled three cards out of the deck before placing down a yellow two. “Noooooo, I was so close!”

“FINALLY. Jeez.” Akito placed a yellow reverse back to Tsukasa with a mischievous grin on his face. “Your turn again.”

“Wha- oh, come on!”

Tsukasa drew two more cards before placing a yellow one. He grumbled as he slumped forward, laying his arms in front of him before placing his head on the table in disappointment. A defeated frown came across his face as he sighed. “My winning streak…”

“Ah, how pleasant. Uno.” Rui placed a yellow draw two-card as swiftly as he could, smiling innocently. He glanced at his residing opponent again. “My apologies, Touya.”

Touya in turn frowned. “How unfortunate…”

He paused before placing a blue draw two card with an apologetic glance toward Akito. “Sorry…”

“You all have it out for me,” Akito frustratingly remarked before quickly grabbing two cards and leaning backwards in his chair, defeated.

Without a word, surprisingly, Tsukasa barely lifted his head to check his hand before placing a blue three. He set the remaining cards on the table as he glanced up. “So this means-“

“I win.”

Rui placed a green three on top of Tsukasa’s before grinning in satisfaction. Akito and Tsukasa let out a few defeated groans as they sat back up in their chairs. Touya softly placed his cards on the table as he revealed his deck of blue numbered cards.

“That was quite the game. Good job, everyone,” Touya said.

Rui stared deadpan at a frowning Akito, his smile never fading. “So, should we go for another round?-“

“No.”

With that reply, Akito stood up from his chair, smacked his large deck on the table, and walked into the kitchen to grab a drink. Rui and Touya began to clear the card game off of the dining room table as Tsukasa pushed his chair backwards and stood up.

“So, what do we want to do next?” Rui wondered as he put the sorted cards into the Uno box.

Tsukasa pushed his chair toward the table before placing a finger to his chin. “We could play some more games, order some food, watch a movie…?”

“Ordering some food sounds like a good idea,” Akito replied from Tsukasa’s kitchen. He walked back towards the dining table as he held a soda in his right hand before fishing out his phone with the other. “What do you guys want?”

Some friendly debate went back and forth between them all as they tried to pick something for dinner. As they did, the four men began discussing what was happening in their personal lives, what they were currently up to, and what future plans they had down the road.

Tsukasa was continuing to pursue his dream of becoming a renowned star, while Rui was continuing his dream to become a director of wonderful shows. The two often worked and studied together for various projects and performances when they had the opportunity, just as they had as teenagers. Once they had started on their paths, there came the unfortunate disbandment of Wonderlands x Showtime, which meant all four former members rarely had time to do anything together. The two chaotic men mentioned their members fondly as they reminisced about the past.

Akito and Touya were continuing their dream of conquering the world through their music. They had separate interests they each pursued to earn a living, but held steadfast on their shared dream by producing and performing when they could. Vivid Bad Squad was still as strong as ever, determined to reach their goal of expanding music to the world.

As the conversation started to wrap up, there was a knock on Tsukasa’s door. Tsukasa and Akito made their way to the door to bring the food inside before they set the bags on the dining room table.

“Thank you very much, Akito. It smells delicious,” Rui replied as he gratefully sat down in one of the chairs. The other three followed as he started distributing the bags of food to everyone.

“Yeah, no problem,” Akito said. “Dig in.”

In no time, the four of them were peacefully eating at the table as they stuffed their faces with delight. Tsukasa grinned in satisfaction after eating most of his hibachi platter.

“This…hits perfectly.” Tsukasa closed his eyes in pure joy as he held another amount to his mouth. The other three men, although quiet, also enjoyed their delicious platters in pure bliss. The sounds of rustling grocery bags could be heard in the comfortable atmosphere.

After some time passed, Rui sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

“So,” Rui said after taking a bite of fried rice, “are we up for a game of truth or dare?” A sheepish smile appeared on his face momentarily before he ate another amount of rice.

“I’m down,” Akito responded as he and Touya exchanged sauce packets.

“In that case, I’d like to start!” Tsukasa happily yelled in childlike excitement. His voice echoed in his apartment, which was met by another voice in return.

“Keep it down!” A faint male voice could be heard from below the floor. “Geez, Tenma!”

Tsukasa awkwardly coughs before apologizing to his downstairs neighbor at his equal volume.

“In that case, I’d like to start.” Tsukasa repeated quietly before he faced his friends. “Alright. Rui! Truth or Dare?”

“Truth, if you please.”

“What is something you’ve done that to this day no one is aware of?”

Rui let out a small fufu~ before tapping his chopsticks into his hibachi platter. “I planted a confetti cannon at the entrance of Kamiyama High School years ago. But they have yet to find it. To this day, there is unexplainable confetti sprayed all across the school grounds every first and last day of school.”

“That’s surprisingly harmless,” Akito commented after taking a bite of his dinner. “I can’t believe I never noticed it.”

Tsukasa’s jaw dropped slightly. “What?! I knew it had something to do with you, but I couldn’t figure out how or why it would relate to you. I should’ve checked more thoroughly!"

He groaned softly as Touya let out a small laugh.

“I never noticed either so you must have hidden this cannon well. It must be hard to find.”

Rui shrugged. “I haven’t gotten a call from the school so I doubt they’ve found it or figured out it was me.”

“Seems like your mischievous nature hasn’t changed.”

“I suppose,” Rui responded to Akito’s comment. “It’s simply good fun.”

Akito rolled his eyes as he let out a tiny grin. “You’re never simply anything, Kamishiro.”

Rui dramatically put his chopsticks down as he lifted a hand to his forehead. “I’m hurt. Okay then, Akito, Truth or Dare?”

“Dare. Hit me with it.”

“I dare you to sing the first ten letters of the English alphabet in ten seconds.”

Akito grimaced slightly as he glanced around the room with uncertainty. “Ah…it’s been a minute since I’ve practiced. Okay, someone start a timer.”

Touya pulled out his phone and tapped on it a few times before nodding. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Akito stood up from out of his chair and quickly went through a quick vocal exercise. He cleared his throat and then nodded. “Alright.”

The room went quiet for a few seconds before Touya counted down. “Three, two, one.”

“A…uh…B? C, D…E? Oh, what comes after E? Ah, F, G… H, I…J!”

Touya tapped his screen in sync with Akito’s last letter. “Time.”

Akito let out a sigh of relief. “I gotta practice more, that was embarrassing.”

Rui chuckled. “Good job, you’ve definitely improved.”

“If he practiced everyday, I bet he’d have no trouble,” Touya sighed. “You should really be practicing with me when we go over English.”

“Anyways, Tsukasa, Truth or Dare?” Akito quickly turned his attention to the blond haired man, ignoring the comment.

“Truth!”

“What’s the last lie you told?”

Tsukasa’s face went a little bit pale. “I told a cast mate of mine a few weeks ago that I couldn’t attend his birthday party because I had a doctor’s appointment. But I actually had a different birthday party to attend and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

Tsukasa shamefully bowed to the others as they slowly blinked at him. “That’s it?” Akito questioned.

“I bet he would've understood,” Touya tried to reason. “Who was the birthday for?”

“A different castmate from a past troupe. I hadn’t gotten to see them in a while. I’ve been ashamed ever since.”

The blond man quickly shook his head and stared right at Touya to continue the game. “Anyways, Truth or Dare Touya?”

“Truth.”

“Have you gone on any dates recently?”

“Oh…” Touya’s voice trailed off as he embarrassingly stared at his food. “Ah, this is a little awkward.”

The other three men slightly leaned in towards Touya, eagerly awaiting the answer. He first took a delicate bite of his broccoli before he lifted a napkin to his lips.

“I’ve…never been on a date before. I’m not even sure what to really do on dates.”

“Theres nothing wrong with that,” Tsukasa quickly responded, feeling bad for putting his friend on the spot. “I really just wanted to know if you had a secret partner or something…”

“You make it sound like you want to date him,” Akito quipped before laughing.

Touya let out a soft laugh himself as he melted slightly into his chair. “Yeah… I haven’t been on any dates though, so I can’t answer that question.”

“No worries,” Rui reassured. “We can move on to something else.”

“In that case, Rui, Truth or Dare?”

“I’ll accept a dare.”

Touya thought long and hard for quite a minute before he spoke again. “Uh, I dare you to eat a banana with chopsticks. If Tsukasa has any.”

“Yeah I have some. I’ll go grab some and a fresh pair of chopsticks.”

Tsukasa quickly got up from his chair and rummaged through the kitchen. Rui lightly pushed his takeout platter aside for an open space.

“Alright, I brought a plate as well,” Tsukasa commented as he walked towards Rui’s side of the table.

Rui picked up his chopsticks after Tsukasa set down everything and tried to get a grip on the banana before he unpeeled it. “So with the peel, it's not very tough to hold,” he remarked. “Let’s see what it's like without it.”

For quite a few minutes, Rui struggled to get a good grip on the banana, which kept slicing apart as he delicately tried to hold it. Eventually, he managed to grab a small portion of the now sliced up banana and took a bite. “Well, I finally got a portion of it.” Everyone laughed after Rui’s failed attempts had finally worked out.

The four friends kept taking their own turns taking different dares and admitting truths as the sky began to darken outside. The light of the moon could be seen slowly peeking through the blinds as the living room clock ticked. Time flew by comfortably as laughter and chatter filled the apartment.

After a few more silly truths and dares, it was Rui’s turn to ask a truth or dare question. “Okay Touya, Truth or Dare?”

“I’ll go with truth.”

“Ah,” Rui expressed as a mischievous smile crossed his face. “Earlier you mentioned you hadn’t been on a date before. But that got me wondering, is there anyone special in your life you haven’t told us about?”

Touya tapped his left hand slowly on the table as he went quiet. An awkward smile appeared on his face after a long while. “Ah, I was wondering if that was going to be brought up again.”

“So there is someone???” Tsukasa asked earnestly.

“The straightforward answer would be…yes. There is someone special in my life that I’ve discovered I have a deeper respect for than anyone else.”

Everyone turned their attention fully to Touya, waiting patiently for his response. He took another moment to fiddle around before admitting his answer.

“I believe…I have romantic feelings for Azusawa.”

Touya glanced over at Akito with a tired smile. “And…I’ve never told her.”

“Really? But you’ve spent so much time together,” Tsukasa commented in confusion. “I thought you had admitted your feelings years ago.”

Touya blinked in surprise towards his dear friend, obviously lost. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well,” Rui admitted, “it’s not really a surprise you’ve taken a liking to her. You have for years, have you not?”

“But how would you two have known? I didn't realize these feelings until very recently.”

Akito leaned over slightly to pat his partner’s shoulder. “You might not have known, but it was insanely obvious.”

“It was? Wait, what was obvious?”

“You’ve always been fond of Kohane. You’d mention her all the time whenever you came to visit,” Tsukasa explained. “You brought her to Phoenix Wonderland multiple times and watched our shows together. Both of you came by quite frequently. I assumed something was up, but I never mentioned it.”

“I see.” Touya went quiet, unsure of how to respond.

“I have to ask though, you still call her Azusawa?” Tsukasa asked curiously.

Before Touya could answer that question, Akito waved a hand in the air as he leaned back into his chair. “He’s trying to be as respectful as he can even though they’ve been partners and friends for years. Kohane still calls Touya his surname most of the time too. An and I were sure they’d eventually get out of this habit, but I guess they haven’t been able to.”

“I really respect her,” was all Touya could say in response.

“Saying her first name isn’t disrespectful,” Akito followed up. “I told you it wasn’t a big deal.”

Rui let out a little laugh and swooped in to save Touya. “Do you want to move on with the game?”

Touya nodded in slight embarrassment. “Tsukasa, Truth or Dare?”

“Oh, um…Truth?”

“What’s a concern you currently have?”

“Oh, we’re getting deep and specific now, are we?” Rui questioned, acting like he hadn’t started it.

Tsukasa kind of jumped at the comment. “Uhhh,” was all he could muster at first, debating if he would say anything. “Ah, well, to be quite frank, it’s pretty pathetic. And sad.”

“Let’s hear it,” Akito quipped.

Tsukasa ignored Akito’s comment and tapped his fingers on the table nervously. “Uh…I have feelings for someone too and I don’t know how to tell them.”

Rui’s eyes widened. “Oh, is this about-“

“Tsukasa loves someone more than his career?” Akito slyly smiled at Tsukasa before apologizing. “Okay, that was mean. Sorry about that.”

“Who’s this person?” Touya questioned, focusing the attention back to Tsukasa.

“Ah, uh…well, that doesn’t really matter, does it? Haha! Ha…”

“C’mon Tenma, you admitted it yourself. We’re not going to judge,” Akito promised. “I actually think I know who it is.”

Rui gave Tsukasa a reassuring thumbs up as Tsukasa glanced at him in embarrassment. The blond man sighed before he cleared his throat.

“I want to tell Emu I love her,” he said softly.

“I called it.”

“What?!”

Akito simply shrugged. “Who else could it be? You’ve been by her side since your troupe days, dude. And your personalities are almost the same. Plus, she would sneak into school just to see you and her friends. It’s not really a secret.”

“Well- yeah, she used to do that…” Tsukasa quickly shook his head. “I was certain no one else knew about my feelings.”

Akito pushed his chair backwards and stood up slowly to throw his trash away as he chuckled to himself. “Sure.”

“No really, I didn’t think anyone else knew.”

Rui chuckled a little before following Akito’s lead. “I think anyone could see how naturally close you guys were.”

“Why don’t you ask her to hang out sometime,” Touya offered quietly, trying to be helpful. “Maybe spending time together could lead to an opportunity?”

“But! Truthfully, I don’t know what I should do in order to invite her,” Tsukasa admitted in defeat. “I never planned to tell her. I always told myself it would be difficult to maintain a relationship with our careers, a-and I thought that once our troupe split, I’d get over her…”

“Then ask Emu out,” Rui suggested from the kitchen. “Take her to the Phoenix Wonderland Ferris Wheel. A memorable trip down memory lane might help you build up the courage.”

“Hmm, I suppose it isn’t a horrible idea. But I don’t know…,” Tsukasa mumbled before trailing off.

The conversation died down pretty quickly as Touya and Tsukasa exchanged silent glances. In the midst of having fun with one another, it was only natural that deeper inquiries could be brought up. And with that came some embarrassment.

Rui came back into the dining room and glanced between the two of his silent friends. “C’mon guys, why are you so glum?”

“They’re two grown men struggling with love, of course they’re glum,” Akito slyly commented as he sat back in his chair.

“You don’t exactly have the best track record with relationships yourself,” Touya commented before sipping his drink, mainly in hopes to defuse the awkward tension.

Akito stared at his partner, dumbfounded. “Dude, what was that for?”

“Oh? Well now I want to know more about Akito’s love life.”

“Well tough luck cause I'm not talking about it.”

“That’s no fun,” Rui pouted as he sat back down. “Tsukasa and Touya have already put in their pieces.”

“I wasn’t even dared to share that!”

“We could dare you now,” Tsukasa offered as he perked his head up.

Seeing how Tsukasa was waiting to get on his case, Akito quickly intercepted. “No- no, we don’t have to dare me,” he quickly responded in slight frustration as he waved his arms in front of him. “I guess I could indulge in a freebie. But only because Touya had to share his thoughts first.”

“Hey, I talked about my experience too!”

Rui decided he would ask the freebie question while Tsukasa protested. “Okay Akito, who do you have a crush on?”

Akito, despite being ready for a random question thrown at him, slightly turned red in the face at Rui’s question. “Ugh…did you have to ask that? Do I really have to?”

“You said we could indulge in a freebie.”

“I guess. Um…yeah, I do happen to have a crush. Of some kind.”

“Thats ominous,” Tsukasa commented as he shifted a little in his chair. “But you do have a crush, yes?!” He started grinning as he leaned into the table towards Akito. Akito leaned away.

“Why are you so excited? Whatever,” Akito shook his head lightly. “Well…even though I do, I’m in the same position as everyone else. I haven't talked about it at all.”

“We get the first scoop?"

“Touya beat you to it, Tsukasa,” Rui teased.

“Ah, darn.”

Touya let out a soft giggle as Akito rolled his eyes. “Actually, I didn’t even admit it to Touya. Despite his struggles with Kohane, he somehow read me like an open book. I guess I was staring too long at them or something and that was enough for him to figure it out.”

“Sounds like you couldn’t hide what you were feeling,” Rui commented. “There’s no shame in that. I bet having Touya figure it out unknowingly gave you some comfort. And vice versa, of course.”

“Actually, you’re probably onto something, Kamishiro. Tsukasa probably feels the same way. Probably.”

“Hey! Who said Rui knew?”

“We did,” the other men said in response to Tsukasa’s defense. He quickly went quiet.

“Regardless, we’re all just as hopeless,” Akito stated. “Unless Kamishiro has had some luck we don’t know about?”

“You still haven’t answered my question, so I won’t say anything until you do.”

Akito grimaced slightly. “You won’t let me get out of this...” His comment was followed by some silence, but the look on his face was enough to express that he was unwilling to share such a secret. Eventually, with the eyes of his friends fixated on him, he finally caved.

“I like An, okay? Happy?”

Tsukasa’s eyes quickly widened in slight surprise as Rui’s face turned smug. The purple haired man chuckled as Akito avoided all eye contact, his face redder than earlier. “Fufu-Akito, I’ve waited a long time for you to admit it.”

“S-shut up,” was all Akito could immediately muster.

“Akito has a hard time admitting to me on a regular basis,” Touya added. “I think he has a hard time being around An sometimes because of it.”

“I do not.”

“Agree to disagree,” Touya said.

“Also, why are you surprised, Tenma? What’s that look for?”

“I just never thought you’d actually admit it,” the blond man quickly admitted. “Its not every day that Shinonome admits his true feelings.”

“Are you patronizing me right now?”

“Akito, how long have you liked Shiraishi, if I may ask,” Rui inquired innocently.

Akito took a moment to think long and hard about his response. “Uh, a mix of it is complicated. I didn’t really come to terms with this crush for a while anyways. I never thought I would actually end up crushing on her but it ended up happening, no matter how much I was avoiding it. The earliest I could say was around the time we graduated high school.”

“It was definitely earlier,” Touya said softly beside his orange haired companion. Tsukasa and Rui glanced at each other knowingly as Akito ‘tch’ed at his partner’s comment.

“I talked enough, so that’s your answer.”

“Wha-You barely talked about it!”

“You didn’t either, senpai.”

“Then let’s ask Rui,” Tsukasa suggested as everyone turned to Kamashiro. “After all, he started all of this. I think it's his turn right about now.”

“Oh dear, but I would’ve liked to find out more about Akito’s crush with Shiraishi…”

“Not happening. I already talked about it. It's your turn right about now.”

“Me?” Rui questioned innocently.

Akito rolled his eyes. “Is there anyone else named Rui in this room?”

Rui laughed as he lightly crossed his arms before laying them on the table. “Alright, it's only fair. I did start this line of thought.” The usual playful look on his face slowly morphed into a bit of a more serious facial expression, causing his friends to glance at each other as Rui sat in silence.

After some time, he let out a small laugh. “Fufu…I didn’t really expect this to be hard to say,” he admitted. “I apologize that I put us in this predicament.”

“It's a bit of a sudden predicament,” Touya softly agreed.

“That it is.” More silence followed after a bit more contemplation. Everyone else was having equal feelings that they had been hiding for long periods of time, so there was truly nothing to continue worrying about. He decided to go for it. “I’m in love with Nene.”

He was met with a loud exclamation from his blond haired troupemate, who quickly cleared his throat and tried to compose himself. “I uh- I had a very strong feeling that would be your answer.”

Rui laughed a little, appreciating Tsukasa’s happy reaction, despite how Akito and Touya jumped in surprise. “I suppose it's not hard to expect. I’ve had these feelings for a long time. Although, I am very pathetic myself for keeping things stationary.”

“Hey, have you been listening to us for the past hour? We all understand,” Akito answered as he shook off a crumb from his sleeve. “But your crush on Nene is the most obvious crush I’ve ever seen.”

Touya hesitated to nod. “Based on my past interactions with the both of you, Akito is right.”

“Ah, is that so? Maybe I’m not as discreet as I believe to be. Quite the night we’ve had, wouldn’t you agree?”

Tsukasa quickly jumped in before Rui could move on from the topic. “Wait wait, when did you discover your feelings for Nene? We want to know….okay, I want to know.”

“Oh- right. Well…when we were younger, Nene was my best friend. I saw her like a little sister at the time since we were both only children, and I enjoyed any time we spent together. But I think after some…events in middle school occurred, I discovered a warmth I’d feel around Nene when we started Wonderlands x Showtime, but I never came to terms with what those feelings were for a long time. I guess…”

He began to trail off before regaining his composure and brushing a part of his hair out of his face. “I ended up figuring those feelings out thanks to another close friend of mine.”

Rui looked back up to his friends. “I truly love her a lot. But the times I’ve tried to encourage myself enough to tell her, I fear that our friendship could end for good if I try.”

“Yeah…that's pretty tough,” Akito agreed solemnly. “I wasn’t really friends with An, I’d say, but if I had been…” He didn’t need to finish his sentence for Rui to agree.

“My fears have kept me stagnant, unfortunately. I hope that maybe one day I can find that courage again but…she’s pursuing her dream and I’m pursuing mine. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

Tsukasa scooted closer to Rui from his side of the table and put his hand on Rui’s shoulder. He gave his friend a gentle squeeze. “You’re not alone in that feeling.” Touya and Akito slowly nodded in agreement as Rui released a defeated sigh.

The mood of the room became somber again as various thoughts were swimming around in everyone’s minds. It wasn’t how any of them had expected the night to pan out, but oddly enough some relief and excitement was beginning to stir.

“Well, this isn’t how I thought this night would go,” Akito remarked after some time had passed. “I didn’t think we were all struggling with love to this degree.”

Touya glanced down at his phone before letting out a tiny smile. “And yet, I feel a lot better after saying how I feel out loud.”

Rui looked up in surprise. “Oh?”

“He’s kind of right,” Akito sighed in relief as he leaned backwards in his chair. “I feel a bit lighter, I guess.”

Rui glanced at Tsukasa, who had taken his hand off of Rui’s shoulder. “How do you feel, Tsukasa?”

The blond man blinked a little before he glanced at Touya. “Well….I’m still nervous and a little embarrassed but…” He managed to smile as his usual self would. “I think I feel more seen.”

“Do you feel better, Rui?” Touya asked.

Rui made eye contact with Touya as he folded his arms, his nerves still a bit tense. But a warm feeling in Rui’s chest seemed to overwhelm his weighted worries. “Oh…I believe I feel a bit more relaxed.”

In fact, all four men surprisingly felt a lot better and more confident in themselves as they conversed further about their current emotions and how this conversation was bringing a lot of comfort. The more they indulged, the easier it was to talk. Despite the years that had gone by for each of them, they were in love, and still just as sure of it as when they were teenagers. Of course, admitting those kinds of feelings aren’t that simple when a lot of emotions have been stirring for years. But now, there was solidarity between them and encouragement from each other.

After a lot of thinking and discussing, Akito finally took a deep breath as he sat up in his chair. “I might need to make a phone call tonight.”

Tsukasa excitedly nodded. “I think I might need to do the same. I’m still nervous, but at this point, I don’t want to wait anymore.”

“Yeah. I still can’t believe this is how the night ended up going either,” Touya admitted. “But this was very needed, at least for me. Thank you.”

Rui smiled as he took in his varying emotions. “It really is never too late, huh? Heh…I almost can’t wait to finally tell her.”

“Then let’s dare Rui to make the first phone call,” Akito teased.

“What happened to your pending phone call?”

“Hey- I will. In a minute.”

“Then let’s dare all of us,” Tsukasa suggested. “Everyone has to make at least some kind of phone call tonight.”

Akito shrugged. “I guess I can agree to that.”

“Me too,” Touya and Rui replied in sync.

Everyone turned their eyes to Akito. He glanced between them before he sighed in defeat. “Alright, alright. I’ll be right back.”

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Chapter Text

As Akito made his way into another room, he pulled his phone out, tapped on An’s contact info, and stared at it. Was he really about to do this? After all of this time, the waiting, and the intensity, could he make this call? Should he make this call?

“I just need to do it,” he muttered out loud as he tapped his other arm. He could hear Tsukasa’s distant shouts from the dining room, which slightly calmed his nerves somehow, but his feelings kept swirling like a pit inside of him.

He took a moment to reminisce about how for all of his life, he had always been chasing a dream, strengthening himself, and wanting to be better in all ways he could. Why was this really any different? It was daunting, and a little scary, but Akito had been certain that he really liked An. And after all of this time, tonight was the night he finally had to face it. This was his opportunity. Why shouldn’t he take this like how he took RAD WEEKEND by storm?

He took a deep breath as his mind continued to swirl. Before he could regret it, he tapped the call button and waited in fated breath. He wanted her to pick up, but also silently hoped maybe she wouldn’t. Regardless of the outcome, he was too nervous to think anymore.

After two buzzes, a sweet familiar voice answered. A voice Akito always loved to hear: “Hey Akito, what’s up?”

He quickly cleared his throat, his brain now empty and running on adrenaline. “Hey.”

There was silence on the other end before An spoke again. “So…what’s up?”

“Ah, uh…”

“Ah uh what? Oh, do we have a new schedule for this week?! I was going to text the group chat tomorrow about it, but this is perfect timing.”

“Oh I don’t have the new schedule yet, I’m still waiting on a venue to respond to my email.”

“Oh okay. Is something else up?”

Why did she have to ask that, he wondered as he rubbed the back of his neck. The room he ended up going to was completely dark, with only the slight glimpse of city lights peaking in from the window shade. Akito thought this space would give him some sort of comfort, but it somehow managed to do the opposite.

“Earth to Akito?” An said as Akito blanked. “I’ll hang up if there’s nothing else.”

Akito took another deep breath. “I actually- need to ask you something.”

“I figured there was something. How can I help?”

“It’s not practice related. Um…I actually wanted to ask…” He began to trail off, not being able to say the words he so desperately wanted to say.

“Yeah? Akito, are you good or…?”

“Would you want to catch a movie next weekend? And not with the others, just you.”

There was no response for a moment, which started to freak Akito out. But An quickly bounced back.

“Oh, was that it? Huh…that’s a first for you to ask me to go do something alone. What, is Akito scared of this movie?”

“Do you want to come or not?”

“Sure,” An answered cheerfully on her end. “Are you paying?”

Akito sighed at her comment, but found himself smiling a bit at her cheerful response. “I guess I could cover us.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan. Text me the details when you have a chance. I gotta go, see you later!”

“Alright, I’ll see you later,” Akito happily agreed.

After the call disconnected, Akito stood in silence as he could hear muttering from the next room over. It took a moment for everything to settle, but his shoulders soon relaxed before he chuckled to himself quickly. After years, he had finally done it. Funnily enough, she didn’t seem to realize he had asked her out. But if she didn’t notice and agreed so quickly, he had some kind of chance.

His overwhelming feelings had finally settled. And he couldn’t seem to keep his excitement to himself. He quickly made his way out of the room to announce the good news.

“Hey guys, guess what?”

--------

Tsukasa watched as Akito made his way to another room to make his phone call. Once the door shut behind him, Tsukasa sulked in his seat. He pulled out his phone to stare at it before setting it on the table with a pout on his face.

“Now I’m not sure if I want to do this,” he muttered in uncertainty, despite how he was the one to suggest making the phone calls. “Ah, trying to hype myself up isn’t doing anything!”

Rui calmly reached over to grab the phone as Tsukasa sulked. “Then allow me.”

Tsukasa quickly lunged up to grab his phone. “Whoa Rui, what are you doing?!”

Rui flashed a smile as he moved his chair away from Tsukasa. “If you don’t just ask her, then nothing will happen. Besides, it was your idea.” Rui quickly found Emu’s contact and pressed the call button before Tsukasa finally grabbed his phone. “Shoot your shot.”

“Ah! Wait, I'm not ready!”

“We’re here for you,” Touya promised softly, his own nerves taking over as he gripped his own phone tightly in his jacket pocket. “Good luck, Tsukasa.”

Tsukasa groaned before his face turned slightly red as a cheerful voice came on the phone.

“Tsukasa-kun! HI! How are you doing?!”

Tsukasa’s phone jolted as his hands began to shake. He awkwardly laughed. “Ah-Ha ha! Hello Emu, it's been a while. I’m doing great.” He quickly attempted to compose himself as his friends each gave him a thumbs up.

“Yay! I’m so glad! I miss being with you guys. I actually wanted to call you and ask if you wanted to go to a Broadway show in America this month!”

Tsukasa’s jaw quickly dropped, his nervous manner from before completely gone. He quickly ran out of the dining room to his front door before he threw it open. Once he was outside, he allowed himself to exclaim: “BROADWAY?!”

“Hehe, yes! I got two tickets from a director yesterday! He was visiting the park and gave my brothers the tickets. And they said I should go with a friend!”

“That’s amazing! I don’t know what to say…wow.” He found himself completely winded and surprised, but evidently excited. “I would love to go if you would have me.”

“Yes I would! I wanted to invite Rui and Nene but there were no more tickets available.” Tsukasa could hear a cute little pout from Emu on the other end. “So I’ll have to invite them to another show!”

This is perfect. The opportunity opened itself to me, Tsukasa happily thought. But, he realized, this is still her asking me instead of me asking her. He wasn’t sure what he should do now. Should he ask if they could meet earlier? Maybe plan something for the month after?

“Tsukasa-kun?” Emu questioned on the other end. “Helllllloooo?”

“Emu,” Tsukasa quickly stated, knowing that this was his chance. His nerves were stable enough, and he wasn’t sure how long that was going to last. “Would you like to ride the Phoenix Wonderland Ferris Wheel with me again sometime? I was thinking about it lately, and I miss visiting the park. I would greatly appreciate it if the two of us could go.”

Tsukasa took a deep breath as he awaited her answer. His brain exploded with many possible responses and tried to brace himself.

He was met with an adorable giggle. “Tsukasa-kun, I would love to! I hoped that you would want to come back soon. I actually have something I…” She trailed off for a moment. “Something I want to tell you.”

Tsukasa’s eyes widened, hearing the uncharacteristic of Emu sounding shy. Could this mean…?

“O-of course! We can work out the details soon but…I would love to see you.”

“Yay!” Emu’s excitement quickly came back. “I can’t wait!”

“Me too!” This was going way better than Tsukasa had ever expected. How lucky was he? Everything was falling into place, as if fate itself had blessed him!

And now he couldn’t wait.

---------

“All he needed to do was make the call,” Rui said after Tsukasa stepped outside. Touya nodded in agreement as he tried to relax his shoulders. But he was feeling nervous nonetheless. Rui, of course, was quick to notice his friend’s demeanor.

“Still feeling unsure?”

Touya sighed. “Yes…when we were talking about everything, I felt like I was feeling more confident in myself. But…”

“Is it still scary? Yeah...I’m not excited either. But now or never, right? If we don’t try now, who is to say we might never admit our feelings?”

Touya took in Rui’s words as he tapped his knee with his finger. He was right. Logically, the only thing that could happen is Kohane would tell him not to go out together. But the small percent chance of that happening was enough to cause anguish.

Rui smiled fondly at Touya as he zoned out. “You can do it, Touya.”

As Touya glanced back up at his friend, Akito’s voice could be heard down the hall as a door opened. “Hey guys, guess what?”

The two men sitting at the table quickly looked up to Akito entering the room again. “So? How did it go?” Rui inquired.

“Good news, I hope?” Touya pondered.

Akito flashed an accomplished smile as he sat back down in his seat. “I can say it went pretty well.” Before he continued, he glanced around. “Where did Tenma go?”

“He’s on call with Emu,” Rui grinned. “From what we heard before he stepped out, it sounded very promising.”

Akito jokingly scoffed. “Sure sounds like it.”

As Rui and Akito talked about Akito’s call, Touya kept glancing down at his phone. He was not certain what he was going to say to Kohane. What if she says no? What if she doesn’t want to be around him after this? Was he really in love or convincing himself still? But then again, what if she did say yes? The probabilities of her answering yes would be-

“Touya.”

Touya quickly looked back up in surprise at his partner, who was giving him a concerned look. “You’ve been zoning out for the past few minutes.”

“Ah,” Touya regained his composure. “My apologies, I’m wondering how I should go about this.”

Rui and Akito gave each other knowing looks before they turned back to Touya. “I think you just have to do it,” Akito said flatly. “An agreed to go out with me, and now I feel infinitely better.”

Touya gave Akito a smile. “I’m glad An said yes. I hope you have a wonderful date.”

“Well we gotta make sure you have a date too,” Akito replied. “But thanks man. I’m pretty stoked.”

“Fufu,” Rui exclaimed. “I believe you and I need to make those phone calls, Touya.”

Before anyone could utter another word, Touya’s phone suddenly began to ring and buzz. He glanced down at the number and was shocked to see Kohane’s contact on the screen.

“Oh! She’s calling me!”

“Oh my! Well, what are you waiting for?” Rui happily replied.

“C’mon go answer,” Akito agreed.

Touya quickly excused himself from the table as he went to answer the call in Tsukasa’s open living room. Rui and Akito went quiet from the dining room, hoping to listen in.

Touya nervously answered the phone after his phone had buzzed a few times. “Good evening, Azusawa.”

Kohane’s delicate voice could be heard on the other side of the phone as Touya lifted the phone to his ear. “H-hello Aoyagi. Um, do you have a moment?”

Touya cleared his throat softly and began to pace around the living room. “Yes, yes I’m available. Is something wrong?”

“Oh no! Nothing is wrong,” Kohane promised. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

Touya held his breath in anticipation. “Of course. Please, go ahead.”

She was quiet for a few moments before she in turn cleared her throat. The silence admittedly had Touya feeling even more nervous, but he tried to prepare himself. “Aoyagi, would you want to go out with me? B-but only if you want to!” Her voice squeaked a little as she tried to give him leeway.

At that moment, Touya couldn’t describe how he felt upon hearing those words. His previous worries were met with shock.

Did she just say she wanted to go out with me? She just said that. And he wasn’t hearing things.
“I…” He couldn’t seem to find the words. Truly, he hadn’t expected her to say that, but it made him feel very warm inside. Happiness took over and he couldn’t stop smiling from ear to ear. She just asked him out.

“I’m sorry, this is so sudden,” Kohane admitted. “Please, forget-”

“Kohane, I would be honored to go out with you,” Touya confidently replied. Then he began to stutter. “A-ah, my apologies for making you worry.”

“A-Aoyagi, I’m so glad! Hehe, I was…really nervous to ask you,” she admitted sheepishly. “And it's okay! I’m happy you said yes. I-I have a place I want to go to tomorrow. Would you be free?”

“Of course,” Touya happily replied. “Anywhere you would like, I would be glad to accompany you.”

A few “oohs” could be heard from the dining room, but Touya ignored them as he wrapped up the conversation.

“Th-thank you very much! I can text you the location right now. W-would 3pm work?”

“Yes, I can make it. Actually Azusawa, may I pick you up tomorrow? I want to do this for you.”

“Hehe…of course.”

“Well…then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, see you tomorrow!" Kohane hung up on her end, and Touya slowly put his phone in his jacket pocket. Before he even went back into the dining room with a pleasant grin on his face, Akito and Rui were already congratulating him.

“Dang, look at you dude,” Akito grinned as he stood up and gave Touya a big pat on the back. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

“I’m happy for you, Touya,” Rui grinned.

“Thank you…I don’t know what to say.”

“You got yourself a date,” Akito exclaimed. “See, there was nothing to worry about.”

“Well, I could say the same for you,” Touya jabbed before he laughed.

Akito turned to Rui in a bit of shock. “The gall of this guy.”

“Fufu-”

The ambience of the room that was once filled with fear and uncertainty had completely flipped around. Now it was filled with positivity and excitement, with everyone grinning from ear to ear at the happy events of the night. Who would have guessed this would transpire?

And now there was only one call left to make.

--------

When Tsukasa came back inside, he talked about his exciting plans with Emu and how great his phone call was. Akito and Touya equally conversed about their happy plans with An and Kohane. Upon hearing how Kohane had asked Touya first, Tsukasa gasped.

“I had a feeling! Congratulations Touya!” Tsukasa gave his friend a big hug. “What perfect timing! Surely fate has looked kindly on you!”

Touya couldn’t help but laugh, the most he ever had of course. He was smiling, Tsukasa was smiling, and Akito was grinning. Rui looked at the three of them and smiled fondly, but his own heart wasn’t quite whole.

I still need to talk to Nene.

Nene.

Oh how am I going to do this.

“Okay Rui, this is it.” Rui made eye contact with Tsukasa, who was still beaming. “We dare you to call Nene.”

Rui took a deep breath and managed to grin a little. “I suppose it is.”

“The longer you wait, the scarier it feels,” Touya encouraged. “So I wish you luck.”

“C’mon Kamishiro,” Akito said as he motioned for Rui to stand up. “We can’t have you feeling left out.”

Rui nodded before grabbing his phone out of his pocket. But everything was in slow motion, and he could feel his heart thumping loudly inside of his ribcage. There was an uncomfortable ringing in his ears, and he had a lump in his throat.

I can’t run anymore. I can’t pretend anymore. I need to tell her. And I can only hope for the best.

As Rui stared at Nene’s contact, he cleared his throat and tried to stand straighter in front of his friends, who were watching him quietly. His finger lingered over the call button and he felt himself tense up.

“I’ll start counting,” Akito teased. Rui scoffed at Akito’s attempt to relax him and clicked the button. One ring, two rings, three rings. Maybe she won’t answer.

If that was Rui’s hope, the call was picked up after a few more rings, causing him to sway slightly as he braced himself. He set the volume to the speaker. “Well hello Nene.”

“I am so sorry Rui,” Nene replied breathlessly. “I just got off the train. I almost missed your call.”

Rui nodded slowly. “No worries, I hope I didn’t rush you.”

“Not at all,” Nene softly said. “So, what’s going on?”

There it was. “Well, I missed your voice, of course. I missed my dear friend.”

Rui could hear Nene roll her eyes as she let out a laugh. “Haha, very funny. What was it, really?”

Rui glanced at his friends standing in front of them. They all returned knowing looks and thumbs’ up. Tsukasa mouthed “do it” as Rui glanced back at his phone.

“Nene…I’ve been meaning to tell you something. Would you be free tonight?”

Tsukasa’s jaw dropped as Touya lifted a hand to his mouth, both of them in shock at Rui’s sudden proposition. Akito, on the other hand, grinned and snapped his fingers a few times in celebration. Rui nodded again and gave a knowing look, feeling certain.

Nene seemed caught off guard at Rui’s comment as she took a second to respond. “Yeah…um, I’m free tonight. Where would you like to meet?”

“Could I meet you by Scramble Crossing?”

“Yes. I’m about ten minutes away right now, but when do you want to meet?”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes too.” Rui quickly walked past his friends towards the front door to grab his bag and jacket. “Good night, friends.” He waved at them with a smile as he quickly made his way out the door, still talking to Nene on his way out.

Everyone left at Tsukasa’s apartment stood there, dumbfounded at Rui’s quick exit. No one spoke, mainly because no one seemed to know what to say.

“Did…did he just do that?”

“I think he did,” Touya responded to Tsukasa’s question. Akito couldn’t help but shake his head in surprise before scoffing.

“Wow…where did that sudden confidence come from? We’ll have to ask how it went.”

Tsukasa just stood still before he turned to his friends. “Yeah…yeah, we’ll have to see. Um, is anyone up for dessert?”

Chapter Text

“Akito, did we really need four giant cheesecake slices?”

Akito glanced up from his delicious dessert at Tsukasa’s concerned tone. He raised an eyebrow, confused as to why having giant cheesecake slices could possibly be too much.

“Hey, I’ve been craving these cheesecakes for weeks.”

“Well yeah but these are HUGE!”

“And they’re on me so what's the problem?”

Touya and Rui exchanged knowing smiles at each other upon their friends’ interaction before quietly eating their own cheesecake slices. It had already been four weeks since the last Guy’s Night they’d had, but this particular outing was the most anticipated for each of them.

Since that night, a lot had happened. Each guy confessed to their crushes after the phone calls they’d made. And to their delight, their feelings were reciprocated completely, leading them all into new relationships. Rui had been the first to announce his relationship with Nene, before Touya revealed he was dating Kohane. About a week later, Tsukasa shared how he was dating Emu, followed by Akito announcing his relationship with An days after Tsukasa.

Needless to say, all four of the friends were very interested in each other’s new relationships. They decided on all of their next free weekends to go out to dinner together, as per Akito’s suggestion. His reasoning was because he’d found a diner with delicious cheesecakes he absolutely needed to try. In the group chat he called it a ‘necessary trip.’ And of course, as soon as they’d arrived, Akito ordered four giant slices before ordering any food.

“This is delicious, Tenma. Don’t let it go to waste.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to eat it!”

“Didn’t seem like it.”

“Thank you for the cheesecake,” Rui thanked Akito as Tsukasa finally took a bite of his dessert. “It’s very tasty.”

Touya nodded in agreement. “Thank you.”

Akito waved them off, but a small grin could be seen on his face. “Yeah yeah, no problem.” He took another bite of his cheesecake before he shifted his attention to Rui.

“So, Kamishiro, we’ve been waiting to hear about that ‘fateful night’, as Tsukasa calls it.”

“Has he now?”

Tsukasa took a quick sip of his coffee. “I’ve been excited to find out, okay?”

The taller man stifled a laugh at his friend’s excitement, lightly poking at his cheesecake with his fork. “I didn’t know you were so invested,” he teased.

“It was a special moment for you two, of course I’m invested!”

“I’ve also been anticipating hearing about your experience,” Touya admitted curiously. “What happened afterwards?”

Rui softly held onto the straw in his drink and began moving it clockwise. He gave a grin to his friends, who were anticipating his response. “That night, we met at the intersection. She was waiting there for me by the crosswalk, looking into the distance as she held her phone close to her chest. That moment is still fresh in my mind.” He took a sip of his drink before continuing. ”I won’t lie, in my rush to get there I stopped dead in my tracks because…I wasn’t sure of how I was about to tell her.”

“The nerves were probably making your heart rate spike?”

Rui nodded in agreement to Touya’s comment. “My heart was definitely pounding. Of course some of it was due to how fast I was just running, but the other factor was, as you all know, the nerves. But she noticed I made it and we talked normally for a few minutes. She told me what she was up to, and I told her what I was up to.”

He released a sigh, grateful for how everything worked out now looking back on it. “And then, as I anticipated, she asked why I wanted to meet her so suddenly. There weren’t many people around at that hour, so after what felt like eternity, I confessed. I remember her eyes widened and her mouth hung open in surprise. Fufu- she was so cute. She was quiet for a little while, which was really nerve racking, but then she smiled nervously and told me she felt the same way.”

“Way to go!” Tsukasa happily cheered, nudging Rui’s arm beside him. “I was so relieved when you shared the news.”

“Eh, it was sappy,” Akito joked before smiling a little. “But seriously, congrats Kamishiro. I’m glad she felt the same way. Even though we knew that.”

Touya sighed at Akito’s comment before focusing back on Rui. “It was really only a matter of time. We had faith that it would work out between the two of you.”

“Thank you. I am in your debt, gentlemen. I don’t think I would’ve admitted it to her otherwise.”

“You don't owe us anything,” Touya promised. “That’s what friends are for.” Akito and Tsukasa nodded in agreement.

Rui carefully let go of his straw and stared at his drink. “But after that moment, we decided to figure out exactly what we wanted to be. We didn’t think about dating just yet, mainly to sit in those feelings together. I feel as though our dynamic hasn’t changed much, luckily, since we’ve always been so close. Overall, I appreciate her more everyday the longer we spend time together. We went on about two dates after we confessed, and then we became official.”

He picked up his fork, ready to take another bite of his dessert. He finally looked back up at his friends with a genuine fondness in his expression. “It’s been the happiest time of my life. She just moved into my place last week, and we couldn’t be happier.”

“See? Was there anything to worry about,” Akito teased as Rui ate his cheesecake. “A happy outcome.”

Tsukasa sniffled a little as he wiped a tear away. “I’m so glad.” He pointed a finger at Rui. “I’ve waited years for you to admit this and you finally did.”

“Sorry it took me so long…”

Akito took the last bite of his cheesecake as he rolled his eyes. "Jeez, you’re so over dramatic, senpai.”

“It’s my genuine reaction!”

Rui took the chance to slowly glance at Touya, giving him a smirk. “What about you, Touya? How was your date with Azusawa?”

The split haired man’s eyes widened as he realized it was his turn to talk about his partner. His cheeks flushed a little as he looked away from Rui. A small smile was plastered on his face.

“Azusawa was really nervous that night. She planned everything; where we would go, what time we would meet, and how we’d meet up. I was astonished. She went to such great lengths for our date, and she was practically shivering in fear when we met at the train station. I felt really bad, thinking that the date would be too much for her.”

Akito chuckled. “Kohane was texting An and I while she was waiting for you. She was very nervous. An almost went with her.”

Touya nodded before peacefully dabbing a napkin to his lips. His smile didn’t waver as he set the used napkin onto his plate. “Ironic enough, Azusawa planned for us to go to a cafe for the night. She was attempting to make light conversation with me but we were both unsure of what to do. I was hoping I could help her feel more comfortable, but I wasn’t exactly calm myself. As the night went on, though, our nerves slowly calmed down while we talked. And in that conversation…”

Touya’s face flushed a little deeper upon remembering his date. “She confessed to me. She was so nervous, but yet, she pushed through her fears and told me about how she felt. She’s liked me for years, but was never sure if it was right. When she said that…I confessed to her too.”

“I’m so proud of you!” Tsukasa exclaimed, gaining him some glances from nearby customers. “Congragulations, Touya!”

Touya bowed slightly in Tsukasa’s direction. “Thank you, senpai.” He lifted his head and carefully moved a strand of his hair away from his eye. “I was so relieved that she liked me too. I told her how, for the longest time, I had feelings for her too, but wasn’t very sure of my own thoughts about her until later on. But once I did, all of the worries I previously had disappeared. I finally felt relieved for the first time in years, and my heart was full. It still is.”

“How did everything go after you both confessed?” Rui questioned as he grinned at Touya. “Surely there’s more?”

Touya smiled gently. “Yes. We were both overjoyed. We hugged in front of the fountains Azusawa wanted to go to.” Touya took a moment to fan himself upon feeling his face continuing to warm up. “I didn’t want that moment to end. Azusawa being there felt perfect. I knew right then that I needed to follow my heart to the fullest and ask her to be my girlfriend.”

He sighed in relief. “I didn’t tell anyone right away, and neither did Azusawa. Our new relationship was so fresh, and we were nervous to tell anyone. But we couldn’t be happier. I really admire her, and I feel so happy.”

Tsukasa was tearing up again as Touya finished. “Truly wonderful! You’ve grown up so much!” The blond man carefully whipped away his tears as other customers nearby began murmuring louder.

“Oi, you think you could cry quieter,” Akito asked his senior in annoyance. “C’mon.” Akito then turned to his partner with a softer look. “An was blowing our phones that night, but we were very happy for you too.”

Touya smiled as Akito turned back to Tsukasa and huffed at him for his loud cries. “I’m excited for what’s to come, so I appreciate you all for being so supportive.”

“Of course,” Rui replied. “Nene and I were very happy for you too upon receiving the news. Much like how we felt about a certain star and his fair lady.”

Tsukasa beamed as he lifted a hand to his chest, his previous heartfelt tears completely gone at the mention of his title. He sat up a bit straighter in his seat. “I must tell you all about the musical! It was magnificent! Emu and I had vip tickets to sit-”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Akito abruptly said, stopping Tsukasa’s train of thought before he could ramble on further. “What about your initial date? The Phoenix Wonderland one?”

“Oh! Right,” Tsukasa expressed, surprised he almost forgot to mention his first date. “Well, as you all know, after I texted you guys that we were visiting the park again, I was incredibly nervous. Thankfully, Emu was as cheerful as always, and that calmed my nerves down a lot. We walked around the park, rode many of the rides, and ate carnival food. We had a lot of fun being able to just enjoy our time together.”

Tsukasa paused for a moment, a more somber look on his face forming. His smile was small, but his eyes sparkled brightly. He looked down at the table. “I couldn’t help but remember our old troupe days at the park. We made so many memories together, and I couldn’t help but miss it. Nostalgia hit me pretty hard.”

Rui nodded before placing the side of his face against the palm of his right hand. “Yeah…”

Tsukasa inhaled and exhaled calmly. “But although I miss those days, we’ve come so far since then. We’re achieving our dreams. I felt a lot better about everything since Emu and I were very talkative. We decided to save the ferris wheel for last. There were a lot of familiar emotions coming back to me as we boarded it. But ultimately, I was actually really happy.” The blond star grinned again as he lifted his head to face his friends again. “We talked for a while like we had been the whole time. And as we sat in the ride, I remember when Emu and I talked about her dream way back.”

Tsukasa glanced at Rui as he continued. “So I took the chance to tell her how I felt. Of course, the nerves came back, but I was surprised when she started crying.”

“You made her cry, Tsukasa-senpai?” Touya asked. Rui’s eyes widened before he brought his right hand to cover his mouth in amusement.

Tsukasa’s face quickly dropped as Akito began to snicker. “You made her cry after you confessed? Shoot, how’d you come back from that?”

“She was overwhelmed with emotions, she wasn’t repulsed!”

Tsukasa tried to defend himself again as Akito raised his arms in defense. “Okay okay, what happened next?”

“Well,” Tsukasa huffed as Akito stopped chuckling. At this point, the chatter among other diners was even louder than the whispering before. “As I was going to say, Emu was very overwhelmed at my confession! I was surprised, to say the least, but she confessed to me that she also loved me! As it turned out, when she told me she needed to talk to me, she was thinking exactly what I was thinking! I just beat her to it, haha!”

“It was a competition?” Touya wondered.

“That’s just those two for you,” Rui laughed. Tsukasa’s face turned a shade of pink as Akito agreed with Rui.

“To an extent, that is true,” Tsukasa admitted. Then he quickly shook his head. “But! Everything went well! We were ecstatic, and spent the rest of the night talking about our deeper feelings. And then of course, we planned our trip to America for the musical!”

“Yeah when you told us about that, I for one was stunned,” Akito pointed out. “Had Vivid Bad Squad been in the states, we could've taken you around.”

“Its a shame,” Tsukasa agreed. “But we’ve already been to the states before.”

“You have?”

“Oh yes, your first visit was to that one park years back, right?” Touya asked Tsukasa and Rui. “I believe I remember you two talking about it.”

“That’s the one,” Rui confirmed. “It was a very fun experience.”

“But anyways,” Tsukasa quickly said, “Emu and I went to New York that next weekend! I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend after the show because we were so excited to explore the city! We saw the Broadway show WICKED and it was-oh it was phenomenal!"

Rui shook his head in disbelief before he furrowed his expression at Tsukasa. “You both were beyond lucky to see that performance. Nene and I were a little jealous…”

Akito and Touya glanced at each other in slight confusion, but were happy nonetheless for their eccentric friend.

“Well…I’m not sure what you’re talking about but it sounds like it was fun,” Akito eventually replied. “Is that where you two became official?”

Tsukasa grinned even wider, excited at the question. He quickly flashed a grin and dramatically posed, one hand close to his chest while the other was extended towards the cafe table. “Indeed! I asked her in Times Square, and she happily accepted! Although- her bodyguards were staring at us throughout the night…”

As he trailed off, he shuddered slightly, placing his hands back to his lap. “If anything, I’m now more worried about how often her bodyguards will be around us until they trust me to spend time alone with her.”

“Oh, I don’t know how I’d deal with that,” Akito grimaced. “That sounds really uncomfortable.”

“You can’t really blame them too much for worrying,” Rui justified. “Emu is an Ootori after all.”

“At least this gives you an opportunity to prove she’s safe with you,” Touya offered in solace. “Perhaps they’ll soften over time.”

Tsukasa nodded, although with a bit of uncertainty. But he quickly shrugged off the feeling. “Either way, I’m very happy. I could go on and on about that New York trip, or how the musical was so amazing, but I fear I’ll only end up rambling if I talk about every last second of it.”

“Well in that case,” Rui grinned as he focused his attention on Akito. “Why don’t we ask Shinonome about his relationship?”

Akito, who was lifting his cup of coffee to his lips, froze in place. He glanced at Rui, who was flashing his notorious grin. Akito rolled his eyes before he grinned back at his friends. “Oh, it’s already my turn?” He placed his cup swiftly back on the table. “Alright, uh...well, it wasn’t as eventful as everyone else’s dates.”

“Nonsense, we still want to know!” Tsukasa pleaded. “Please, tell us.”

Akito sighed in playful annoyance, but a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Relax, I will. I took An out for a movie and Karaoke. We bickered at some points like we normally do, but the air definitely felt different that time than it usually did.”

“That seems like it was already a successful date,” Touya commented, slightly jabbing at his singing partner.

Akito couldn’t help but glance at Touya in awe for a moment before refocusing his train of thought. “Despite some normal bickering, we had a really good time. She kept jabbing at me for my invite when we met up, saying it felt like a date. I’m surprised it took her so long to figure it out, but it was really amusing seeing her attempt to fluster me when she already was.”

“Shiraishi always seemed like a bit of an airhead at times,” Rui noted upon thinking of his junior. “Perhaps she figured out what your intentions were the longer you spent time together.”

Akito took a sip of coffee before gently setting it back on the table, silently agreeing with Rui’s statement. “But I decided to take her to watch a sci-fi film. At first I joked that we were going to see a thriller, but I knew she would never walk into the theater if I was serious. The movie itself was pretty normal, but I did steal a few glances at An the whole time. She definitely noticed because she mentioned it afterwards while we were heading off to Karaoke.”

His face flushed a little upon the memory, but he quickly coughed in hopes to cool off. His three friends glanced knowingly at each other before Akito continued. “Anyways, then we went out for Karaoke and sang for a few hours. Our throats were definitely on fire by that point, but it was really fun. During the whole thing I was trying to decide when I’d tell her, but surprisingly…she actually straight up asked me if we were on a date when we took a snack break.”

Tsukasa whistled, surprisingly quietly, as he studied his friend’s happy demeanor. The customers' chatter from earlier seemed to soften as attention from Tsukasa was redirected. “Seems like you and Touya are truly partners through and through.”

The two Bad Dog members glanced at each other before they began snickering, realizing their similar outcomes with the Vivids.

“I’m not sure that’s how it works, but I suppose it's true,” Touya agreed.

“What did you say after Shiraishi confessed?” Rui questioned Akito as he smiled enthusiastically.

“I just admitted it to her,” Akito confidently replied. “I didn’t want to beat around the bush any longer, and she was onto me. Which surprised me because in high school she never noticed stuff like that.”

Akito couldn’t help but grin as he talked about An. “She was certain I was playing with her at first, like I was tricking her. But I assured her I was serious about my feelings about her and that I wanted to be more than singing partners. I remember her eyes widened really wide and her face went surprisingly pink. It was a new side of her I’ve never seen before.”

“You sly dog,” Rui jokingly jabbed at the ginger haired man. “Clearly you also didn’t have anything to worry about.”

“I suppose I didn’t,” Akito responded. “She confessed to me that she had been aware of my feelings, along with her own, for a while, but tried to push it out of her mind so we could continue being friends. The jokes on her now because once she said that, I asked if I could be her boyfriend, and she said yes. Now she’s stuck with me.”

Touya couldn’t help but chuckle at Akito’s confident retelling of his date as he fondly watched his partner. “I’m happy for you both, Akito. I’m really glad it worked out.”

“As am I! If there’s anyone that can handle your particular energy, it's Shiraishi!”

“Hah? Are you saying I’m difficult, Tenma?” Akito quickly shot back at Tsukasa.

“That’s not what I meant!”

Touya glanced at Rui once again with a small grin on his face as Akito and Tsukasa began jabbing at each other again.

Rui let out a pleasant chuckle before he motioned towards the other two to keep it down. “If I may ask, how do you all feel now that you’ve all begun your new relationships? I’m still curious, especially since over time, our experiences could differ in the future compared to now.”

“Currently,” Touya softly responded as Akito and Tsukasa stopped focusing on each other, “we’re learning to understand more about each other we didn’t know of before. Going on dates and spending more time privately together gives me a lot of quality time to spend with Az-”

Touya quickly stopped himself from saying Kohane’s last name. His face began to flush again as his friends waited for him to say Kohane’s first name.”

“...to spend a lot of quality time with Kohane,” he finally managed to say sheepishly.

Akito leaned over slightly to Touya and ruffled his split colored hair. “There you go. I haven’t heard you call Kohane by her first name in a long time.”

“It's still a little embarrassing to say when I’m talking about her,” Touya quietly commented as he smiled.

“On my end,” Tsukasa followed up as Touya finished, “Emu and I have been planning to go on more dates and activities as we navigate our schedules! We still have conflicts with our current calendars, but we’re figuring it out!”

Akito let go of Touya before giving his input. “Honestly, An and I are figuring out how to show our feelings to each other and be more communicative. It’s still a process, which I expect it will be, but we’ll be able to handle it. So far, we’ve been doing more together outside of singing and it's been pretty fun.”

“Thats wonderful. I’m glad everything is going smoothly,” Rui happily stated, enjoying the comfortable air around the four of them. “Nene and I are becoming more comfortable with seeing each other romantically just as we did platonically. We’ve been making progress, and I believe it’ll feel more natural as we grow.”

“You’re so sappy, senpai,” Akito amusingly commented before Touya sighed once again, causing Tsukasa and Rui to start laughing.

“I don’t mean that seriously, I promise,” Akito apologized, feeling Touya’s gaze on him.

“I suppose sharing my appreciation for my girlfriend is sappy, everyone,” Rui dramatically exclaimed.

“The next time we talk about our feelings about the ones we love, we’ll be receiving Akito’s unapproving shoulder.”

Akito rolled his eyes at Tsukasa’s comment with a smile on his face as Touya’s gaze softened into a similar smile. “Well in that case, to show my apologies, who wants seconds on those cheesecakes?”

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