Chapter Text
Leno wakes up with a start when a cheerful voice announces the name of the station where the train will stop. For a second he doesn’t know if the announcement indicates that he missed his station or if he can still doze off a little — he sags with relief when he realises that there are still two stations before his. But the distance is short, so he woke up in the best moment.
He sleepily adjusts his scarf, one of the kilometre-long monstrosities which Hoshina made during his passionate fling with knitting. Narumi teased that they were cursed by Hoshina’s discovery that he could use his insanely quick hands and reflexes to do something beyond cutting stuff into pieces. (He then listed all other things that, according to the captain, would be a better use for Hoshina’s skilful hands and usually got elbowed very hard by the actual owner of the hands in question.) Maybe there was some truth in that. Anyway, they ended up with a crazy amount of scarves, gloves, hats, socks and sweaters — not to mention that all their friends were presented with woollen clothing, too. Leno loves everything he got during that phase. The very idea that it was made specifically with him in mind still makes him giddy with joy. Because Vice-Captain Hoshina didn’t just make them and pushed into Leno’s arms. No, he asked Leno to choose colours and types of wool for some, for others he decided himself and even Narumi agreed that they went very nicely with Leno’s hair and eye colours. He felt very special back then and he feels very special every time he wears these gifts now.
And on such cold, snowy days, he is even more grateful for them.
He pushes his gloved hands deeper into the pocket of his jacket, looking through the train window — but in the darkness of the late evening and a snow blizzard, he can barely distinguish well-known parts of the city which he observes twice a day, going and coming back from his university. He doesn’t mind long commuting, not at all, but on a cold day like today, it simply takes a lot of his energy to function. It is silly because, after two years of using Numbers Weapons No. 6, he knows what real cold means — and it would make sense if he developed some kind of immunity for the simple cold coming with winter. Sadly, it is on the contrary: even though he stopped using No. 6 months ago, his thermoregulation is still a mess. He gets cold pathetically easily and once that happens, warming him up is close to impossible for hours. It is nothing but a nuisance and he thinks that Hoshina and Narumi blow the thing out of proportion. But even though worrying them with something so silly makes Leno embarrassed, he is secretly delighted that they care about him this much.
He sleepily checks the time on his phone and almost curses under his breath when he discovers eight missed calls and many new messages on their group chat.
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:12
heyyyyy lenoooooooo pick up the damn phone
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:14
lenoooooooo
Some Creepy Fucker with Knives 18:15
Leno if you read this before getting on the train, better go to Mina’s for the night
I talked with her
she’s got nothing against it, she will be HAPPY to see you
the blizzard is getting stronger, I don’t want you to get stuck in the middle of nowhere
also NARUMI STOP CHANGING OUR NAMES HERE
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:17
I dunno what youre talking about
Hoshina 18:18
of course
Leno please let us know where you’ll be staying tonight
really YOU’RE NOT OVERSTEPPING Mina will be glad!
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:20
that overgrown cat of hers will be happy 2!!!!!!
also ITS COLD LENOOOOOO
LENOOOO
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:30
LENOOOOOOOOOOOO
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:45
PICK UP FCUKING PHONE!!!!!!!!!!!
ARE YOU FROZEN
I WILL GO FIND YOU
Hoshina 18:46
don’t worry, I’m not letting him out of the house
call us back when you can talk <3
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:47
don’t listen to him I WILL SAVE YOU
just write where you are
The Ungrateful Bastard who doesn’t love Leno AT ALL 18:48
if he froze how will he let you know where he is hmmmmmmm?
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 18:49
nobody asked you traitor
HOSHINA 18:50
stop changing my name!
Leno baby please reply, this idiot’s nerves start to rub off on me
Leno swallows a smile and a pang of shame that he worried them so much by dozing off. He quickly takes off a glove with his teeth and texts back with numb fingers, blessing autocorrect for changing a mess he creates into actual sentences.
Kitten 19:20
I’m sorry, I slept on the train and read your messages only now, I’m sorry for worrying you!
He sighs with an affectionate if exasperated smile tugging at his lips when he sees his name changed again. It is tilting at windmills but he quickly renames himself.
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 19:21
HES ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LENOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
come back to me
(not him, he wanted you to go to his girlfriend, he’ll sleep on the couch!!!!!)
KATANA TRAITOR 19:22
you agreed it was the best option!
we didn’t want him to freeze
STOP CHANGING OUR NAMES
Ichikawa 19:25
It’s okay!
But thank you for thinking about me :)
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 19:26
*I* THINK of you all the time <33333333333
BUT CANT BE SAID OF EVERYONE…………………………….
Hoshina 19:27
if only you were so emotional outside texting you idiot
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 19:26
LIES!! I”M ALWAYS LIKE THIS!!!!
maybe youre just not at the end of this treatment ahahahahahahahhahahah >:D
The One Banished to the Couch 19:27
are you 5
The Light of Narumi Gen’s Existence 19:28
I will be at home normally unless the buses are late
Captain Narumi….
Hoshina!!! 19:29
OK let us know
it’s snowing more and more
call us when you can
Ichikawa 19:29
Okay!
<3
He can’t stop smiling as he shoves the phone back into his pocket and stands up, putting on his backpack and readying to get off the train as the next station is finally his.
There are a few other people who hop outside the train and rush to the cars standing before the convenience store next to the station. Some surely parked there in the morning and took the train to the office but others seem to have their families come for them — which doesn’t bode well as far as his bus is concerned. The snow is falling like crazy, it looks like a white, lacy curtain between Leno and everything else. It would be endlessly beautiful if not for how wet and cold he feels when pretty unique snowflakes melt on him. Leno pulls the scarf higher over his mouth and runs to the stop to check the situation, careful not to slip and break his leg.
He swallows a curse when he sees a note plastered to the timetable, saying that all buses got suspended until further notice because of the weather conditions. He has to remind himself that he loves their house being placed in such a remote area normally, it has so many perks and his boyfriends appreciate it, too. But in situations like that… But there is no need to complain and even less to whine. He takes a deep breath of freezing air, blinks to get rid of the snowflakes clinging to his eyelashes and makes a few quick decisions. He is well used to managing everything. It was useful all his life, helped him survive his childhood, came in handy during military times and makes him resourceful now when he is the person who mostly manages the household. Maybe not so much in terms of money but Hoshina doesn’t have much time to take care of the house and Narumi is impractical. This isn’t a problem at all because Leno loves housekeeping and he craves to be needed, to take care of his boyfriends, to create a perfect little house for them. The one to which they want to come back after busy days. One to which Leno really wants to teleport right now.
But! No need to go soft on himself, there is stuff to be done. He fishes his phone out of his pocket, mourning the glove which he has to take off to call his boyfriend. The thought that they are safe in a warm house is like a soothing balm and he feels better immediately.
“Ichikawa?” He hears immediately after the first ring and a video call starts.
“Who else,” Hoshina mutters and pushes Narumi’s head away as it occupies the whole phone screen. “Is everythin’ fine, Leno? Will there be a bus any time soon?”
“No, they stopped going for the time of the blizzard,” he explains as he marches to the konbini. He rushes to add as there are horrified noises in the background, “It’s okay, I will take a shortcut through the forest.”
“Maybe take a taxi?” Hoshina proposes and his face looks concerned. Leno loves him so much but doesn’t want to worry him.
“I don’t think anything would reach our house right now,” Leno says doubtfully, wiping melting snow off his face. “I would only make a problem for a driver if we get stuck in the middle of the road for hours.”
“Oh yes, can’t have some professional driver face any difficulties while you can just freeze to death in the middle of a forest!”
“Don’t dramatise, idiot,” Hoshina huffs and turns to Leno worriedly. “There’s a lot of snow already ‘ere, Leno. Ya’ll freeze.”
“You will freeze to death,” Narumi says, pushing Hoshina to the side so that both their faces are visible now, cheeks squished against each other. Leno has to smile because, of course, they could just hold the phone a little further away and wouldn’t need to smash their faces together. But obviously, they want to and Leno knows it is mostly about searching for excuses. Why, he doesn’t get it but then, he himself is still learning how to ask for being held without reason, just because he feels a sudden need. They all have their little quirks and issues and yet they make it work so this is okay. Both Narumi’s and Hoshina’s hair are damp so they probably had a shower after sex a bit earlier today and it makes Leno feel pleasant warmth spilling in his chest. He likes it when they concentrate on each other and show themselves their love this way. Leno knows that they need it with the endless teasing and fighting. He loves it when they are happy, period.
“I won’t, Captain Narumi,” he says with a soothing smile. “I’m going to the store now to buy a few things in case the blizzard goes on for longer and we won’t be able to leave the house for some time.”
“Leno, just come back home…” Hoshina starts with exasperation.
“Will you buy me some sweets?” Narumi asks at the same time and Leno chuckles.
“Of course, Captain Narumi, I will,” he promises but his fingers ache with how cold they are and he really should end this conversation. The wind is getting stronger and he barely hears what they are saying. “I know which ones you like the most. And if you need anything else, text me, okay?”
“It should take ya around forty minutes to get home,” Hoshina says. “Call us if anythin’ happens or…”
“Nothing will happen,” Leno assures him. “I’ll do quick shopping and go home. Please don’t worry, Sōshirō. You know I’ll be fine, I always am.”
They both start grumbling at that but Leno feels his fingers reach their limit so he apologises and finishes the call, getting into the store.
The shop assistant hunches behind the counter, sleepily observing him doing the light-speed shopping. He knows where to find everything, he often buys things here on his way back from the uni. His mind works fast so that he won’t forget about anything they may need in case they are stuck in the house for a few days. Food, of course, but also matches if the electricity fails — but he really hopes that won’t happen. The very thought that their heaters may not work sends him into a very bad place. Sweets for Narumi. Hoshina’s favourite pastries. A few ready-made onigiris they like, Narumi’s favourite energy drink that probably circulates in his veins already. Maybe also these pickles both Hoshina and Narumi like so much — they always disappear so quickly. He looks at a bun with raisins which is his favourite. His backpack will be very heavy already and he should be more careful with money. But it is only one bun. He can buy it. He can and he will.
Feeling almost rebellious, he takes his basket to the counter and the exhausted shop assistant starts ringing his things up. She eyes him judgingly.
“There are no buses,” she points out, ringing another chocolate bar for Narumi. Leno nods, taking his wallet out of the backpack’s little pocket. The old lady and him never really talked, although she probably knows him by sight after so many times he shopped here. “There are no more cars in the parking lot.”
“Um, yeah,” he says awkwardly, not wanting to be impolite but just wanting to come back home. Then he looks at her carefully. “Will you be able to come back home, madam? If you need help…”
“My son will come to pick me up when the shift ends,” she says and squints her eyes reproachfully. “And you? The teacher doesn’t have a car, right? And the captain? He takes the train, too.”
“Uh,” Leno mutters. Well, apparently they are a little more famous in the neighbourhood than he expected. “No, we don’t have a car, but it’s not that far.”
“It’s very far,” she decides in an authoritarian tone. “You can wait here. Or come back to the city.”
“It’s okay but thanks for worrying,” Leno mumbles, bowing. “I will take a shortcut.”
“I’ll tell them that the last thing you did before death was to buy them things. I’m sure it will cheer them up during the funeral,” she says menacingly. “If there will be a funeral. Because with this snow no one may ever find your body, kid.”
“I’m sure I will manage,” Leno argues weakly.
“Well, if you’re not found, I’ll tell the teacher that you did buy him that coffee cookies he likes so much,” she sighs, looking him in the eye daringly, and it takes Leno a moment to understand he hasn’t put Hoshina’s favourite cookies into the basket. He gasps and leaves his things to come back for the sweets. Sure, he took some other ones for Sōshirō but not these and even the shop assistant knows he prefers this brand. She nods approvingly when he is back. “He’s such a charmer, this one. The other, too, but differently. Although if my man ate so many sweets and drank so much shit, I would take care of him better,” she adds, looking at the remaining things in Leno’s basket disapprovingly. He hesitates, torn between the need to take the best care of Narumi and making him happy by bringing his favourite snacks.
As if sensing his dilemma, the lady waves in the direction of the fruit and vegetable aisle.
“At least buy something healthy, too,” she says and Leno rushes to take some tangerines, persimmons and a little package of strawberries. They are still sweet but have vitamins and all, right? He just needs to cook more healthily to balance Narumi’s love for sweets. He can make something super nutritious for dinner tomorrow. He just needs some more ingredients which they ran out of. He frantically adds some more packets to his basket. Then gasps with utter horror. General! He can’t remember how much of his food is left and the vet, looking at General doubtfully, insisted he should be on a very delicate diet. So Leno runs to the animal food aisle and takes two last cans of the food General approves of. They are kind of big but that makes sense, who knows for how long they can get stuck in the house?
“That’s a lot of stuff,” the lady comments in her displeased tone. “You’ll have such a heavy backpack you’ll fall onto your back and swing your arms and legs like a beetle. When you freeze to death.”
“I’ll make it work,” Leno grumbles, not wanting to point out that he was acclaimed as the strongest soldier on JAKDF… but apparently, now he looks like a frozen kid who can’t even find his way home. But the truth is that he feels cold taking root in his body, squeezing under his clothes, licking at his skin in the most vulnerable places. He really needs to finish this shopping, make it smaller and just run back home. After a moment of ferocious struggle, he puts the bun with raisins away. He doesn’t need it, not really.
“That changes everything,” the lady snorts but the heartbreak on Leno’s face must make her go silent for once. He pays for half of the shop he just bought and puts on the backpack, nearly losing his balance. But he wasn’t in the military for two years for nothing. He ignores the snort coming from behind his back and leaves the shop.
The wind slaps him in the face, tries to rip his hat off his head and steals his breath. He blinks, shielding his eyes and trying to quickly get used to the cold, which is immediately creeping under his clothes when the phone rings.
“Where are you?” Narumi wants to know, sitting on the couch with his chin in his palm and his tiny eyebrows visibly furrowed under too-long bangs. “Hoshina is absolutely unbearable, he worries about you so much.”
A loud snort coming from somewhere off the screen explains a thing or two about who worries the most here.
“Everything’s fine,” Leno chokes out, fighting with the wind and the snow that positively blinds him. Good that he knows which way to go even without looking. “I’m just leaving the store and will be home in around half an hour.”
“Only now?!” Narumi cries. “I thought you’re halfway! Hoshina’ll get insane with worry!”
“Stop screamin’ ya idiot,” Hoshina sighs heavily and takes the phone away from the captain. “Hey, Ichikawa? Everythin’s fine?”
“Yes, I needed to buy a few things,” he mutters, trotting in the direction of the path through the forest.
“Please tell me ya didn’t buy all unnecessary shit just to make us happy,” Hoshina says, scrunching his nose. “That now ya’ll have to carry all the way through this snow.”
“It’s not far,” Leno says vaguely. He has to look closely for a moment because their path is not visible between snow dunes. Surely only the part closest to the road is this intimidating, inside the forest there will be less snow thanks to the trees and he won’t have to walk like a crane. Military training, Leno, remember you were an acclaimed soldier not long time ago. The connection starts to creak. “I think the reach is getting worse, please don’t worry if I don’t answer. I’ll be at home before you know it.”
“I don’t like it,” comes Narumi’s sulky voice off-screen.
“It’s not a polar expedition,” Leno sighs, trudging through the snow. The wind that freezes his thoughts and his ass being so cold it feels ready to fall off make his patience a little thin. “I fought Kaiju for a living, I defeated them in the end, I did kill their queen mother on my own and I really can come back home through a little blizzard.”
“Cheeky bastard,” Narumi snorts with admiration.
“We know,” Hoshina says and there is something warm but sad in his voice. “But yer not a soldier anymore, Leno. Yer someone we love. And we’re not yer superiors usin’ ya to win a battle. We’re yer boyfriends and we want ya safe and warm here with us. In our home.”
Something very different than the cold wind steals Leno’s breath right now.
“We’re waitin’ for ya, come back home,” Hoshina adds and he nods, blinking. Snowflakes melt on his eyelashes and cheeks.
“If you’re not back home in half an hour, I’m starting a rescue operation,” Narumi threatens.
“Okay, I’m hanging up now,” Leno mumbles as the connection is so bad he barely understands Narumi’s words. He pushes the phone into his pocket, puts the glove on the numb fingers and starts walking as fast as possible in the wind and snow.
For all his impertinent speech, he doesn’t look very dignified and victorious as he scrambles through the snowdrifts. He still keeps fit but this feels like one of the most demanding training operations assigned by Vice-Captain Hoshina. Leno smiles to himself and the grin almost freezes on his face. Well, at least the snowflakes are so pretty, although he can barely see them, they look like little snowballs the sky uses to win the unfair fight with him. But it doesn’t know how persistent Ichikawa Leno is. It can pelt him all it wants, he will simply finish his task because that is what he always does.
His cheering on himself gets interrupted by the rabid vibrating of his phone in his pocket and he risks his fingers to check what is happening.
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 20:17
look who is ready to save you
[sent photo]
Leno snorts, for a moment forgetting about the cold and how exhausted he already is. In the photo, there is General with a very unamused expression standing in the middle of their living room with Narumi’s sweatshirts woven into something that, if Leno squints very hard, resembles a makeshift sledge. He wants to add a heart under the photo and finds eight different icons expressing love and devotion already added by Hoshina. Leno smirks with a silly expression. Hoshina is wrapped around General’s paw even more than Narumi is.
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 20:18
he looks SO GOOD we should have him run in dog sledging
we have all the medals in our pocket
he doesn’t seem but he is FAST AS WIND I JUST KNOW IT
Hoshina!!! 20:19
he nearly died yesterday when he tried to get off the couch
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 20:19
don’t listen to him general!!!!!!1
you will save ichikawa and the whole planet if needed i just know it
Ungrateful little bitch 20:20
I’m sorry Ichikawa, you know I love you and all but we can’t risk General’s life
you have to get back on your own
The Pride and Joy of the JAKDF 20:21
HE IS MAKING SPACE ON THE BOOKSHELF FOR YOUR FUNERAL URN LENO
remember who wanted to save you when you come back
*IF* you do
Hoshina 20:23
Narumi…
The Drama Queen 20:24
don’t narumi me now!
oh fuck you learnt how to change names here you little bastard
Why did we even start living with him leno 20:25
grow up idiot
That might have been a mistake all along 20:25
shithead
Cutie patootie 20:26
Capatn Narumi, Vce Cap Hoshna pls you’re sitting next to each other on t couch
Stop fightng
Its cold
I switch off phn
Battery runnin out
And my fingrs hrt
He knows it is a little dramatic but his whole body seems to be an icicle and his skin hurts, no matter if on his face or in his boxer briefs, and he is sweaty and he barely sees and the snow is not pretty anymore and he just wants to be home badly. And it is still a long way.
But ten minutes later he feels very stupid and ungrateful that he was so rude to his boyfriends when they only tried to cheer him up during the walk home. He will make it up to them. He just really, really doesn’t want to be cold this much. At all. Ever. Another few minutes and remorse forces him to take the phone out again, stopping in the middle of the forest and trembling badly as he opens the chat.
Narumi :< 20:29
i didnt mean to irritate you come back to me :((((((((((((((((((((((
Hoshina :( 20:29
we’re waiting for you with hot tea and warm dry clothes
please just focus on coming back
Leno who we don’t deserve but love very much 20:43
I’m sorry
I shouldn’t be like that
I will be at home soon, please take me back?
Leno’s beloved captain 20:44
PLEASE COME BACK I WILL HOLD YOU FOR 3 DAYS STRAIGHT
aw lenoooooo you know how to change names too!!!!
Leno’s beloved vice-captain 20:44
Narumi you really think you’re so much brighter than us?
and you, leno, stop saying nonsense, this is not home without you
Leno’s beloved captain 20:45
^^^^ FOR ONCE THE BOWL CUT IS RIGHT
Leno smiles with numb lips, shoving the phone into the pocket and putting on the glove with trembling fingers. Suddenly, he feels a surge of energy and his step would get bouncy if he wasn’t trudging grotesquely in a way that makes General a fleet doe. But he is coming back home, to a place where warm arms are waiting for him, open and loving. Nothing will stop him.
*
“I wonder if we’re really going to end up stuck in the house,” Narumi mutters from above his console as they watch some detective show together. Or rather, Hoshina is watching and commenting on all the mistakes the protagonist is making, Narumi plays on the other end of the couch but knows what is happening on the screen — and Leno lies there, with his head in Hoshina’s lap and his feet in Narumi’s, dressed in their clothes, after a scalding hot shower. He got hugged and kissed as if he really came back from a polar expedition, his poor fingers kissed enough for blood to come back to them. He got his hair dried by Narumi while Hoshina made him hot tea and now he dozes off already, hugging Hoshina tightly in the middle, purring lowly when Narumi pets his feet through the thick socks when a new location uploads in his game. It is a bliss. Narumi looks up and through the window wistfully. “I hope so. I won’t be able to go to work at all. What a blessing.”
“They’ll send a helicopter for ya, no worries,” Hoshina chuckles. “And they better, we need food.”
“I bought everything,” Leno murmurs sleepily. “We’ll survive.”
“Narumi’ll eat all that tonight,” Hoshina sighs. “What then?”
“We’ll eat you, no big loss,” Narumi says musingly and Hoshina reaches out to swat him on the head.
“I’ll propose Leno, he’s the youngest, will be the most delicious,” Hoshina chuckles, running his fingers through Leno’s hair. “Although he’s a bag of bones, we should fat him up first.”
“I have muscles,” Leno tries to oppose but they cheerfully ignore him.
“Oh, I’ll eat him up with pleasure,” Narumi smirks. “Or out.”
“You can,” Leno mumbles. He is warm and safe. It is so perfect, so wonderful.
“Eat you up or eat you out?” Narumi wants to know and Leno giggles into the t-shirt on Hoshina’s stomach.
“Both,” he says dreamily. “But I also bought all these things you like.”
“We like ya more,” Hoshina says with a smile.
“To eat or to have?” Leno tries to tease back but he slowly falls asleep and it comes out honest and vulnerable.
“We want to hev ya forever. Sleep, I’ll carry ya to bed.”
“He’s so sexy when he does that,” Narumi says with feeling. “Sleep Leno so I can see Sōshirō flex his hot muscles when he picks you up as if you weigh nothing.”
“He does weigh nothin’,” Hoshina points out, smirking. “He doesn’t eat tons of sweets.”
It doesn’t sting because Gen has the body to die for and they all are well aware of this fact.
“Shithead,” Narumi mutters lovingly. “But yeah, sleep, we’ll take care of you, kitten. Tomorrow I’m not letting you sleep, though, we didn’t fuck for two days, and I feel so unloved.”
“You fucked me today,” Hoshina reminds him and Leno hears a grin in his voice.
“Hush, I need to soften him up,” Narumi chuckles.
“You don’t,” Leno says, slipping into a dream. “I miss you, too, Gen. Almost as much as that raisin bun. I’ll buy it next time. It’s waiting for me.”
“What bun?” one of them asks but Leno can’t reply.
He dreams of summer and sand so hot that it burns his feet. He will find some nice holidays for the three of them. Organise everything. Make sure they are happy in a warm, beautiful place. He can show them a few offers to choose from, buy the tickets, find some lovely house there, plan all the trips so they can choose from, and places where they can eat and…