Chapter Text
Even though it was late in the night, Bachira Meguru couldn't stop turning the pages of his favourite sketchbook, the one with a blue dolphin on the cover. The drawings were all similar: eyes as blue as the night on a yellow background, sometimes they were drawn in a more realistic style, sometimes (especially when he was in his feels) in a more abstract one, but the subject was always the same.
He'd started filling those pages with the same image when he was 8, and now, at 21, he was almost done. Only one blank page was left.
Whenever his psychologists asked him why he'd always draw the same blue eyes, he would respond saying that a dream inspired him, but that was a big fat lie. The truth is that Bachira never asked himself that question, he just went with the flow and hoped he'd meet someone with a similar gaze, but he was lonely to the point that anyone, even people with ugly eyes, could have been good for him, as long as they were real.
After turning the last page he'd coloured, he closed the sketchbook and put it in his drawer. He felt like the last page of his precious lifelong artwork needed to be special, so he decided to wait for the right occasion to finally give it closure. "Maybe one day...", he whispered as he laid on his warm and comfortable bed, "I'll be able to finally have the real reference in front of me". And with that pleasant thought, he abandoned himself to pleasant dreams for a pleasant while. More than a while, actually.
«Meguru», a soft voice was calling him, different from the other whispers he often heard in his dreams. He started following it without hesitation, hoping it would lead him towards the blue-eyed person he had always wished for.
«Meguru, you're oversleeping», the voice kept talking, but he couldn't find its source, so he started opening his eyes.
«Good, you're awake», his mother said, looking down at him, but her tone quickly changed: «You're a grown man, why do you never wake up when the alarm clock goes off?! You're unbelievable!», she scolded him, but she didn't stop smiling while doing so. So that ethereal voice was just his mum's. What a bummer.
"Sorry", he groaned, still laying down half asleep.
«It's okay. I'll make breakfast».
Bachira still lived with his mom at his age because he was still highly dependent on her and he wasn't even able to wake up to his own alarm, so her presence helped him out a lot. On top of that, he was very unemployed. His art career wasn't setting off and he barely made any money, but he refused to find any kind of job because he wanted to focus on his passion for drawing.
After finally getting out of bed, he wore a yellow hoodie and a pair of comfortable black sweatpants, he brushed his mid-length hair and he took a moment to appreciate himself in the mirror. He'd never been self-conscious about his appearance, but there were objectively days he felt uglier than usual.
Luckily, that day was the opposite.
His skin looked softer than it usually did, his smile brighter and his hair shinier. He felt so pretty that he reminded himself of a ray of sunshine. «Nice!», he said under his breath, smiling at himself. The tall shadow behind him that Bachira referred to as monster agreed, he, in fact, looked cuter than usual.
After his little self-confidence moment, the man joined his mother and he sat with her at the kitchen table. On the table, there were pancakes.
«Why? You usually make these on Christmas day», he said, but his tone of surprise wasn't a negative one. He was delighted.
«I figured we could celebrate that for once you actually managed to sell one of your paintings», she replied, smiling at her son. As they started eating, the only noise was the sound of forks rubbing against the plates. That quiet moment didn't feel awkward to Bachira only because the monster was keeping him company, and that day it mainly said nice words. Things like that only happened in rare occasions.
«So», Yuu Bachira broke the silence, «what are your plans for today?».
The most unusual thing about that day wasn't Bachira's unexpected beauty, it was the fact that he had already made plans in advance.
And those were some serious plans alright.
«Remember the money you lent me the other day?», he asked her.
«Oh yes! What about it?», her face was concerned, she probably thought that her son had spent them in some useless bullshit he would forget about in a few weeks.
«I'm going to see my favourite band live! I was lucky enough to find a stranger online willing to sell their ticket, and the best thing is that it's a VIP one! You know what that means, right?»
«No, enlighten me», her tone was sweet, but concerned at the same time: what the hell did she just give him her money for?
«IT MEANS I GET TO MEET THEM AFTER THE SHOW!» he exclaimed with all his fanboyish enthusiasm, and Yuu Bachira, supportive as usual, didn't hesitate to match his energy.
«I'm so happy for you! Who are you going with?», before she realized that she'd let out the excitement too soon and without thinking properly, she was flashed with the most gloomy face her son's ever made.
«You know i have no friends», he murmured. Before she could apologize, he got up, washed his plate in the sink and stormed back into his room without saying a word. But his frown didn’t last longer than two minutes.
«I can't let this misunderstanding ruin my mood!», he said, returning to his optimist-self while looking at the biggest poster in his bedroom with dreamy eyes and washing away the little tears that had formed in his eyes with the pure enchantment that image made him feel.
The big and colorful poster hanging on the wall was one of his most prized objects. It was gifted to him by his mum for his 16th birthday. At that time Chemical Reaction, the band on the poster, was niche and only the debut album was out, yet he was still a big fan. He loved the guitarist Itoshi Rin, the drummer Nagi Seishirou and the bassist Chigiri Hyouma equally, but his favourite member was the singer, Isagi Yoichi, he admired him so much that he considered him his very first celebrity crush.
It was never a matter of looks: Bachira knew, of course, that Rin was objectively hotter, but Isagi had that something, what the French call “je ne sais quoi”. Maybe it was because of his lyrics, maybe because of the attractive voice he sings with, maybe he chose him simply because the monster told him to, but nothing of that had any importance, so he kept avoiding his own questions to focus on the excitement for the upcoming concert.
Still agitated, Bachira sat, patiently waiting for the evening to arrive and not knowing anything of his immediate future nor trying to predict what was coming for him.
The morning and the afternoon rushed quickly, and the long awaited evening arrived. He chose his outfit: an oversized t-shirt with black and yellow stripes, a pair of baggy jeans much larger than him, a leather jacket for the chilly autumn weather and his favourite bag, the one with the bee keychain. He felt like himself wearing those clothes, much better than the boring attire he usually wore at home. «Damn! I look so cool!», he said while looking at himself in the mirror.
He checked the time: 7 pm, the concert started at 9. For once, Bachira Meguru wasn't late.
After saying bye to his mum and accepting her apologies for what she had said before, he hugged her, went out of his flat and he reached the nearest bus station just as the vehicle he had to take stopped. Perfect timing. Since the venue was quite distant from where he lived in, the ride was an hour long. He spent it chilling in the back while reviewing the concert’s setlist. Of course he knew every song by heart, but he wanted to make sure he hadn't forgotten any of the lyrics. Plus, listening to music helped him quiet down the monster, who would sit with him in silence and listen to something different from Bachira’s words for once.
The hour flied away, and in short time Bachira was already out of the bus, autumn wind messing up his hair and caressing his bare arms. The sky was getting darker and darker, and the nearby skyscrapers started lighting up, with their flashing panels brightening up the streets. In many years, it was the second time Bachira ever went outside at night, with the first being a quick trip to the conveniency store under his apartment complex, so he was astonished to say the least.
«Go on, run across the road. Those cars won't hit you», the tall black monster demanded, towering in front of him. But that day, he decided to ignore it: seeing Chemical Reaction live was definitely better than dying hit by a speeding car or a bus.
He started walking at a normal pace, observing the people and the buildings surrounding him. He loved that chaos, he thought that it perfectly represented his state of mind and his personality; that led him to feel fully comfortable and at ease in a place that wasn’t his home, for once. He was glad that he had finished high school, because the bullying was getting unbearable, to say the least. Apparently, people started finding him “weird” when he told them about his monster, and instead of simply stopping being around him, they had the brilliant idea to make his life a living hell. They punched him, kicked him, insulted him and everything of the sort, but he never stopped being the laid-back optimist guy he had always been, and that honours him.
Yes, he never stopped seeing life through rose-coloured and heart-shaped glasses, but he always felt deeply the lack of friendship he’s had in his life. Truth is, he secretly wished to find his people at that concert, and somehow he knew that would happen because his intuition was never wrong.
Since he had a VIP ticket, he didn't get to experience the confusing mess that was the queue, and that's for the better, because that would have probably caused him to willingly run across the road just to get hit by a speeding car.
Bachira had an amazing view of the stage from his seat: not too close, but not too far. Sure, the closer the better, but why would he have wanted to be that near when afterwards he was going to meet the band anyway?
Minutes passed, and the concert venue filled up quickly with all sorts of people. Some were kids, some were full grown adults, but the majority of Chemical Reaction's audience was around the same age as Bachira.
«How i wish to find my first friend here», he whispered under his breath.
«Uhm sorry, did you say something?», the guy sitting next to him asked. He was sitting, but it was clear that the stranger was very tall. The man was wearing a pair of flared jeans and a white t-shirt, showing off his big muscles; he also had brown eyes, short red hair and a friendly expression on his face. He was very handsome of course, but not intimidating, at least according to Bachira's monster. Yeah, he would make a good friend.
«Oh nothing, just talking to myself», he replied, trying to hide his embarrassment. Why the hell did he let the words slip out in public? He was so stupid, he couldn't even believe himself sometimes.
«Damn I get you man, I also do that sometimes. And by the way, what's your name? I’m good with faces and I’ve never seen you at any of their concerts»
«It's my first time seeing Chemical Reaction live. Why? You see them often?»
«Uhm yeah. You could say that...», now it was the man's turn to be embarrassed, but Bachira didn't pay much attention to that.
«I'm Bachira, by the way. Bachira Meguru», he introduced himself with a smile, trying to sound as normal as possible. Since he wasn't used to that kind of interaction, he tried to imitate the characters from his favourite TV shows. That seemed to work since the redhead wasn't running away or punching him or calling him a weirdo.
«Nice to meet you. I'm Kunigami Rensuke». The two engaged in some boring small talk that the author is too lazy to type, and although this kind of conversation highly pisses her off, Bachira was thinking the opposite: the exchange with Kunigami was the most fun he had in months, if not years. This all felt new to him, and he loved when new stuff happened in his life.
«So you mentioned being some kind of regular to their performances. Why?», he questioned his new acquaintance. The man was caught off guard: he did not expect the other to actually remember that particular detail.
«I know personally one of the band members. He's my b-... friend», luckily for him, Bachira didn't notice the slight word slip, so he just nodded and asked another question about his life. The two seemed to get along quite well, but they couldn't talk for long because the concert was already starting.
The stage lights started going wild and the crowd even louder than it was before. The people's roar was deafening, so intense that Bachira thought that the fucking rumbling was about to start (oops, wrong fandom xx). He somehow felt alive among the noisy chants, more than he did while drawing or while walking around the city during night. He didn't want that moment to end, but at the same time he wanted to cherish it forever as a long lost memory. More importantly, the monster was too scared to come out among all these unknown faces and scary roaring voices, and that meant more peace for Bachira.
Suddenly, four people appeared in the centre of the stage surrounded by the dark. Everyone knew who those shapes belonged to. The band Chemical Reaction was standing a few meters away from all of the people who couldn't wait to see them, waiting for the right moment to show themselves. The crowd's rumbling intensified so much that Bachira thought it would leave deaf everyone in that venue, including the musicians. But he didn't mind, so he joined the confusion as a part of it.
The stage lights flashed, revealing the four. The drummer Nagi Seishirou was behind the others, with his usual lazy look and bored face. To the untrained eye, it seemed that in that moment he wanted to be in any place but there, and in that case the untrained eye was right, but that didn't mean that Nagi wasn't ready to give his best for that performance. His white hair looked even shinier under the lights, and his pitch black eyes didn't look as dull as they usually did.
Next to him there was the bassist Chigiri Hyouma, who everyone thought was a girl at first. His long pink hair and the soft traits on his face certainly never helped him beat the femboy allegations, but he never even thought for a second about denying them, so double win i guess. He was holding his instrument like concerned mothers hold their babies and he was smiling at the crowd, visibly happy to be there. But Bachira couldn't help but notice him repeatedly glancing towards Kunigami.
"So cute!", the man thought, "I love how Kunigami always shows Chigiri support by attending his shows. Their friendship is so pure, how I wish to find someone who could share it with me!". Sure thing, Bachira.
Rin Itoshi was near the middle, with his black electric guitar and his usual cold stare. No smile, no frown, just his neutral unfazed face, and that was more than enough to leave the audience flabbergasted, and not only them, legend says that even the freaking author of this fic isn't immune to Rin's charm. And how to blame her: his dark hair, his height, his muscles, his thighs his green eyes, his lashes, his mysterious personality... he was perfect. Not for Bachira though, he barely even looked at him.
His attention was too focused on someone else.
«Oh god, he's shorter than I imagined», his words slipped, but luckily Kunigami couldn't hear him (he was busy staring at a certain someone). Yeah, Isagi Yoichi wasn't a tall man, but that didn't make him less handsome: his black hair, similar to Rin's, had a blue undertone, his body was muscly, but less than Rin's, he had lashes, of course, but not as defined at Rin's, and his bottom lashes weren't even showing! But Bachira liked him anyway... Eh, to each his own i guess. What our guy loved most, as i said before, weren't his looks, but his presence: his smile and his energy were enough to light up the stage, and his quiet determination was enough to motivate even lazy people like Nagi.
His eyes though... the man couldn't figure out which colour they were, and that irritated him since he had an eye fetish. The main reason he couldn't wait to finally meet him was that he'd finally figure out that enigma.
«Good evening Tokyo!», he yelled on the mic, making the crowd go crazy. Oh, the monster inside of Bachira was very happy, indeed. It was like every word that Isagi pronounced hit the right spot, and the show hadn't even started yet.
«How are we feeling today?», he asked, looking proudly at the people below him. He definitely knew how to control a crowd, if he asked them to jump, every single one of them would ask "how high?", and Bachira would probably unlock some crazy superhuman abilities just to reach his idol’s level and be one with him, jumping higher than the rest.
«Good good. I'm also feeling great: we finally got to play in Tokyo's largest and most famous venue! Look how far we've come!», every person started cheering, including Bachira, whose screams sounded like a dead elephant's.
«You wanna know how we did that? We just never stopped believing we could! Everyone tried to stop us, saying they did that for our own good, but we didn't listen. We never did, and look where we are», Nagi, Chigiri and Rin started playing the intro of their most famous song. Bachira already knew what was coming.
«Sometimes it's best to care about others' feelings, right, but when reaching for our goals, we should all be egoists».
After that corny speech that everyone seemed to love, Isagi started singing, accompanied by the rest of the band. Egoist wasn't one of Bachira's favourites, but he still sang the lyrics so loud that he was sure he had ruined somebody's otherwise perfect video. Bachira's favourite song of theirs was HYEPSWYLOTL ("have you ever played soccer with your life on the line"), an unreleased song recorded on Rin's ipad when they were all 16 that he was still hoping would be released one day. He calls it a hidden unpolished gem.
Song after song, that very fun evening flied away, and what actually made it fun for him was Kunigami's presence. Although the muscular man wasn't there for the love of their music, he was still a great person to be around to, and Bachira felt lucky to have found somebody friendly to hang out with during those two hours, because if he hadn’t, the concert would have been pretty boring. That day, he found out that he actually really enjoyed people's company as long as they weren't harassing him.
Soon, the music ended, the band left the stage and the people started leaving the venue.
«We'll go once most people leave, crowds can be wild around here», the redhead said, refusing to leave his seat. Bachira nodded and the two stayed there without saying a word. He was so agitated that he thought he was about to explode: why was he supposed to wait any longer?
Once the chaos dissolved as the people left, Kunigami asked: «So you still wanna meet them?»
«Yeah, duh», Bachira replied, «I wouldn't have spent my mum's money on these VIP tickets otherwise, and...», damn, why did he mention that? That was obviously a rhetorical question.
«Wait, you still live with your mum? And she lets you spend her money?!», Kunigami interrupted him, lifting an eyebrow.
"Yeah, and I'm also unemployed, very unemployed", he replied proudly, even though he had nothing to be proud of since even elementary school students probably worked more than him.
«Oh, who isn't these days. I'll show you the way», Bachira didn't know what the man meant, but he didn't care and just followed his steps. He brought him to a door near the stage that led underground.
«Hey», one of the two bodyguards next to the door spoke. They hadn't even noticed them: Bachira thought they were statues for decorating and Kunigami thought that they would recognize him by now, since he came so often. «If you don't have the VIP tickets with you, you can't enter», the men both showed their tickets and the big guys let them in. The staircase was faintly illuminated and Bachira tripped at least seven times before actually passing the backstage door.
«Hi, welcome back Kunigami», he was greeted by a thirty year old woman with mid-length red dyed hair and a notebook in her hands. «Who is this?», she asked pointing to Bachira.
«His name's Bachira. He has the VIP ticket and he wants to meet with the band», the redhead explained meticulously.
«Oh right! Well, nice to meet you, I'm Anri, their manager. You can enter now, you already know the rules», she concluded turning to Kunigiri. He didn't think twice and entered, happy to finally talk to Chigiri (and maybe do something else...)
«But you don't», she sighed, «that means I'm here to tell you! First of all, please don't touch or hug any of the members unless they let you, especially Rin! He's fucking tired of all the crazy fans, and I hope you aren't one of them. Second of all, don't disturb Nagi, he's usually too tired to talk after a concert, and third, Chigiri is off-limits»
«Why?», Bachira asked, curious about why she didn't state the reason.
«Ehm... i can't...», she seemed hesitant, «Ugh, okay fine I'll tell you: he's having sex with Kunigami»
«But aren’t they… Oh, I see… so, friends can have sex with each other?! I didn't know!», Bachira exclaimed. That new info changed everything, he absolutely had to try!
«No? Of course they can't! And also, THOSE TWO ARE NOT FRIENDS, they are together... romantically. Jeez, how did you not get it?!».
«Oh», twenty one years of little to no friendly interaction certainly made him a bit more naive than the average person.
«Yeah... I probably shouldn't have told you that», she looked guilty. «If you dare say a word, I'll sue you on behalf of Ego-san's company»,
Bachira didn't know who the fuck Ego-san was, but he surely didn't like the idea of being sued by his whole ass company, so he decided to reassure Anri: «Don't worry, I have no friends neither in real life or online, if their secret is safe with someone, that person is definitely me». Bachira was lying: he wasn’t good with secrets and he normally would have told his mum, but that time was different: it wasn’t just a silly gossip, Chigiri’s privacy was at stake!
The woman looked relieved. «As soon as you leave I'll make you sign a NDA, Bachira-kun. You have thirty minutes, don't do anything freaky or security will be on your tail». Bachira nodded. The fact that he was a weirdo couldn't be denied, but he sure as hell was less weird than those freaked-out individuals that sexually harassed people. "Like, go masturbate or something, you creeps!", he thought every time the news reported new rape victims. If the world was as simple as Bachira intended, we would all be happier.
Without thinking any more of it, he went through the door.
The room was big, a bit messy, but nothing Bachira didn't expect. The lights were dim, their instruments were laying on the ground and so was Kunigami's t-shirt. "Ooh, someone's getting laid tonight", he thought, looking around and smiling.
Rin and Isagi weren't there, they were probably changing, Chigiri was in the best place anyone could find themselves in and Nagi was half-asleep on the sofa. There was an empty armchair, but Bachira hesitated. It looked as if he wasn't welcome there. «Uhm, hi?».
Nagi's eyes slowly started opening, his expression visibly tired and confused. «Hmm... Reo, is that you?», he asked sleepily.
«No, I'm a fan, your manager Anri sent me here. I have the VIP ticket, so i get to meet you all». Nagi's eyes opened a bit more, he looked more conscious about his surroundings.
«Oh so you’re a fan? Huh... well, thanks for your support. Have a drink», he pointed towards the drinks on the coffee table that were probably there for the fans. Bachira never had alcohol before, but he still grabbed a yellow-colored one and sat on the armchair. It was a Four Whites bombed with alcohol, certainly not the best choice for beginner drinkers.
The situation was weird to say the least, he definitely didn't imagine it could go this way, but he was thrilled.
«Isagi and Rin are coming, don't worry. Chigiri is not»,
«Oh I know that», he replied, «he's going at it with Kunigami»,
«And how do you know that?», Nagi asked with a neutral tone, as if Bachira knowing was the most natural thing in the world.
«Your manager spilled the tea while explaining the rules», Bachira laughed, but Nagi didn't seem to find the situation funny at all. On the contrary, he looked concerned. «He's probably hiding a secret relationship too!», the monster told him with his deep and unsettling voice, appearing behind the sofa on which the white haired guy was laying. “Yeah, he probably does", he thought.
As the conversation died, Nagi seemed eager to fall asleep again, but Bachira didn't let him. He was not going to waste his thirty minutes with Chemical Reaction by looking at sleeping beauty, he could always go see the Disney movie, and luckily in it they skipped the whole part where she sleeps for a hundred years.
«Is it true that some fans tend to get very... touchy with you guys?», he asked.
«Oh yeah, one tried to rape me while I was sleeping once, but security didn't let them get away with it. Luckily, that person ended up in jail», he replied casually, as if that was an everyday thing to deal with.
«That is messed up!», Bachira almost spilled his drink. «So you're telling me that I had to go through intense bullying for all my life, and this person didn’t?! That’s so unfair, I didn’t even know this happened to you», he continued sipping, not realizing that the alcohol was already starting to get to his head.
«I wanted to keep the whole tribunal thing low-key, having the eyes of the public pointed towards me is very tiring», Nagi was so unbothered and uninterested that he didn't even ask him questions about the bullying he went through. He was interesting, to say the least, and according to Bachira very fun to be around.
«Are they like this with the others too?»,
«Oh you can say that», a deep voice replied, coming from behind them. Bachira turned around.
The guitarist, Rin Itoshi, appeared out of nowhere, but apparently he had listened to their entire conversation without missing a word.
«They never reached this level of craziness with me, but only because I'm not that dumb to sleep right in front of them», he looked both at Bachira and at Nagi, staring coldly.
«I'm not dumb, I'm just tired», he turned to the other side of the couch, avoiding Rin's gaze and trying to sleep again.
«I guess», Rin murmured, sitting in the other empty armchair, the one next to Bachira's.
«Well, thank you for listening to our music and supporting us. What is your name? And your favourite song?», he asked politely. The man was surprised: out of all the band members, Rin was the last he'd expected to be polite or to ask questions like these, but they were obviously welcome, and he didn't hesitate to answer.
«I'm Bachira Meguru. I love all of your songs, but my favourite one is so obscure that even you probably don't know it»
«Oh really? Then test me»
«”have you ever played soccer with your life on the line”. Does that long ass title sound familiar to you?», normally, Bachira would have never replied like that, but the alcohol turned him even more impulsive than he already was. Drinking was like fuelling his veins with his monster's blood, and as Bachira kept sipping, the two turned more into one.
Rin seemed baffled by his response, but quickly nodded: «Oh, that demo...», his tone was annoyed, «I still have it on my ipad's cloud. I'm surprised you like it better than all the stuff we've actually put out».
«Will you ever release it?»
«Oh, not a chance. That song's messy as fuck, and its topic is very sensitive, especially for me», he said wistfully . Bachira nodded. Maybe it was Rin's overly sad tone, maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the whole situation in general, but the man couldn't stop laughing.
«What's funny?», Rin asked, not even the hint of a smile in his face. He looked ready to punch Bachira, but the yellow-eyed ignored him: he kept sipping, laughing, smirking and sipping. He was already at the end of his second drink without even realizing, and for someone who hadn't eaten in hours that's quite a lot.
«Rin leave him alone, he's drunk», another band member appeared out of the shadows, but this time Bachira didn't turn around. Was it Isagi? Was it Chigiri? He didn't even care to notice.
«He's only had two! He's probably just crazy»,
«Oh that's true. After all, I’ve got a monster inside of me», he started laughing like a freaking maniac after these words. «and they bullied me for it! THEY FUCKING BULLIED ME!», he kept laughing, looking like Light Yagami whenever he somehow managed to convince everyone he wasn’t Kira.
«What the fuck»,
«Come on Rin, you're not one to judge, you say even worse when you're drunk»,
«Oh, like what?",
«One time you said that you actually don't hate your brother»,
«Damn, you got me there...», the two stopped bickering as they heard the sound of shattering glass. They looked toward him: Bachira’s head was buried in the armchair pillow, probably out of embarrassment, and the drink was spilt all over the pavement, leaving a yellow liquid stain that looked like piss. The member we still don't know the identity of walked towards that drunk mess and kneeled in front of his armchair, trying to avoid the pointy glass pieces and the yellow puddle.
«What is his name?», he whispered to Rin. «Meguru Bachira», the one with eyelashes replied.
«Bachira, look at me», the man tried stealing the pillow from Bachira's hands, but his attempt was vain: he was holding onto it like his life depended on it. «Oh come on, it's all right, you're backstage with your favourite band, you spilt a drink and you said too much, so what? The worst we can do is write a song about it. But we obviously won't, and we'll help you out»,
«Who's we», Rin whispered loud enough for the other two to hear it.
«Ignore him, he’s a dumbass. Don't be embarrassed, we've all went through it».
Bachira finally let the other take the pillow after listening to that cringe ass speech that his drunk-self somehow thought was adorable. He looked up at him: big blue eyes looking right into his yellow ones. They felt so familiar but so mysterious at the same time, just like the sea: he wanted to dive right into them and get to know them like they're his own.
«So that's the colour of your eyes. Interesting», he said with a smirk. «I knew I'd find myself in them, Isagi Yoichi».
Isagi looked confused by his words, but didn't say anything and just held his hands. «Look, you're messed up and I don't want you going around Tokyo like this. Plus, it seems like it's your first time drinking»,
«It is...», he replied with a whisper.
«Okay then. We'll tell Nagi to get up so you can have the couch, don't worry». In five minutes, Isagi made sure that his fan had a proper place to sleep: first, to Nagi's discontent, he made him leave the sofa, then he cleaned up the mess the broken glass made, and in the end he gently moved the half-asleep Bachira on the couch with the help of Rin.
«Isagi», Bachira murmured when the back of his head met with the pillow, «I wanted to tell you that you're my biggest idol, you inspired me so much and I-», he started listing out all sorts of praises, but Isagi, although he was enjoying it, interrupted him: «You'll tell me tomorrow morning. Good night, Bachira», and so he fell asleep to the sound of his favourite singer's voice. Too bad he wasn't singing.
***TWO DAYS BEFORE***
>@_chemicalreactionfan: Bruh I can't with isagi, he's soo dating rin
>@rinstongue69: frrrr they gay af
>@realevillarry: GUYS THEY HELD HANDS AT THEIR LAST SHOW. I REPEAT, THEY HELD HANDS!
>@reomikageswetcock23: RINSAGI CANON
>@dekuslipdressswiftie24: OK HERE'S ALL THE RINSAGI EVIDENCE: they always look at each other during shows, they have sexual heated rivalry kind of tension and in the group’s love songs they ALWAYS mention eyes, that def means they got something going on...
>@hiori_yo: nah kaisagi better they're my otp
>@michaelkaiser: wtf
>@adrienchristianhernandez: can you guys please stop shipping real people together? That is so problematic.
>@satorougojo: finally someone speaking facts
>@rinsusedcondom: gojo wtf are you doing here i thought you were in the prison realm...
Isagi couldn't bare with it anymore. Anytime he posted a picture, both alone or with the rest of the band, the comment section was full of thousands of these crazy shippers who wanted to see him with Rin at all costs. He tried beating the allegations many times: once with interviews, another time with an Instagram post, he even spoke up at one of the latest concerts, but all his attempts turned out to be vain. Why was being gay, single and friends with a conventionally attractive male at the same time so stressful?
«I can't do this anymore!», he yelled while being on the phone. «Why the fuck is it always Rin?! Nagi, I could accept, even Chigiri, but goodamn RIN?!», he let out an exasperated sigh.
«Well, you could always try dating Michael Kaiser, that'll shut 'em up», his friend Hiori replied calmly.
«Seriously, Hiori? I'm crashing out and you bring HIM up? You must hate me», Kaiser was a German actor, known all over the world for his performance in a gay sports drama and for his arrogant personality, definetly the last person Isagi wanted to be around while off-duty.
«Well, you two could work well together… I sense some potential»,
«Potential, you said?! HE'S LITERALLY DATING HIS CO-STAR, I don't want to be the homewrecker»,
«I guess you're right... Luckily for you, I've got another idea…».
Even though he couldn't see him, Isagi knew that Hiori had a devilish smile on his face at that moment, and that concerned him a lot. Despite being an overall nice guy, his blue-haired friend sometimes had thoughts that made him question his sanity.
***THE DAY AFTER***
In the end, Hiori's idea wasn't as crazy as he thought, on the contrary, Isagi believed it could truly help him and Rin deny the rumors, so he decided to propose it to his manager, his bandmates and even his label's owner, the creepy CEO Ego Jinpachi.
In that moment, they were all sitting around a table inside Ego's shadowy meeting room like they were a big happy family, but the gloomy place they were in certainly wasn't creating a joyous atmosphere, on the contrary everyone seemed tense and different than usual that day: Isagi was biting his carefully curated nails, Chigiri was nervously touching some of his hair strands, Nagi wasn't resting his head on the table and Rin didn't look stoic as usual: he was probably salivating like he usually did when he was nervous, but for once he was trying his best to hide his tongue.
«Well», he started with his usual unsettling tone, adjusting his glasses. Isagi always tried to avoid the man's stare: he had big black eyes that looked like tiny black holes, and even darker eyebags in contrast with his pale skin. He didn't look like a rich multi-company owner at all, but he was: if selling humans was still legal, he could've bought everyone standing in his dark office, clothes included. «Isagi Yoichi said that he has apparently found the solution to what we baptized the rinsagi problem. Tell us, we'll see if it's possible».
Isagi cleared his throat and started talking, his tone firm and resolute: «Yesterday I was on a call with my friend Hiori, the video game streamer guy from Kyoto, remember him? Yeah, he claimed that he knew how to help me. Of course I was reluctant at first, you know, he's a crazy guy and I don't want to do anything weird, and...»,
«Cut to the chase», Chigiri interrupted him while running his hands through his perfect, luminous red hair.
«Yeah, sorry...», all his firmness was already gone, it vanished as if it was devoured by Ego's black-hole eyes, «like I was saying... Hiori told me that me or Rin should fake date someone in order to deny the rumors... what do you think?»
«Was it that hard to start by saying that?», Nagi murmured, «listening can be tiring, you know».
«I had to build up the tension! But what's your opinion, Anri-san and Ego-san?», the room was silent.
The woman, who had stayed silent for the entire meeting, finally decided to speak up: «We've been trying to get the rinsagi problem off our shoulders for months, if not even years, and if this is the best solution we've got, then we should go with it. The question is, who will be the lucky man, Isagi?»
No one could respond to that question yet, but the answer was about to force his way into their life through a backstage door and two Four Whites he shouldn't have drunk, and things were about to get interesting, very very interesting.