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"Wouldn't it be so weird if we were both girls?"
Rei overhears the words from coffin. It's not really quiet or restful in the band practice room, but he's always been able to sleep through just about anything. The twins have been talking about nonsense for the past thirty or so minutes, and puppy hasn't shown back up since he got pulled out by Adonis to work on some project the both of them have assigned. One would think his lovely children would quiet down and let their poor father take a much needed nap, but they've chosen instead to be menaces — loud, banging things about, and not sitting still for more than thirty seconds.
"Why would it be weird?" he hears Yuta respond, and there's another clatter of something onto the floor. He doesn't pull back the lid of his coffin to scold them, they'll get to eventually. And if they don't… he'll deal with it then. "We'd be girl idols, I guess."
"Yeah, but," Rei hears Hinata pick up something and thump down on the floor. Probably another percussion instrument by the way it makes a pleasant enough clang. "We'd be girls. That would be really different, right? We'd probably have long hair and have to wear skirts. Oh, do you think we'd have to have really long hair, actually? I don't really want to have long hair."
"Good thing you're not a girl," Rei hears Yuta respond. He rolls over in his coffin, smiling a little at the absurdity of the conversation. "So you don't have to have long hair. You'd have to braid it and keep it out of the way."
"You're right," Hinata says. Rei's eyes close, but he hears a strange edge to his voice. "I guess lucky we're both boys, right?"
The second time Hinata makes the joke it's in front of both Koga and Rei. Puppy isn't the most perceptive when it comes to these issues — after all, his treatment of his classmate Narukami leaves a lot to be desired, if the things Rei has heard are true. Rei only has so much time in the day to reign in his wayward dog, and it's not like it's causing issues for Undead; he only knows about it because he's been keeping tabs on his sweet baby brother and by his extension Knights. Koga's still angry with him, with the world, with everyone. Rei's sure he'll calm down and be a good little puppy when he's ready.
So it's not really surprising that Koga reacts when Hinata says, out of nowhere:
"Oh, Yuta-kun! If I were a girl, you'd have to call me anego! Wouldn't that be so funny?"
Yuta looks up from his space on the floor, expression one of slight irritation. "What are you talking about? Yeah, I guess. Are you trying to distract me from something, aniki?"
Rei catches the way Hinata's lip twitches. He covers it with a laugh, puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head. "Like, if I were a girl, you'd have to."
"You can't be a girl," Koga chimes in from next to Rei. He's let his puppy get this close, it's sort of cute to dote on one's underclassmen every now and then isn't it? He plays idly with his guitar as he looks over at Hinata, who stands over Yuta with that big fake smile on his face. Rei frowns, like he's trying to put the pieces together. "You're a boy."
"I mean if I was born as a girl. Which means Yuta-kun would have been a girl too, since we're identical."
Koga looks like he's piecing something together. Or maybe he's trying to keep an insult behind his teeth; if he tries anything with Rei in the room, there will be scolding. He's sure that Koga knows that, and is pleased when the only thing he does is roll his eyes.
"I don't really think it would be funny," Yuta chimes in. "It just would be life. Then you'd be asking stupid questions like 'what if we were both both boys?' or whatever."
Hinata shifts on his feet and shrugs. "Yeah, probably would be asking that, huh? It would be really weird and different."
Koga huffs. "Sure, whatever. Guess you would be, you probably wouldn't be at this school though. There are other schools that take girl idols."
"Maybe we wouldn't be idols," Hinata considers. "Maybe we'd be in the producer track or something. We don't have to be idols, we could hang out with Transfer Student-san."
"You just want to spend time with her," Yuta huffs. He kicks Hinata's leg hard enough to make him yelp. "Go talk to her if you like her so much."
"Hey, that hurt!" Hinata complains as he rubs his shin. It looks like he takes the out, though, his face turning pink with embarrassment. "You can't hit your anego like that!"
Rei watches, understands, and shakes his head. Hinata will figure it out eventually.
Rei wipes sweat from his brow as he steps off the stage. Undead was just a supporting unit this time, and by extension 2wink was their opening act; it's not great, and Rei's working out ways to make the twins really able to shine in their own right, but this works for now. It's fine, they don't seem to mind that much — considering they're first years, they have a lot of room to grow.
"And how do my children feel after their performance?" Rei asks, placing a hand on top of Hinata's head. He looks up at Rei with the biggest smile and for a moment all of Rei's worries disappear. Both of them look completely exhausted, worn out and ready for a nap. Rei can understand that, but the night is young; he's always way more invigorated after a show, ready to take on the world after some tomato juice.
Yuta and Hinata both nod in unison as they give him a thumbs up. Rei laughs as he rubs both of their heads and steps further back, away from the stage. He motions for them to follow and they do, falling in step with each other as they sort of bounce down the stairs to the dressing room.
"You did an excellent job today," he praises them. "How much have you two been practicing on your own, hm?"
"Pretty much every day!" they answer in unison. Rei tilts his head at Hinata, who speaks in a noticeably higher register — for the bit, maybe, but Rei's not sure. Yuta catches it as well and hits him hard across his chest with the back of his hand, hard enough to make Hinata yelp.
"Stop doing that! It's annoying and weird!"
Rei raises his eyebrows at the both of them. "Doing what?"
"He keeps changing his voice and pretending he's a girl!"
He's sure that he's the only one that's noticed the change in the room, the way that Hinata sort of curls his(?) shoulders inwards and laughs it off.
Rei keeps his mouth shut.
"This is pissing me off."
Rei's tired. The weight of the last two performances back-to-back weigh heavily on his shoulders, and he's pushing himself too much. He figures that this is what Koga's referring to, and he's ready for a chastising that will rival Ritsu's, but when he turns to look at him he's looking at his phone.
"What annoys you so much?"
Koga's eyes dart over from his phone to Rei, then back to his phone again. He huffs as he shoves it in Rei's direction, letting him see the social media post by the older Aoi twin. He's standing there, peace fingers up and facing the camera, winking as he makes a kissing face at the camera.
Rei's mind is a little groggy, so it takes a moment for him to notice the lip gloss.
It's a delicate situation. Rei recalls all of Koga's harsh words and thinly veiled aggression, hoping that now isn't the time to counsel his junior on how to be polite to his juniors. He opens his mouth for clarification, to make sure that this is the angle that he has to take; if he needs to play mediator, then he supposes he will.
"If he wants to be a girl so bad, then he should just tell us."
Rei blinks, surprised at Koga's conclusion but not displeased. He laughs a little — part relief, and part because Koga is just so cute — and hands the phone back to him. "That's different from how you've acted in the past with your classmate Narukami, isn't it?"
Koga's face turns a little pink as he snatches the phone away. "Richii got mad at me about it."
Rei almost laughs again, but decides to keep that inside. He could kiss Ritsu for making this easier, but he's sure his sweet baby brother would call him a gross bug for his brotherly affection. He shifts a little closer and rests his head on Koga's shoulder, which makes the younger man tense up and then relax.
"Just be kind to him when he decides to tell us," Rei says, watching as Koga continues to scroll on his phone. His eyes feel heavy and there's a little less weight on his shoulders, like something he didn't know was stressing him out now is gone. "It's up to Hinata-kun to tell us."
Koga mumbles something under his breath that Rei doesn't catch. He looks up a little more at Koga's profile, watches him swallow, and feels an arm wrap around him. He closes his eyes and lets himself doze against his shoulder, feeling a little more at ease.
"I have something to say," Hinata says, kicking his feet against the box he's sitting on. He's high up, enough that Rei has to lean back a little from his place on the floor to get a good look at him. Yuta-kun is sitting across from Rei, opened bags of chips around him as he munches. He bends backwards to get a look at his sibling.
"Then say it," Koga calls out from behind Rei, which makes Rei snort with amusement. It's been weeks since his conversation with Koga, and it's clear to him that the frustration of Hinata not coming out is only irritating his underclassman more and more.
Rei watches the way Hinata-kun shifts. He looks down at them from his box tower — two trunks stacked on top of each other, and then a couple cases to really lift him up higher. He looks at Yuta, bent backwards and staring at his sibling, then makes eye contact with Hinata. It seems to be enough to make him sit up straight.
"Yuta-kun and I are going to be girl idols from now on!"
Yuta sits up and spins around to look at Hinata, on his feet within a second. "No we're not, what are you spreading rumors for?"
"I don't want to be boy idols anymore," he says simply. "We've done that, time to be girls."
"I don't want to be a girl!"
Rei frowns. He leans on one hand and starts to stand up, because this feels like a conversation one should not be seated on the floor for, when Hinata crosses his arms.
"I'm sick of being a boy."
Yuta's hands ball into little fists, and then he starts to shake the tower that Hinata is perched upon. Hinata yelps, grabs onto the sides of the case he's seated on, and then shakes his head. "I take it back! I take it back!"
"Come on, you're all pissing me off!"
All three stop what they're doing. Rei's hand is suspended in mid-air as he reaches for Yuta, who reaches for Hinata, who stares back at Koga. "Just let him be a girl! Who cares, you both are annoying the hell out of me!"
Rei sighs. His hand falls to his side and he turns to look at Koga who, to give credit where credit is due, isn't saying anything too out of bounds. His arms are crossed over his chest, and he's scowling.
"I don't want to be a girl idol," Yuta says, but with way less venom in his voice than before. The absence of it makes Rei take note, like this was something that was bothering him for far too long. He's about to deconstruct with when Hinata finally speaks.
"We have to both be girls, because then we'll stay identical."
Rei notices the way Yuta rolls his eyes, the way he blows air out of his nose to express his anger. The pieces fit together, Rei understands that this is the whole of the matter, the obstacle they can't overcome.
"You don't both have to be girls," Rei tries, slowly, trying to cause the least amount of damage that he can. "Hinata-kun, you can do that if you wish, but you cannot force Yuta-kun to do the same."
"Yeah, that's stupid," Koga adds. Rei winces a little. "And if you want to keep up the twin act, you can just pretend to be a guy on the stage. Like how the vampire bastard pretends to be an old man all the time."
"It's not an act, I truly do forget things so easily in my old age…" Rei sighs, even though he's sure no one believes him.
"So just let Yuta be a guy and Hinata be a girl, who cares? We're supposed to be practicing music in here, aren't we?"
Hinata smiles a little. It's something, Rei thinks to himself, and maybe that's enough. Yuta seems to relax completely, thus proving his earlier theory that this was a case of Yuta disliking a new identity being applied to them both rather than his sibling changing. It makes it easier, even if Rei knows that it will be a long time until this is completely settled.
"Then we won't be exactly the same," Hinata complains, which sends Yuta back into aggression. Rei shakes his head and looks back at Koga, giving him a warning look before looking at the twins.
"My children," he says. Both of them look at him. "Hinata-kun, how about you just act like a girl around myself and the puppy, just to see if you like it? Then you can decide what to do later."
That seems to settle the issue for the moment. Hinata hops down from her spot above so she can be equal with her brother. She looks pleased, but Rei knows that this will not be enough in the long run — but for now, the two of them don't look like they're fighting.
"Yeah, okay," she agrees, then takes Yuta's hand and pulls him towards the instruments. "We really should practice for our next live though, right?"
Yuta's eyes narrow, but he follows his sister. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go, aniki."
"Anego!!"
It seems like only yesterday that the four of them were playing instruments in Yumenosaki. Rei sits down next to Koga and puts a hand on top of his — he's much less shy now that the years have passed since their time in high school, but they're still idols and have to maintain professionalism when out and about. Koga doesn't pull away, which makes Rei smile a little more.
The backstage area isn't too crowded. There are staff working to change the sets and move the lighting if needed, and he's seen the young lady a couple times as she weaves between the workers and making any last minute adjustments that are necessary. He hears the performance from where the two of them sit, knowing that the cheers for 2wink were earned by Hinata and Yuta Aoi's dedication and commitment to their performances.
The concert ends. Rei had heard it all from where he and Koga sit, and while he thinks next time he'd like a seat in the audience this is just fine for the moment. The minutes tick by, neither Rei nor Koga speak — both waiting for their friends to come out of their dressing rooms.
Yuta arrives first. He's wearing his hair in a bun, a grin on his face as he comes over to the others. "Are you two ready?"
"Yeah," Koga says, his hand still in Rei's. "We're just waiting for Hinata. Is she almost done?"
Yuta turns back and looks down the hall he'd come from. "She always takes way too long, we should leave without her. I'm hungry."
"Dont leave without me, Yuta-kun!"
Rei leans around Koga and sees Hinata hurrying out of her changing room. She's smiling wide, her outfit loose and light. She wears a colorful blouse and jacket, the smile on her face so bright that it lights up the room. "I only took a couple minutes more!"
Yuta smiles back. They mirror each other, the feminine and the masculine, and both laugh as they seem to be getting along just fine. Rei smiles too. "It was a great performance, I could hear it from back here."
"Thank you, Sakuma-senpai!" they both say in perfect unison. They look at each other and nod, Yuta slinging his backpack over his shoulders and Hinata adjusting her bag on hers. "Let's go!"
Rei gets up with Koga, letting go of his hand as they follow behind the two. He's promised them dinner and a chance to chat and catch up with all that's going on in their lives, but it seems like everything is going smoothly. Hinata looks brighter than he's ever seen her, and Yuta looks more calm and composed.
"Anego, we're not going to go to that restaurant! I already said no!"
"Why not? I'm really craving something sweet…"
"We can get something sweet where we're going! I want something spicy!"
"Okay, fine, fine, if Yuta-kun wants to go somewhere else we can!"
"Hey, you're not supposed to give up that easy! You should fight more for what you want!"
Rei hides his smile behind his hand. Things certainly did seem like they were going to be okay.