Work Text:
The only sounds in the living room of the Mankai Dorms were the sounds of rain beating against the window, and Itaru, the only other person in the room with him, tapping on his phone. Other than that, Juza could hear the other Mankai members conversing about varying matters. For all he knew, Spring Troupe, minus Itaru, and Summer Troupe were stood on the balcony, watching the ongoing storm. Through the closed window, the clouds were still as dark as ever. Juza couldn't tell if it was still sunset or not. The rain was coming down quickly, and didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon.
Juza turned his head towards Itaru, whose eyes were fixed on his phone screen.
"What are you doing?" Juza asked.
"Playing Sonic 2," Itaru replied, not looking up from his phone screen. Juza assumed he was on the first level, because Emerald Hill Zone's soundtrack was playing quietly from his phone. Itaru playing a video game during a thunderstorm was understandable. This is Itaru. Of course he would do something like this. But, Juza couldn't help but wonder shouldn't Itaru have gotten to one of the later levels by now?
"Why are you still on the first level?" Juza asked, confused.
"Didn't get all the Chaos Emeralds and got the bad ending," Itaru said, bluntly.
Juza raised his eyebrow in confusion.
"So… you reset the game… just because you got the bad ending?" he asked.
"Yep. I've heard that you can get all seven chaos emeralds in the first stage."
"You can do that???"
" I'm not moving onto the next stage until I've found every single Special Zone here– oh, there's another one."
The Emerald Hill Zone soundtrack was quickly replaced by the Special Zone music, and the continuous sound of rings being collected.
Soon, another sound effect played.
"Hell yeah! That's my second chaos emerald!" Itaru cheered, nearly jumping out of his seat, a peal of thunder occurring as if on cue. "Two down, five to go!"
Juza gives Itaru a silent thumbs-up, before he gets up from his seat on the couch, walks towards the kitchen, silently grabs a pudding cup and walks back to the living room, placing it on the table in front of him.
He was about to open it when the door to the courtyard suddenly opened, and somebody stepped into the room. There were no lights on, aside from Itaru's bright phone screen, so Juza couldn't make out who it was in the darkness.
Then they stepped out of the shadows.
He was met with a very tired-looking Banri. The brunette looked like he was about to fall asleep at any moment.
"How long were you up last night?" Juza asked, surprised.
"Until 4 in the morning. I had to help him with the second special zone last night," Banri explained in a voice laden with exhaustion.
Juza turned to Itaru for further explanation, but Itaru silently nodded in return. Suddenly, without warning, Banri unceremoniously flopped onto the couch next to Juza, the dark-haired flinching in return.
Banri was out like a light.
Juza froze. Why was Banri sat next to him specifically? What was he supposed to do?
He turned to Itaru, hoping that he would give him an answer.
"Don't worry, he'll be OK. This has happened more than once," Itaru says.
Well, that's reassuring.
Juza realises he had completely forgotten about his pudding cup. He's about to lean over and open it again when he suddenly feels hands on his right arm. Then he feels something on his shoulder. He freezes up once more. He turns to Itaru again. Instead of looking at his phone screen uninterested like usual, Itaru's paused his game and is now looking at Juza with wide eyes.
"What?" Juza asks, confused.
Itaru silently gestures for him to look beside him.
Juza's gaze drifts from Itaru's surprised face, to whatever was laying on his shoulder.
…Oh.
It was just Banri's head.
Juza relaxed upon seeing this.
…
Wait a damn minute.
His relaxation was short-lived. He whipped his head around to look at Banri. Banri's head was laying on his shoulder. His eyes were closed, and the only movement from him was the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
"What the… Settsu?" Juza asked. A part of him wanted to push Banri away from him, though the other part of him decided against that.
He chose to listen to that other part of him.
Juza turned to Itaru, his eyes screaming for help. Itaru, however, was still staring at Banri. His pink eyes were glimmering in amazement.
"Oh, this is getting interesting ," Itaru said, looking way too happy for a situation like this. He suddenly stood up from his seat. "Don't move. I'm going to tell everyone."
Itaru briskly left the lounge, beaming the entire time, much to Juza's chagrin.
"No, Itaru, don't– Itaru!" Juza exclaimed, but quiet enough that he wouldn't wake Banri.
With a defeated sigh, Juza slumps back in his seat, immediately regretting his decision upon hearing a low, tired grumble from the brunette beside him. Banri shifted a little, before burying his head into the crook of Juza's neck, his grip on his arm growing tighter.
Juza could've sworn he felt his heart explode at the sight. He made a conscious decision that it was now illegal to move from his seat and–
He stopped himself. This was Banri he was thinking about. The annoying, overdramatic, Settsu Banri. He was his rival . The one person in his life that annoyed him to no end.
And yet… he didn't want to wake him up.
The door opens again, and Sakyo walks into the room, confused out of his mind, followed by an equally confused Izumi.
"...Hyodo," Sakyo says, "why is Settsu clinging onto you like that?"
Juza would've shrugged if he could.
"I-I dunno. He just… collapsed on the couch and then suddenly he has his head layin' on my shoulder," Juza stuttered, trying to form an explanation for a situation that he himself, couldn't explain.
"Hey, at least they're not trying to fight each other for once," Izumi remarks, a warm smile on her face. Sakyo briefly pauses, before nodding in agreement. This was a lot more peaceful than their usual interactions.
Suddenly, the rest of Autumn Troupe walks in, followed by Winter Troupe.
"We heard something was happening from Itaru!" Taichi says, before Omi gestures to be quiet. He immediately quietens his voice. "Juza-san, what's going o–"
All the air suddenly leaves Taichi's lungs. The red-haired stares at Juza for a few seconds, then at Banri. Omi, instead of looking surprised, has a smile on his face, much like Izumi.
Azami blinks exactly four times before immediately turning on his heel and leaving the room.
"I'm not getting involved in this," he says. "Especially not after the time Juza came back to the dorms carrying Banri like… that ."
Oh yeah.
Juza still remembered that.
Reminiscing on watching Banri crumple to the floor like a stack of cards still got a kick out of him to this day.
"A-chan, wait!" Taichi says. The door closes. He and Omi exchange glances with one another.
"Well, I guess he's gone," Taichi mutters. Taichi then nearly jumps out of his skin when Azuma starts to speak. Right. He forgot Winter Troupe was here.
"Aw. That's cute," Azuma says, smiling. "This is the first time I've seen Banri like this before."
Once again, Tsumugi nearly jumps a mile as Homare seemingly materialises from nowhere next to him.
"This is a truly fascinating moment. I can already feel the inspiration for my next poem coming to me!" Homare exclaims. Hisoka taps him on the shoulder. Seeming to already get the message, the red-eyed nods and quietly apologizes.
"You get inspiration from everything, don't you?" Tasuku adds, to which Homare responds with an enthusiastic nod.
"Are you Banri's not sick? He doesn't usually act like this…" Hisoka remarks, sounding slightly less sleepy than he usually is.
"I'm sure Banri's fine," Tsumugi replies, smiling.
Azuma notices that the sound of the rain has been gradually slowing.
"I think the storm's stopping," he remarks.
…He is immediately proved incorrect, as it suddenly starts raining heavily again.
"Never mind."
Spring and Summer Troupe are the last to arrive. Kumon's immediate expression is one of pure confusion.
"Kumopi? You good?" Kazunari asks.
Kumon opens his mouth to speak. He then closes it with a defeated sigh. He was about to ask what was the meaning of this, but then realised this wasn't the first time a situation like this had happened, especially when Banri twisted his ankle.
"Does anybody know where Azami is?" Kumon asks, before immediately leaving.
Everybody goes silent.
"...What's up with him?" Itaru asks.
"Don't worry, he's normally like this around Banri," Juza replies.
"I've never seen Banri like this before," Sakuya says. Kazunari moves closer to the front of the crowd, immediately pulling out his phone.
"Yeah! This is even rarer than Tsuzuroon after an all-nighter!" he says.
"Please don't say that," comes the deadpan voice of Tsuzuru beside him.
Sakyo opens his mouth to stop Kazunari upon realising what he's about to do. He immediately closes it as the realisation that there's no point in stopping him now hits him like a brick to the head.
"Hey. Friendly McExtrovert," Yuki begins, "you do realise that the Neo Gangster is going to strangle you if he finds out you're taking pictures of him like this?"
Kazunari goes quiet, his phone nearly slipping from his grasp. He realises that he's made a horrible mistake. Unfortunately, he's made his bed, and now he has to lie in it, no matter how much he doesn't want to.
"Aw, c'mon Yukki. Setzer's not gonna know. Don't worry! Everything's fine!" Kazunari replies, earning a disappointed sigh from Yuki.
Omi steps forward and tries to gently pry Banri off of Juza.
"Banri, you should probably get some sleep if you're this tired," he says.
Banri, instead, grips his arm tighter.
"Mnn… no… wanna stay here…" he mutters.
"Banri, please–"
…Then Banri goes and says something that leaves everyone astounded.
"Wanna stay with Hyodo… he's… pretty cute…"
Everybody's jaws drop.
"Did–" he begins, still trying to process what he just heard. "Did you guys hear that?"
Everybody nods in unison. Juza's face is burning like an inferno.
Tsuzuru walks over to Kazunari.
"Please tell me you didn't record that," he whispers.
"I did."
"Please don't put the photos on tomorrow's blog post."
"I will."
" Please don't ."
After a few more minutes of utter shock and confusion, everybody decides that it'd be best to turn in for the night. Enough has happened already. Itaru and Chikage are tasked with trying to drag Banri back to Room 104.
***
Banri wakes up back in Room 104, completely unaware of what happened last night.
He walks into the lounge, everybody already there.
"Morning, Banri," Itaru says.
"Morning," Banri responds. "...Hey, Itaru. You know how I was pretty tired last night?"
Itaru nods.
"I didn't say or do anything weird, did I?"
Itaru slowly shakes his head. Banri sighs in relief.
"OK, thank God. Well then, might as well check the blog… oh, there's a new post today."
Tsuzuru, who was sitting on the couch, freezes upon heating the words "blog" and "new post". He turned to Kazunari, who was sitting next to him, and mouthed the words "Run. NOW ."
Kazunari immediately got the message, and sprinted out of the lounge.
It seems Banri had already found out about the photos. Banri turns to Itaru, looking like he's about to murder someone.
"Itaru," he says, scarily calm. "...Where's Kazunari?"
Itaru silently points towards the courtyard door. Tsuzuru places his head in his hands. Banri rushes out of it.
" YOU POSTED THEM ?!" he hears Banri shout, above Kazunari screaming.
"I told him not to post the pictures, I told him not to post them…" Tsuzuru mutters, exasperated.
And that was how Kazunari died.