Chapter Text
"Kaoru." Joe glanced to at his pink hair classmate beside him, the long haired student pondered thoughtlessly as they overlooked the body of water in front of them.
"What is it, you idiot?"
"Do you like Adam? Like, like-like?"
"You did not just say 'like-like'."
"I did."
"What the fuck.."
"Can you answer the question four eyes!?"
Cherry sighed and focused his eyes on the ripples of water swerving against the wind's breeze. Brushing the surface of the water with a gently push, his hair swayed in the air as he thought.
".. I admire him, I don't know if I 'like-like him."
The taller of the two looked at the shorter with a feeling in his eyes the shorter intentionally ignored. He thought painfully as the pink haired one kept a softened look in his gaze, looking out at nothing in particular, at least from his view.
'I wish you'd admire me.'
He thought, before looking at nothing in particular with his friend.
—
Suddenly Joe was swept back into the present as the typical group of misfits he somehow gathered over the last few months sat at tables in his restaurant.
Earlier that day the teenagers in the their group chat— that the youngest had set up— messaged that they had 'importance news to share', and that they should meet up at Joe's restaurant 'SIA LA LUCE' that afternoon.
Despite the groups protests and claims that they were too busy, they all showed up before the teenagers even did. How interesting.
Miya checked his phone, the time reading '4:15' on the screen, his legs kicked as we waited impatiently for his friends to show up. Shadow leaned against his chair with a 'I'm too cool for school' attitude, nonchalant ahh mother fucker thing. And Cherry sat unimpressed to the side, cooing to his skateboard— Carla.
"When are those slimes getting here..!?" Miya growled in annoyance as his phone flopped onto the table with a 'THUD', Joe peered from around the corner holding a rag he was using to clean the counters. "They said four thirty, not their fault you guys came here too early."
"Well you don't have to complain because you were always gonna be here you dopey gorilla.."
"Wanna say that to my face four eyes!?"
"I would but I'd vomit from the sight."
Joe grabbed Cherry's collar and pulled him close, shouting something or other at him while the other screamed back with the same intensity. From a nearby table Miya just watched as the two looked close to kissing, 'get a damn room..' the youngest thought, idly tapping his phone case with disinterest.
Then suddenly two boys with contrasting hair entered through the doors of 'SIA LA LUCE' with barely concealed grins on their face— actually that was only true for the red head, the other wore a quiet smile, not hidden and honestly a more expressive look than usual.
"We're here!!! Woah- everyone's already here?! You guys must be excited for the news we have!!" Reki lifted a hand to the back of his head and rubbed it with a nervous laughter.
He was immediately met with protests that they 'weren't excited' but he only thought: 'if they weren't excited then why were they here before they were?'.
"Well, spit it out slime!! We've been waiting long enough..!?" Miya shouted, legs still kicking as the two teenagers took seats at his table, the pink and green haired duo separated and came to stand around their table while Shadow just kept lazing around ACTING as if he's not interested.
"Alright! Slow down! And let me and Langa tell you!!" Reki leaned back confidently in his chair, eyes glazing over the four others in the room as he sat closer to his light haired friend.
"Me and Langa are dating!!" He announced proudly, taking ahold of Langa's hand and holding it, raising both their hands high above their heads like a badge of honour.
They were met with an awkward silence.
"Uh.. guys?" He said, looking at them in confusion before the others expressions shifted, Miya's to an exasperated smile, Joe and Cherry to relief and Shadow to utter confusion.
"About damn time you slime..!!" Miya slapped Reki's back playfully, which was met with the red heads confused gaze, "What do you mean 'about damn time'!?"
Cherry sighed and sat down, "You both really aren't all that good at hiding your feelings." Gently fluttering his fan in front of his face, "Yeah! I mean we all knew you liked each other!" Miya said, elbows now resting on the table.
"Wait you all knew!?" Shadow said with utter dramatic disbelief as his eyes looked to everyone with erratic confusion. "How didn't I know!?" Miya sighed and looked at him pitifully.
"That's because you only care about skating and your crush on your boss who doesn't even like you back!" The youngest poked at the older, sticking his tongue out mockingly.
"Hey-!? You little.." Shadow gritted his teeth and shook Miya by his shoulders, the one being held only let out shaky screams as he was shaken back and forth.
"Let goooo..!!" He shouted, pulling away and hiding behind Cherry, "Mama protect me..!"
"I AM NOT YOUR MAMA BOY." Cherry moved away his fan from his face and flapped it at Miya with false aggression, Miya cowered away feigning pain, "Ow!!"
And the entire time Reki looked over the group with shock, "But I only knew I liked Langa last month..!" To which Joe deadpanned, "Kid, you know you can have feelings without realising right?"
Reki only opened his mouth to argue but nothing came out as he slumped against Langa's figure, the other boy just stared at his now boyfriend with fondness. Not really caring for the chaos around them.
"But seriously slimes, I'm happy for you, even if it was painful watching you both pine for months..!"
"We didn't pine Chinen!?"
"Yeah well Langa didn't, you did you slime!"
Reki wrapped his arm around Miya's neck loosely and put his fist to the younger's head, rubbing his hair playfully. "Shaddup!" Reki shouted as Miya squirmed.
Joe watched the younger members of the group with a fondness in his eyes, the little family they built over the months became important to all of them. And given how they were treated by Adam, Cherry and Joe both felt a bit of protectiveness, having known Adam's wrath first hand.
Langa watched by the sidelines, his smile not fading away as he watched his boyfriend with care. After a little bit of torment Reki pulled away from Miya and let him go. The shortest shook his head, "Eugh..! Never again slime!".
The red head slumped back down beside his boyfriend, their hands met and shyly intertwined, the others standing around watched with a teasing look. Reki noticing their eyes hid his face in his hood and ducked his head down to Langa's shoulder. "Stop staring..!!".
Cherry held back a chuckle while Joe belted out in laughter, "HAHA..! Kid don't be shy! We already knew, remember?" Joe pat Reki's shoulder confidently in assurance. The red head cranked his neck around to face the taller, "Seriously.. we weren't THAT obvious.."
"It was as obvious as if you'd have just held up a sign saying 'I love Langa romantically!!' slime." Miya teased, sitting back in his original seat.
Shadow proceeded to just stare dumbfounded at everyone, "WAIT-I was the only one who didn't know!?" Cherry rolled his eyes, "that's because you're almost as much of an idiot as the gorilla here."
"I'm not a idiot!" Shadow yelled to him, "I just got better things to do!". Miya threw a paper straw at him and mimicked his 'I'm too nonchalant for this' wannabe attitude.
Reki sighed and relaxed against Langa's figure, the boy in question watched his friends talk, "I'm glad you're all okay with this, Reki was worried for a little."
"What? Why would you be worried?" The long haired man turned to the boys sitting away from him, "Well just like- it's always nerve wracking big news to ANYONE..! Even if y'know they're gonna be cool about it, it's still scary!" Reki shot up, "But it was stupid..! Miya's cool about everything, Shadow doesn't care about ANYTHING important, and you and Joe would support us for obvious reasons!" The boy sat back down and chatted with the youngest there, the blue haired boy adding his own words to the conversation.
But that's not it, Cherry was glad they knew he'd be okay with it, never wanting to let those kids suffer because of something as stupid as love. But what'd Reki mean by 'for obvious reasons' when talking about him and Kojiro?
He glanced over to the man in question, who seemed in thought about the same topic, so he bit the bullet and asked, placing down his fan to his lap.
"What did you mean?"
The trio of boys looked over, Reki replied with an unclear 'huh'? So Cherry elaborated:
"You said Kojiro and I would be fine with it for 'obvious reasons', I'm just wondering by what you meant by that." Reki's face relaxed and then sighed.
"Oh that's what you meant! Well obviously because you two are married-" suddenly Langa's hand slapped itself over his mouth. His eyes turned to his boyfriend who still didn't lower his hand with bewilderment before widening in realisation.
Quickly he pushed away his boyfriend's hand and said- "Ah! Forget about it- I didn't mean-", but his words reached deaf ears as Cherry began disassociating. Him? And Kojiro? MARRIED?! Not just dating but married!? What a preposterous idea.
Miya sighed and leaned over the table to Cherry, "Look, we all know you two are married and are trying to hide it, dunno why but it's cool with us! We mostly clocked it a few months ago so it's fine, we won't tell anyone." He nodded reassuringly, to a dumbfounded Cherry. Who just stared straight through the boy.
Joe had at some point collapsed onto the floor from shock and Reki began doing so very sloppy chest compressions. "JOE!? JOE WHAT'S WRONG!? Langa how did we do CPR again!?" He looked frantically between Joe's limp body and his boyfriends.
"Uh, should I call ambulance?" The youngest asked, phone in hand, ready to dial at a moments notice. Suddenly that snapped Cherry out of his thoughts.
"KIDS. WE ARE NOT TOGETHER."
His sudden outburst caught the attention of everyone, honestly Shadow was still a little shellshocked with Reki and Langa, so when the news about Cherry and Joe was spoken? He just gave up understanding and zoned out.
".. uh, what?"
Suddenly Joe sprang up and looked at them, nodding in agreement with Cherry's words which was a very weird sight for them to see. "Kaoru is right, we aren't together! Married or otherwise!"
"Not even sexual-"
Reki's hand slapped over Miya's mouth, "Miya don't dude!!" He stared anxiously at the younger who caught the hint and nodded, the other's hand began lowering.
The blue haired boy watched this all with a vague obscure expression, "really? But you two act like you are married." Cherry gave up and slumped over the table, "Oh Carla save me.. Kids we aren't, and never have ever dated.."
"Yeah! You think I'd wanna date this four eyes?!"
"Like anyone would date you, you're a philandering gorilla who makes up with woman who breathes!"
"Least my soulmate isn't a damn skateboard!"
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK ABOUT CARLA."
The two bickered and the three youngest gathered at a table farther away, talking discreetly.
"Wait, they aren't dating? For real?" Miya asked.
"I guess not..?" Reki replied with hesitation.
"I thought they were" Langa added.
The two nodded in agreement, "I did too..! I mean look at them!" Reki said, arm gesturing to the two arguing. "They argue like a married couple on TV.." Miya assessed, the other two looked at him, concurring they agreed with his words.
They all watched the two who argued with each other, inching closer and closer together. Which just made them even more confused because they look like they're about to kiss!?
"Maybe they're in denial?" Miya spoke, typing on his phone about 'how to tell if your friends are in denial about being gay.'
The couple in the trio spoke quietly, "Haven't they known each other since high school..?" Reki said, Langa nodded, "Yes, I've heard them mention it before."
"Maybe they're like us but didn't confess?"
"After all this time though? Talk about a slow burn.." Miya chimed in with his own two cents, still looking through the internet for the answer. "Slow.. burn?" His eyes rolled, "I forgot you two aren't online like that, you two probably just watch skateboarding videos 24/7 while I've got variety."
Reki wanted to yell 'what's wrong with that!?' But he didn't. Instead he peered over at Miya's screen, Langa peered in from the other side, making the youngest get semi smushed between them.
'My friends are gay for each other and won't admit it, how do we get them to resolve this??' Posted on reddit by troy2be.. "should we really be listening to reddit for this one?" Reki questioned, "You got a better idea??"
Langa and Reki shared a look before simultaneously shaking their heads, so they pressed the post and read through it.
'Hi I'm Troy (not my real name) (19/M) and my two friends we'll call Daman and Scott. They met last year through me at a party and they've been super close since. Which is fine, idc, be who you are BUT they refuse that they're dating! Which, they constantly call each other first with any news, hang around each other whenever they can and banter like more than friends I don't know how to describe it! I don't mind if they date but I can't help but feel like a third wheel even tho they're not even dating?? I just want them to get together because, like it's obvious , there's the 1% chance they AREN'T gay but like, IF THEY ARE, what do I do??"
"... Geez bro, take a breather.." Reki said, besides bringing his finger to Miya's screen and scrolling down to the comments. "Alright let's see if there's anything helpful.."
'From rand_om: Have you talked to them about it?
troy2be replied: I did but they say they aren't into each other like that, they ARE gay but they say not for each other??
rand_om replied: have they dated anyone else since they've been this close?
troy2be replied: yes, but nothin serious. It's honestly weird, i don't know it feels like they're always more important to each other than their partners and like, IS THAT NOT ROMANTIC??
rand_om replied: Maybe they just gen don't know their feelings for each other or refuse to acknowledge them, have u talked to them 1 on 1?
troy2be replied: just Scott who says he 'wouldn't be against dating Daman' but also said that they're jst friends, but like, when he said that I could tell there was SOMETHING but he also was like, sad??
rand_om replied: do you really think they love each other?
troy2be replied: there are literal moments I'm hanging with them, and they're in their own moment like a damn Disney movie, I swear, either I'm crazy or all my relationships have been just friendships cause wtf
rand_om replied: damn, you should talk to them both one on one then, obviously you can't force them together, but if they like each other and just aren't getting together for whatever reason, it'd be a favour to push them, just gotta get confirmation before you give them that push, yk?
troy2be replied: I think I get it, I'll try it out thanks'
"And of course the thread ends there.." Miya sighs in annoyance, scrolling through the rest of the comments that were no help whatsoever. "Nothing helpful?" Reki asked, Miya just shook his head frustrated, the two adults they were doing this all for were somehow STILL arguing.
"Maybe that's it." Said Langa, the other two looked over in confusion. Reki shook him by his shoulder and said: "What? What's it Langa?? You got an idea??".
Langa shrugged and said, "Maybe they like each other and don't realise it, or maybe they do but are scared to confess to each other, like we were scared to confess about us to them."
Miya and Reki looked at him with wide eyes before staring at each other with determination, "That's it!" Miya shouted, the red head looked with sparkles in his eyes, "hell yeah!"
"What's what..?" Langa asked, partially confused at what their sudden realisation was. "We just gotta find out if they like each other or if they don't even know they do..!"
"That sounds confusing..."
"Don't worry Langa, we got this in the bag!!"
"I'm still confused, what do we have and why is it in a bag..??"
Miya just sighed at the two, one's an idiot and the other is a moron. Personally, Miya considers himself one of the smartest if not THEE smartest in the entire group. Maybe not academically, but y'know.
His gaze turned to the parental figures in the group who were arguing still, and then to the younger couple who were talking to each other.
“Geez.. EVERYONE SHUT UP!!”
Everyone stopped talking and turned to the kid who suddenly screamed, Joe and Cherry still suspiciously close to kissing but who was gonna say anything about that?
Miya was TIRED, the couple he’s been waiting for to get together are finally dating! And THEN he finds out that the other couple he THOUGHT was MARRIED weren’t actually married???
The little schemer would come up with a solution for this madness another time, but until then he needed a break. “Everyone just shut up and let’s go to S, alright!?” He demanded, standing and opening the door exiting ‘Sia La Luce’, Reki and Langa followed after him hastily. And reluctantly so did Shadow, Joe and Cherry.
Internally Miya was screaming but who cares. He had a BEEF to win right now.
He’d handle it tomorrow.