Archive of Our Own

Since their father wasn't home, Shouei's mom had to bring along him and his two younger sisters to the closest convenience store for a quick run.

It had been raining that day, nothing too heavy, just a light drizzle; his mom still insisted for all three of her kids to wear thick raincoats, though. Shouei, ever the good listener for his mom, age eleven, did so without any complaint. He even dressed his younger sisters, ages five and three, in their own raincoats, and went above and beyond and comfortably put beanies on top of their little heads, too.

He was holding their hands as they walked, his mom ahead of the three and checking both ways before she led them to cross the road. They quickly made their way to the nearby convenience store, and there was a bench out front, which Shouei's mom sat his two sisters at before she turned to him.

"Shouei, I'll be inside for just a second to buy some flour for tonight's dinner, okay?" She had crouched to meet Shouei's eye level as she told him, smiling sweetly and yet still a bit worriedly, as any mother would when having to leave her kids outside even for just a second, but she didn't want them to bring in a mess with their soaked shoes. "Stay right here and don't move, and please watch your sisters for me," she added as she stands, starting to step into the store, which had its automated doors already open and waiting. "Again, I'll be quick," she reiterated before disappearing inside.

Shouei stared at the closed doors for only a second before he turned back to his sisters, the two already distracted and playing rock-paper-scissors with one another, for what prize, Shouei doesn't know. He doesn't bother to ask, either, instead having stepped closer and adjusting the collar of the bigger sized raincoat slipping off his youngest sister's shoulders, ensuring that she stays warm out in this weather.

"I wanna play," a sudden, new voice that Shouei doesn't recognize piped in, quiet and sounding closer to that of a whimper. Shouei immediately whipped his head to check, and what he saw wasn't much to be considered of a threat, so he relaxed.

There was a boy with a white mop for hair sitting in a sopping wet cardboard box, which was starting to melt from how long it had been sitting in the rain. The boy, himself, was also soaked, which spoke a lot for how long he had been sitting there, as it's only been drizzling all day today instead of the rain being serious downfall. He looked to be no older than Shouei, but that was a guess more than anything else, as he had extremely long, messy bangs that cut just above his reddened nose, so Shouei couldn't really see his face at all.

But he knew that the boy was watching, because he had asked to join his younger sisters' game, the two having also turned to see who spoke. Before they could say anything, though, Shouei stepped forward first, closer to the boy, and said, "You can play with me." It wasn't as if Shouei wanted to play with the mysterious boy, but he certainly didn't want this stranger to play with his younger sisters, which he knew were kind hearted enough to have easily accepted the kid's request.

The boy took no notice to Shouei's caution, however, instead just standing and walking towards him, his hands already outstretched to play. Shouei now could note how the boy was short, many inches moreso than Shouei's own height. His clothes looked to be a size too small, too, but since the boy was so skinny, they still fit him comfortably enough.

Shouei doesn't say anything else. He conceded and, albeit reluctantly, played rock-paper-scissors with the seemingly eager but still quiet boy. He clicked his tongue when he lost in the first round, dropping his paper to his side.

The boy doesn't smile at his win, but he does make a sniping motion with his scissors, obviously proud. "Scissors always wins for me," he murmured, quiet, cocky, and mainly to himself.

Shouei opened his mouth, ready to say 'again' and demand a rematch, until the convenience store's automatic doors opened again, and out walked his mom.

"Shouei?" She asked, clear confusion in her tone as she held a newly purchased pouch of flour, her eyes darting between her son and the random, disheveled, other boy standing in front of her. "Who's this?"

"I 'unno," Shouei mumbled with a shrug, tilting his head up to answer his mom properly. "He was already here before we came," he answered, watching from the corner of his eyes at how the boy nervously rubbed at the back of his neck now that a new person's showed up, a grown adult at that.

"He was?" His mom parroted, before turning to the boy and addressing him directly. "You were? Oh, sweetheart, you're trembling..." she softly cooed as she handed Shouei the flour, who took it without a word, before she then crouched in front of the boy, reaching forward and grabbing onto his shaking hands and squeezing them for warmth. "Where do you live? You need to take a hot bath when you get home, honey, lest you want to catch a cold in this weather."

The boy stood silent for a long moment, and Shouei's mom couldn't read his expression or where his eyes were glancing at because of his bangs. Just when she thought he was purposefully refusing to answer her question, for whatever personal reasons he had, the boy then mumbled, "Box."

"Box?" She repeated, her eyes slightly widened and voice both confused and startled.

"My home," he answered a bit more clearly this time. He turned his head back, and Shouei's mom followed his line of vision, both now staring down a soaking wet cardboard box, clearly worn out from how it's lost its sharp angles and edges. 

Shouei's mom stared wordlessly, from his 'home' back to him, waiting for the boy to continue, but he doesn't. He just rubbed his nose as he sniffled, which made her realize he won't speak without more goading. "How long have you... 'lived' there, sweetheart?" She asked slowly.

The boy shrugged his shoulders a bit limply, like he didn't bother to think too much on it. He doesn't give her a definitive, or even less than that, a vague, answer, before he continued to say something else entirely. "I wish it wassa hammock, but it not bad."

Right as those words left the boy's lips, though, there's an audible slosh noise sounding from behind him, and both he and her turn their eyes again to catch the exact moment that his cardboard box folds in on itself from how much water damage it had been through. It now laid in a sad, wet pile of brown paper.

"...Whatta hassle." The boy pouted. "I don't got insurance."

Shouei's mom felt a tug at her heartstrings at how the boy spoke without emotion to any one of his words, as if this is the life he's truly lived up to this point. She almost felt as if she found a baby chick by its lonesome self, and as a mother hen herself, how could she leave him behind?

"Well," she started to say, offering him a kind smile as she reached a hand up and cupped the boy's cold cheek, hoping something as small as her palm can provide the freezing boy warmth. "While your box was very nice, dear, do you think you'd like to come with us to our home?" She asked with a sweet and caring hilt to her voice, and she can see how the small boy tilted his head to glance over her shoulder and look to her three kids, all still silently watching. "It'll warm you right up, we'll get you some better clothes and a homecooked dinner, and you can rest there however long you want, whether on a bed, or we can set you up your very own hammock. How does that sound, sweetheart?"

Shouei's mom knew that this was a serious choice she was making and bringing under her roof, having to care for a fourth child, whether temporarily or not. But, as she watched the boy slowly turn his head back to her, and shyly nod his head in agreeance, she realized that she would happily take the responsibility.

And she knew it was the right one, because then, her oldest son steps forward, and he doesn't hesitate as he takes the smaller boy's hand in his. "Make sure you don't let go," Shouei said to him, already comfortable enough to lecture the other, like the caring older brother he's grown to be. 

The boy shyly nodded again, and on Shouei's other hand, his sister grabbed ahold of it, while she, also, held onto the youngest sister's hand with her other. The four children formed a diligent line, all ready to head home, looking up to their mom, waiting for her to lead the way. The walk back home felt quicker than it did when they first made it to the convenience store, even as they had an additional member to the family.

But, Shouei's mom did have to jog back when she realized in the spur of the moment, Shouei had forgotten and left the flour she'd just bought on the bench, the entire reason why they left home.

That night, for the first time in however long, the boy had a warm bath, a warm meal, and a warm bed to sleep in. The next day Shouei's mom would deal with the legality of this oddly found situation, and if it were true that the boy had no other family to lean on for support, she and her children would gladly accept him into their household.

At the boy's own request, he kept his last name, and while he wasn't a "Barou" on paper, he was still and forever more will be a part of the Barou family.

Shouei doesn't hate the idea of having a new brother, actually, even if he is adopted. He's never held that kind of bias in his heart, never held a scale between the boy and his sisters for something as trivial as biological connection; they were all his siblings, and he believed that with all of who he is as a person. All he really cares about now, all that matters, is that there will be a second son in this household to help care after his mother and two sisters, since their father wasn't man enough to take that role.

Seven years had passed since the day that Seishiro had joined their family, and as it turns out, he's worse to care after than Shouei's overworked mom, two younger sisters, and even his senile grandma, all combined.

The boy, whom Shouei found out is a year younger than him, is incredibly lazy and immature. The two brothers ended up sharing a room, which Seishiro never actually cares after, and left the duty entirely to Shouei, who does so only because he hates to live in a messy room, and with many complaints. Seishiro barely did any chores and he always whined over the littlest problems and made it everyone else's issue, especially to Shouei; the one thing Seishiro is good at is raising the phone bill with how chronically addicted he was, ever since he received a phone for his birthday when he turned twelve.

Shouei grunts, making himself mad just by recounting how life has been with Seishiro for seven years straight. Even now, he's standing outside of Seishiro’s high school— Hakuho, since Seishiro decided to attend a different, more prestigious high school than Shouei— leaning against the front entrance as he waits for his younger brother. The two have been walking home together, as per his mom's request, from school; Shouei never disobeyed anything his mom asked of him, so he did so every day without fail, tuning out Seishiro every time he whined for a piggyback ride.

Today, however, Seishiro is taking way longer than he normally does to meet up, which is odd since the boy always rushed to get home from the "pain that school was"— his words, not Shouei's. He taps his foot against the ground repeatedly, his already thin patience growing thinner. Seishiro's screentime per week is practically in the triple digits from how much he's on the phone, and yet he can't manage to respond to a single one of Shouei's texts or any of his calls?

Thirty minutes have already passed; it must mean that Seishiro fell asleep in class and somehow slept through the final bell, and also had a teacher who hated his guts as final period, since they didn't wake their own student up. The hypothetical is almost relatable; Shouei would understand the teacher for not wanting to deal with the painman that Seishiro is, if only that choice wasn't also affecting his own time. Shouei decides that if he has to wait until an hour passes, he'll go and personally search for Seishiro, and when he finds him, he'll beat his ass for having his phone on Do-Not-Disturb despite their mom and Shouei himself saying not to for the millionth time. How could that bastard even consider notifications to be a hassle?

And when it does near an hour later, Shouei cracks his knuckles and pockets his phone, turning on his heel, ready to storm the school from top to bottom just to find Seishiro and finally knock some sense into that empty skull of his.

But, right as he turns, he sees the wanted man himself running straight for him, which freezes Shouei in place, because he's never seen Seishiro run before— the only time he can say he ever did was when Seishiro sluggishly lunged for him when Shouei tried to eat the last slice of a lemon cake their mom brought home, the fatass.

"Shouei," Seishiro wheezes as he stands in front of his brother, actively breaking into a sweat, and Shouei's eyes bulge at the ludicrous sight, because since when did Seishiro exert any effort ever? "I want to play soccer."

Shouei blinks, taking a long moment to himself to process everything that suddenly happened in just a few seconds. Is this even Seishiro, the one he's known and lived with for the past seven years at this point? Shouei's played soccer ever since he was six years old, and Seishiro joined his life when he was eleven, and personally saw for himself the passion Shouei had alight for those seven years together. Never once did Seishiro show any interest in the sport, not during his tournaments, not while it was playing on TV, and especially not when Shouei would talk to him about his aspiration of proving himself as King.

The white haired boy takes his stunned silence as rejection, so he breathily, still sounding exhausted from what little exercise he did, adds in, "I fell in love."

"...With soccer?" Shouei asks, a single one of his eyebrows raising in confusion, with his other one furrows deeply. He's a bit pissed off, honestly, because what could Seishiro have possibly seen or done in the hour he had alone that suddenly made him fall in love with the sport, if Shouei's raw talent and hard working dedication didn't inspire him?

"No." Seishiro shakes his head. "With a boy."

Shouei short-circuits. First, he had the shock of Seishiro not being active on his phone and staying in school longer than necessary, but then he saw the boy make an effort into running and actually breaking into a sweat because of it, and now he's finding out that Seishiro— who has never showed interest in any person ever— is in love with someone, and a boy at that? Since when was his brother a homosexual?! Up until now, Shouei was entirely convinced that Seishiro would be buried in his casket just him and his phone!

"What?" Shouei chokes out, speechless, at a loss for words, completely and utterly flabbergasted. 

Now, Shouei never has been and never will be a bigot, he most certainly doesn't have a problem with the LGBTQ+ community. Don't get him wrong, the disgust he's feeling boil in his stomach has nothing to do with the fact that his brother's first love is a boy, but actually has everything to do with the fact that Seishiro is in love with anyone, period.

That lovestrucken expression the other boy has on his stupid face— wide, sparkling eyes, bigger than they already unnaturally were so, and a slightly flushed face from both exertion and fluster— makes Shouei grimace at the unfamiliar sight. He didn't even know Seishiro had the capability of making such a face that isn't simple neutrality.

"He has a beautiful smile—" was Seishiro actually going to lovingly ramble about the boy, the same brother Shouei's known to even consider digesting a hassle?— "I almost couldn't breathe when I first saw it, and he was smiling because of me. He told me he liked me, and wants to have a future with me."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean? You got confessed to today?" He steadily asks instead of vomiting everywhere, and kudos to him for holding back the bile roaring in his stomach. "Who the fuck would ever fall in love with you? Is he blind?"

Seishiro frowns at that, his glimmering eyes narrowing into a sharp glare. "He isn't blind," he says in defense of the boy. "And it's true. We even played soccer after school, just now."

That part confused Shouei, not as if everything before that didn't, but it just didn't seem to add up with Seishiro's narrative. "When was soccer added into the mix?" Could that be why Seishiro seemed so exhausted earlier, why he hadn't been responding to his phone? Was he genuinely invested in a sport, of all things? Shouei truly thought the only sport Seishiro would ever become passionate about would be some nerdy shit like a mobile game tournament.

Seishiro lightly shrugs, clearly not having taken too much thought about the correlation between love and soccer, himself. "That's why he likes me," he answers simply. "We're going to become the best in the world together. That's the future he wants for us."

There's a lot happening for Shouei right now. He wants to puke at the sight and sound of his brother being hopelessly in love from meeting a boy just once today, he wants to scoff at the idea of someone, in turn, falling in love with this annoyance for a human being, he wants to cackle at the idea of the overgrown sloth becoming interested in a physically taxing activity like soccer, he even wants to question the legitimacy to Seishiro's story, but—

But, Seishiro smiles very shyly then, and Shouei's never seen his brother smile, not even on the day when his family officially adopted him.

"We're going on a date tomorrow," he softly says, and Shouei can hear genuine adoration in his tone. "We're going to pick out some cleats for me, and he's paying. I looked up everything by there, and saw that there was a candied fruit shop. It'd be romantic to eat there together, right?"

All Shouei can do, honestly, is sigh.

"Yeah, that'd be romantic."

1.

The very next day, Shouei, as punctual as always, leaves home sharp at 6AM and returns at 9, that being his daily routine of hitting the gym every morning. At this time of his return, his mom should be getting ready for work, and since it's Saturday, his sisters will still be asleep since they had no school. That obviously included Seishiro, too, but his brother was never the early riser even on school days, Shouei actually had to force him awake every morning. Their sisters would be asleep by choice, Seishiro would be asleep by bad habit.

So, imagine Shouei's surprise when he walks into their shared room, expecting to quietly grab some clothes to change into for his long awaited shower, and instead is facing a very obviously awake Seishiro.

Who, for whatever fucking reason, is currently ransacking his closet, throwing his clothes carelessly onto the floor behind him.

Seishiro actually acknowledges his presence, as Shouei could only just stand there in silence from the shock of the sight before him, and has the audacity to complain. "Why do you have no good clothes? It's all leather jackets in here, this guy really thinks he's him..." He grumbles out that last part to himself.

Shouei swears that the heat he felt burning calories at the gym couldn't compare to the heat of the steam rushing out his ears. He storms forward and harshly yanks Seishiro back by the shoulder, the bastard still wearing that stupidly neutral expression he always has on as he moves his eyes to look at Shouei directly. "What the fuck do you think you're doing in my shit?" Shouei whisper-screams, not wanting to wake their sisters or scare their mom.

"I'm looking for clothes," Seishiro calmy says back, although his eyebrow does slightly twitch. "Can't you tell?"

"You actually want to die today, shithead?" Shouei deadpans, his face contorting into a quiet fury. "The fuck do you need my clothes for? Buy your own shit, you fucking bumass donkey."

Seishiro actually pouts at that, his expression grows softer and his eyes glaze the same way they did before, and— oh, so that's what this is about, Shouei realizes then. "I don't have time, because my date is today," Seishiro confesses, which Shouei could've already guessed before he said so. 

He can vaguely remember Seishiro mentioning something like that the day before, but he didn't think he'd actually go through with it. Really, in what world would Seishiro actually wake up early and carefully choose an outfit on a day out with another person, and all with romantic intentions?

This world, he supposes, since Seishiro continues without any further goading from Shouei. "Nothing in my closet feels special enough. 'I paused my game to be here' and 'Eat, sleep, game, repeat' don't feel like boyfriend material."

Shouei grimaces at the memory of those horrible shirts Seishiro owned, almost a bit thankful that Seishiro had at least some self-awareness to know to not wear those out on a first date— which Shouei's still doubtful is even real, whether that being the hangout being labeled as a proper date or even just the stranger boy in question really being in love with his younger brother.

He groans, because right now, he just really, really wants to shower and clean up this horrible mess after. Shouei stomps forward towards Seishiro's closet, which also had its own doors open and clothes thrown everywhere. It takes him a minute to search through the horrible fashion taste that this creature for a human had, before he then grabs an article of clothing, turns, and shoves it into Seishiro's chest.

"Wear this," he grumbles, as Seishiro glances down and takes it into his hands properly.

It's a beige colored cardigan, a simple outside layer to put on top of, say, a shirt or even a thin sweater. In all honesty, it doesn't help Seishiro's dilemma much if even at all, as he glances up and looks back to Shouei's still seething eyes.

"I'm not lending you my clothes, as I don't want to be forced to burn them after," Shouei sharply hisses out, which causes Seishiro's frown to tighten and eyes to narrow. But, the older brother then continues with, "Plus, you like this guy, don't you? Do you really want to show up to your first date in clothes that aren't even yours? Be yourself, or don't show up at all, you dense piece of shit."

With that, Shouei walks passed Seishiro, purposefully shoving his shoulder with his own as he does, grabs a change of clothes, and heads to take a shower. He's never been the type to take long ones, always worrying about the water bill even though his mom insists that he didn't have to, so only around, give or take, fifteen minutes pass before he steps out again, clean and dry.

But, he freezes in place for the second time today when he walks out to see Seishiro sitting on his bed, fully dressed and texting on his phone, only tilting his head up when he hears the door open. Shouei actually wants to choke the guy out, because while he gave his brother a speech about showing up as yourself for your date, he didn't mean wear your butt ugly 'mendoukasai' shirt under the cardigan he chose.

"Shouei," Seishiro says immediately at the sight of his older brother, "I need a ride. It'd be uncool to ask him for a ride on our first date."

A vein pops on his forehead. "Then get your own fucking license or just walk like any other normal person would, you shitty, lazy leech."

And, yet, despite his bitter words, Shouei clicks his tongue and nods his head for Seishiro to follow, slipping on shoes as the two of them walked out the house towards their mom's car parked outside. She had another twenty minutes before she had to leave for work, but they'll be quick.

They seat and buckle themselves quickly as Seishiro tells Shouei the address of the fabled date, which is a familiar spot in the older's memory, so they start to drive off without any further delay, as Shouei had no need for GPS routing. He doesn't know how Seishiro manages to stay glued to his phone the entire trip without getting motion sick, but he doesn't look up once, so Shouei just assumes he's texting the other boy that he's on his way.

Soon enough, though, Seishiro's phone volume breaks through the silence, a video of sorts playing aloud. Shouei doesn't pay it any mind, as he keeps his attention on the road and making the trip as short as possible.

When they do stop at a red light, though, and the only sound Shouei can process clearly is Seishiro's annoyingly loud video, he can't help but listen. It's human nature to tap into any noises happening nearby, no matter how little Shouei cared about Seishiro's business.

"To french kiss someone, first move in closer, then tilt your head to the side a little bit, so that you're ready to kiss them."

What the fuck? Shouei's eye twitches as he slowly tilts his head, his eyes darting from the red light to Seishiro and back repeatedly.

"Close your eyes—" Shouei watches in horror as Seishiro actually tilts his head and flutters his eyes shut, facing his phone that's obviously tuned into a fucking tutorial video— "and start with some gentle—"

"What are you watching!?" Shouei shouts, lifting off his seat as he yelled so loud and sudden that Seishiro physically flinched.

His younger brother's phone slips out of his hand before he hastily grabs it again and pauses the video, having the audacity to turn to Shouei and shoot him a nasty glare. "I'm watching a video and I'm trying to practice for my first date," he heaves, sounding startled from Shouei taking notice of him, as if he didn't literally ask the other to drive him. It's also the first time Shouei's ever seen that little shit flinch, meaning he was really caught off guard.

The light turns green and Shouei practically slams on the gas pedal, now feeling more desperate than ever to get this hopeless, disgusting creature out of his sight lest he throws a punch at him. "You didn't think to watch that before we got into the car!?" 

"I did," Seishiro grumbles with a small humph to his tone. "I just have to rewatch to make sure I really understand. I can't mess it up."

"Nobody kisses on the first date, you fucking freak," Shouei barks out, abruptly stopping the car as he swerves into a parking space, still managing to line up perfectly despite his rush. Seishiro looks out the window as he realizes they're here. "Don't even fucking think about it, you're going to scare this poor bastard off. Even a blind person would get jumpscared if they got that close to your ugly mug."

Seishiro doesn't reply, clearly not agreeing with Shouei, but also not disagreeing. He leaves the car without another word, still sane enough to not slam the door behind him, adjusting his cardigan on his shoulders before he turns to Shouei. He assumes he'll get the Seishiro special of being sent off with a peace sign instead of a wave goodbye, but instead, Seishiro—

That fucking donkey shit throws his middle finger up at Shouei before he quickly turns and skedaddles.

Shouei immediately reverses the car and drives off, because if he stays within the same vicinity of that fucker for another moment, he'll actually jump out of the car and kill him before his date gets the chance to if Seishiro tried to put his lips on that man. He doesn't spare a second to think how this was his chance to cop a look at Seishiro's supposed new 'partner,' too pissed off to think about anything else except how he's going to log into Seishiro's game accounts and use all his gacha rolls on stupid shit the second he gets back home.

2.

It's not until the next day that Shouei hears any word about the date Seishiro had gone on, since the other immediately fell asleep the second he got home. Shouei doesn't know how he got back, and he doesn't care, quite frankly, still peeved by the visual 'fuck you' Seishiro gave him.

He doesn't talk to Seishiro directly, not because he's acting petty enough to give him the silent treatment, but more because he didn't want to be around the other when he finally finds out what Shouei's done to his beloved Gender Impact game or whatever it was called. Does that mean, for once in Seishiro's life, he missed doing his daily quests for that addiction he holds towards the game? Love really does make people go crazy, Shouei supposes.

He's walking from his room— which surprisingly was just him alone chilling with no sloth in a coma to be found— to the kitchen to grab a snack, when he hears lively chatter and giggling across the hallway. He pauses and turns his head, realizing it's coming from his sisters' shared room. Curiously, he steps closer and knocks softly before he then opens the door slightly, peeking into the scene.

"You made vows together? That's so romantic!" Tsuyuko, twelve years old, squeals, sitting up straight with her legs hanging over her bed.

"What's a vow?" Kyoka, ten years old and the youngest in the household, asks, sitting on her own bed across the room.

Shouei's eyes then trail down and find the missing sloth, who's sitting criss crossed on the floor with his back against Tsuyuko's bed and head laid back against her lap, several small hairclips of many different girly designs and even small ribbons tied into his strikingly white hair. "It's what you say to your spouse when you get married," he answers nonchalantly, although he couldn't hide the way his face is flushed a dusty pink as he speaks.

Shouei holds back from saying 'what the fuck is happening here?' since he's within earshot of his sisters. Instead, he steps further into the room, catching the attention of his siblings as he grumbles out, "What's this I'm hearing about marriage?" He shoots Seishiro a sharp glare as he says so, growing agitated at the ideas he's putting in their younger sisters' heads. "Never in your life should you ever exchange vows on a first date, much, much less get married."

Tsuyuko and Kyoka pout and deflate a bit, as if their fun gossiping session were ruined now that their oldest brother found out, but Seishiro doesn't back down so quickly. "We're not married yet," he corrects, opening his eyes from the relaxed state he was previously in and lazily glancing towards Shouei. "He just proposed to me."

Shouei sputters. "Proposed? Oh, he just proposed to you?" His voice raises slightly as he sarcastically asks, throwing his hands up, irritated. "How could you possibly think that's a normal thing to happen?"

At that, though, Tsuyuko cuts in with a defensive tone and squinted eyes. "Because they're both boys it's not normal?" She pointedly asks.

"What?" Shouei's stupefied by such a sudden allegation, his head and widened eyes whipping towards Tsuyuko.

"Anyone can love anyone," Kyoka then pipes in, too, nodding her head resolutely as she also looks to Shouei with a squinted stare and her nose pinches up like a rabbit's. "Boys and girls, girls and girls, boys and boys, and even me and my prince," she childishly adds in last second, lifting up one of her plushes which is a duck with a crown before planting a kiss to its forehead.

"No," Shouei immediately cuts back in as he looks to Kyoka, shaking his head before he then pinches the space between his eyes. "That is not normal—"

"So you are homophobic!" Tsuyuko accuses again, more sharply this time.

Seishiro then sighs, also sounding disappointed. "The King of Homophobia." 

Shouei can feel a pounding headache impending, but he reigns it back, loudly groaning and silencing all three of them as he looks back up with a tight frown. "Knock it off, all of you," he coldly chastises. "I don't care if Seishiro is dating a boy. My point is that under no circumstances should you be getting married to someone you've only been on one date with. You don't know that person well enough to dedicate your life to them that quickly, it's not safe." He scolds while holding eye contact between his two sisters, making sure that before anything else, they understand that.

Luckily, they do drop their heads and quietly listen to every one of his words, obviously now getting the point he was originally trying to make.

Then, he glances back to the main problem of all this, who's comfortably looking back to Shouei as if he were completely innocent. "So," he starts off slowly, not bothering to hide the bite in his voice. "How did you get to the point of exchanging vows in the first place? What even happened on that date?"

Seishiro's eyes slightly widen at being asked that, a glimmer of excitement flickering in those stupidly big bug eyes. "Remember when you asked me what was the correlation of soccer and our relationship two days ago?" Seishiro starts to ramble, making Shouei regret ever asking. "I decided to ask him about it yesterday. He told me I was amazing, and to make a vow to never stop playing soccer with him, to never give up. Then, he kneeled, and gave me my candied apple that I dropped. He proposed, right in front of everyone, like in a movie. I would've preferred a ring, but the apple was still yummy."

Shouei slowly exhales through his nose. He tunes out how Tsuyuko's squeals again just from Seishiro recounting the story, and Kyoka's giggles as if she were being tickled. He's standing in a room full of hopeless romantics, who are blind to the reality of the story Seishiro just laid out.

"Yuko, Yoka," Shouei calls out to his sisters, who both turn their heads and look to him curiously. He fears that if none of them, even Seishiro at the big age of seventeen, could recognize how his narrative wasn't entirely matching the 'love' story he was trying to tell, then he had no choice but to ban romance entirely. "Neither of you are allowed to date until you turn eighteen."

Then, Shouei turns and walks out, closing the door behind him and ignoring how his sisters cry out in tyranny. Hopefully Seishiro soon enough comes to his senses and realizes that in no way shape or form can he be considered an engaged man, but Shouei is certainly not in any mood to be the one who tells him right now. His younger brother will find out sooner than later; after all, this is a huge misunderstanding to be happening between two people, and soon enough it'll be brought to attention by a slip of a tongue or even by a blatant mention in conversation, and Seishiro will realize his mistake when the other boy corrects him, finally.

3.

Weeks counting up to very few months have passed since then, and the name Reo has been spoken around the household more times than Shouei can blink in one day.

Reo, Seishiro Nagi's fiancé.

At this point, Shouei's given up. Does he believe that their so-called engagement is legitimate or, much less, a mutually agreed upon verbal contract? No, he'd lie and say Seishiro was a better soccer player than him before he'd ever consider the engagement to be even slightly real.

But, on a smaller scale, does he believe that his younger brother truly does hold romantic feelings towards Reo, his favorite word and person for these past months? Absolutely, without a doubt, irritably so. He can say all this for certain because Seishiro himself won't give him peace of mind.

Seishiro had always been the quiet type in all the years that he's lived under the Barou roof, not because he was uncomfortable in any way, but simply because it was who he was as a person.

Nowadays, though, Shouei can almost swear that he's personally fabricated those seven years of memories, because the Seishiro he's lived with these recent past weeks isn't quiet, ever.

"Reo offered to give me a piggyback ride today, I didn't even ask him for one, it's like he could read my mind. I don't know why he needs to read my mind when all I ever think about is him, though, but I did really love being carried by him. I love how his neck smells, too."

"Today, we stopped our bike ride home after school for a small break, sitting on the grass by the river. Reo was playing a game on my phone, and then Reo wrapped his arms around my neck. My heart was beating so fast, I had to close my eyes and enjoy the breeze, to calm down enough and make sure I didn't become Nagi of the Dead."

Reo this, Reo that, Reo, Reo, Reo. Shit, at this point, it's as if Shouei himself is the one obsessed with Reo considering how he practically knows everything about the guy, all against his own will, anyway.

The only odd thing— ignoring Seishiro's existence in itself— about the entire situation is how Shouei actually hasn't seen the boy's face once, he doesn't even know his first name. He did, at one point, think that Reo was an odd family name, but there was no way Seishiro and him were already on a first name basis; 'engaged' or not— more likely not—, even some married couples struggle with using first names.

Seishiro's no help, either; on the extremely rare case that Shouei actually contributes to his addiction of talking about Reo and asks 'so what does he look like?' Seishiro unhelpfully responds: 'pretty,' 'beautiful,' 'handsome,' or even something cringe like 'color itself,' or worst of all, he'll say every compliment at once.

He is at least a little bit grateful towards Reo for uplifting the grueling task he had of walking home with Seishiro after school everyday, now Seishiro instead bike rides back with Reo, or gets dropped off by Reo's 'limousine.' Shouei isn't even sure what Seishiro means by that, did he not say that the 'Reo Limousine' was a piggyback ride? Is this Reo guy actually dedicated enough to carry that tub of lard home on his back?

Maybe opposites don't attract and instead alikeness does, because if that's true, they're truly a match between batshit crazy and fucking insanity. 

Today's Saturday, and since nationals are coming up soon, Shouei's been taking time out of his Saturdays for him and his soccer team to practice drills at their school's field. He's walking home from just that, glad to have at least some hours of his day away from Seishiro's constant yapping about the supposed love of his life. 

He unlocks the front door to the house and locks it behind him, neatly stacking his shoes at the rack by the entrance before he heads for his and Seishiro's room. Shouei intends to quickly and quietly grab a pair of clothes to change into after his shower— déjà vu— and sneak off before Seishiro realizes he's returned home. But, there's no need to, as Seishiro's sitting at his computer with his headphones on, and he's talking to himself, which isn't anything new, as he'd always mumble stuff like 'die' and 'headshot' under his breath. 

"You can't use a Pyro character against a Pyro mage, Reo." Seishiro then says, which freezes Shouei in place before he could walk out of earshot.

That is new.

"Reo?" Shouei can't help but repeat, immediately whipping back to face Seishiro, who, in turn, spins around in his chair when he hears Shouei's voice. "As in the Reo? That Reo?"

"You're back?" Seishiro instead asks back with an obvious groan to his voice, his shoulders deflating.

Shouei feels a vein pop, but he doesn't get distracted by his fury, muting it behind the relevation that Reo is present right here in this moment, even if it is through a headphone set. He steps forward and stops just by Seishiro's side, who watches unamused with a lazy glare, but doesn't outright say anything or even bother to try and kick Shouei out the room. 

"You're in a call with Reo right now?" Shouei probes again, pointing to Seishiro's headphones.

Seishiro stares back at him silently, and Shouei for a second wonders if this guy had been talking to Reo in his head just now, because he would be that type of freak, wouldn't he? But, then, Seishiro turns back to face his monitor and says, "Mhm, that's my older brother. Yeah, the one who used all my primogems on 153 Acquaint Fates."

Did this fucker just ignore him to respond to Reo?

"No, it is bad, Reo, because the Standard Banner is useless to spend Primogems on. It's better to use it on limited time banners." Seishiro continues to ramble, now ignoring Shouei's existence entirely to chat about Gender Impact's mechanics with the other boy. His expression softens as he listens to whatever Reo was replying back with, before he then murmurs, "Mm. Thank you for buying it all back for me, again."

There's just no fucking way. Shouei suddenly reaches forward and grabs Seishiro's headphones straight off his head, not only ignoring the fact that Reo likely spent thousands of yen for Seishiro on a stupid game, but also ignoring the huge headphone dent Seishiro had that likely curved into his skull, as he places the headphones on himself. Seishiro immediately startles when Shouei does so, standing straight from his chair with widened eyes, but he doesn't grab for it back.

"This Reo?" Shouei asks into the microphone, 

"Hello?" There's a smooth voice that replies back, not sounding as startled as Seishiro looked to be, but still also sounding surprised at the sudden change in who he's talking to. It sounds as if he composes himself quickly, though, because he then continues with, "This is Barou, right? Nagi's older brother?" He then laughs, excited and cheery. "It's nice to meet you! From the fact that you know my name, I'm guessing Nagi's talked about me before? All good things, I hope!"

"Does he talk about you?" Shouei's stuck on that one part, his face scrunching up at the hundreds upon hundreds of times Seishiro's talked about Reo; this guy doesn't even know the half of it. "When doesn't he talk about you—?"

That's when Seishiro grabs his headphones, and Shouei's stunned at the sight of his brother actually blushing, his face coloring a hot red, that he doesn't fight back. Seishiro quickly places the headphones back on himself, directly onto his dent, as he whines out, "Reo, don't talk to him. He's bad at soccer and homophobic."

Shouei seethes, his own face coloring red, but unlike Seishiro's ugly mug, it's from pure and utter fury. "You've got some fucking nerve, you just started playing, you piece of shit!" He shouts as he grabs Seishiro by the collar of his hoodie, who's looking less embarrassed now that the attention's moved from himself to Shouei's crash out, the rat bastard. "Don't ever fucking try to call me bad, I'll beat your ass, you good-for-nothing lowlife!"

"So he is homophobic?" Reo then pipes in, which Shouei can only faintly catch onto since he's gotten up closer to Seishiro and thus his headphones, sounding a bit cheeky.

"I told you, Reo," Seishiro sighs as he says. "The King of Bigotry." 

Shouei grunts as he shoves Seishiro back into his chair, deciding that he's too sweaty and enraged to deal with this any longer; he's only letting it slide since he could hear the teasing nature in Reo's small voice, meaning he knows Seishiro's rage-baiting Shouei, and there's no point in arguing to save his dignity from a pair of trolls. He clicks his tongue as he turns around, barking out, "Don't tell people that shit, you know it's not true, I'll seriously kill you if I find out you're spreading fake shit about me, asshole." He looks to his bed, where he had thrown his clothes aside in the heat of the moment.

Seishiro and, by accompany, Reo, ignore Shouei's threat. When he tilts his head, glancing over his shoulder, all he sees is how his brother already has his chair swiveled to face his monitor properly again, hands on his keyboard, immersed into his own world in the split second Shouei diverted his attention away. Shouei's eye twitches at the sight. Did that bum really piss him off because he knew Shouei would leave him alone if he did?

"Reo, follow me. Mhm, you can pick these up, I don't mind if it's from my world. They're rainbow roses, and they're for you. ...Um, yeah, they can be used to level up characters, too, I guess."

Shouei grimaces. He collects his thrown aside clothes in his hands, deciding that Seishiro wins this one little round; he didn't want to be in the same proximity much less room as these pathetic attempts at flirting, so he'll leave. Right as he turns to the door, though, he barely is able to hear Seishiro murmur something along the lines of 'I hope one day the devs code hand holding into co-op,' which pushes him to leave all the more eagerly and quickly.

4.

Only about a week or two pass from that day, and currently it's half an hour passed midnight, way later than Shouei's designated sleeping hour— no, he's not going to call it his fucking bedtime, it's self-imposed and obviously meant to regulate his health by making sure he gets proper hours of rest. He's lying in bed on his side facing the wall, his back to his brother's bed set across the room.

Shouei's setting up his alarms and has his phone charging into the outlet by his wall, about to turn off his phone and finally get some shut eye before it then vibrates in his hand. 

Painman 12:39

IMG_1653.png

Shouei gives in and humors Seishiro, opening the text without much delay. He just wants to sleep right now, and if he ignores the text, his brother could literally just walk over to him and pester him until he opens it, which is something he's done before. It doesn't mean he's any bit happy about it, what the fuck could this picture be that is so important it couldn't wait until morning?

...It's a screenshot of Seishiro's favorite anime. Before he could even begin to question what this at all had to do with Shouei, Seishiro sends another message

Painman 12:39

IMG_1653.png

me and Reo

Shouei 12:40

I don't give a fuck.

Painman 12:40

Reo's reri and im bonobono

Shouei 12:40

What part of "I don't give a fuck" didn't click for you?

Painman 12:41

IMG_1635.png

this is also me and Reo

Shouei 12:42

No the fuck it is not.

Those are plushes.

That is not you and Reo.

Painman 12:42

bro doesnt recognize sanrio

theyre literally me and Reo

Reo is kuromi and im cinnamoroll

Shouei 12:43

What are you supposed to be, that bunny?

As if.

What the fuck even is that second thing.

Looks like a demon spawn.

That fits you more.

Painman 12:44

youre such a simpleton that its a pain

first of all cinnamoroll is a dog

and kuromi is a bunny

second of all its literally me and Reo

Shouei 12:45

You are pushing 20 years old. You are 6'3.

Painman 12:45

and im cutesy like that

you dont know me

you know what is me tho

me and Reo

IMG_1616.png

Reo would love me if i were a worm

Shouei has blocked Painman.

5.

Today is a big day.

Tsuyuko and Kyoka were dressed in some of their best outfits and had done each other's hair, even despite the fact that they were going nowhere outside of the house. And while Shouei didn't match their enthusiasm and glee exactly, he did understand why their nerves were heightened.

Reo, the Reo, is coming over today.

The same boy who's name has been said by Seishiro more times than he's said both 'what a hassle' or 'it's a pain' combined. The same boy who everyone in the household, even their mom, know of; they'd all probably be able to answer a questionnaire all about Reo with how much they know about him through Seishiro.

The same boy who's allegedly been Seishiro's fiancé for these past six months.

Shouei's certainly looking forward to getting some clear answers about that, since Seishiro was absolutely no help. But, he is admittedly a bit worried, because if Reo had, again, allegedly, been in love with Seishiro this entire time, then that does not make him a sane man.

There isn't much time to continue lamenting over the matter, though, because there's polite, but still loud enough to catch attention, knocking at their front door. Shouei straightens from the dining table he's currently sitting at, pretending as if he's entirely captivated by his homework— that was already completed— sitting in front of him instead of the visitor. Tsuyuko and Kyoka are sitting with him at the table as well, Tsuyuko pretending as if she were eating cereal which has long become soggy from how long ago she'd prepped this, while Kyoka pretends to be interested in her coloring book.

All three of them watch like a hawk as Seishiro practically sprints out of his room— which would be the second time Shouei's ever seen his brother break into a run— and straight for the front door. Shouei and his sisters all hold their breaths as they hear the door creak open.

There's chatter, but it's muted, and Shouei can't pick up anything even as he strains his ears. Then, a cheery voice chimes out. "I'm coming in!" 

It's a voice neither he nor his sisters recognize, which funnily enough, makes them instantly realize who it is. It's Reo, in the flesh, standing there in their doorway, his voice ringing out and proving his existence is real. Not that Tsuyuko and Kyoka doubted that, but Shouei certainly did, even after that one time he heard only a few words from Reo through Seishiro's headphones. 

"Wow! So this is your place, Nagi!"

"Yep. Come on in."

Any lingering doubts of Shouei's are forced to cease, because then, a boy walks into his line of vision and pauses right before the doorframe to the kitchen, turning when he catches the sight of Shouei and them in the corner of his eyes.

He's tall, somewhere around Shouei's height and a few centimeters shorter than Seishiro, who quietly follows closely behind the boy and stops right by his side. He has a headful of purple hair, even purple eyes to match, and his haircut is diabolically uneven, one side of his bangs very obviously longer than the other.

Then, the boy smiles, and it's clearly not one stemmed from merely being polite with his manners, it's not a forced tug at the lips, either, it's genuine. He bows his head slightly as he introduces himself properly. "Pardon my intrusion. My name is Reo Mikage, I attend Hakuho with Nagi. It's nice to be able to finally meet you all," he then glances to Shouei and his eyes crinkle, his smile turning a bit cheeky, but in a friendly way, as he adds, "in person, if we've already met before."

Tsuyuko tries to hold back her squeal, but she couldn't bite back the overjoyed smile on her lips. Kyoka, on the other hand, didn't at all fight back the giggles sounding from her.

Shouei, though, feels differently from the two. What did Reo say? Has his first name been Reo this entire time? And, hold on, his family name is Mikage? As in, the Mikage Corporation—?

"Sei was right," Kyoka's voice then cuts through Shouei's gradually forming realization, and everyone turns their heads to face her and how her eyes sparkle at the sight of Reo. "You really are pretty, Reo!" 

Unlike Kyoka, every other person in the room had enough social awareness, Seishiro included, to feel embarrassed at what she had just openly exposed: Tsuyuko takes the first bite of her cereal and pretends as if she didn't hear it, Shouei's still too stunned to outwardly react or even make a face, Reo's eyes widen slightly, and Seishiro flushes red.

Then, after a quiet, long, painfully awkward moment of processing, Reo turns his head to Seishiro, his earlier cheeky smile melting into a more heartfelt one. "You think I'm pretty, Nagi?" He outright asks the other, sounding a bit breathless at the suddenness of the topic at hand being brought up.

Seishiro colors an even deeper shade of red, and he hangs his head a bit down, looking to Reo through his bangs.  He shyly nods his head as he starts to murmur, "Um, well, yea—"

"And beautiful!" Kyoka chimes in for the second time.

"And handsome," Tsuyuko, too, pipes in mid-bite.

"And like 'color itself,'" Shouei, also, adds in, raising his hand to mimic a quotation mark.

Reo looks at the three with slightly parted lips and his own blush starting to color at his face, quickly looking back to Seishiro for confirmation. "You said all of that?" He asks, and before he only had his eyes widened slightly, but now even his stubby eyebrows raise with how dumbfounded he seems to be.

Seishiro is definitely redder than Shouei's own eye color at this point, even the tip of his ears start to heat up. "Is that so surprising?" He sheepishly asks, raising one of his hands to idly rub at the back of his neck. "Reo should know, right? That you're really pretty?"

At that, Reo laughs, but it hitches slightly, which gives away his nerves. "I've just never been called 'color itself.'" He confesses, his eyes darting away as he tucks a strand of hair behind his ear as he meekly continues with, "Is it because of the purple, haha? Sticks out in a crowd, doesn't it?" Reo doesn't wait to give Seishiro a chance to respond, though, focusing back onto the other as he adds in, "But I think you're pretty too, Nagi, so don't feel embarrassed."

Seishiro purses his lips as he flushes down to his neck now, and even Shouei grimaces when he hears Tsuyuko and Kyoka both coo adoringly at the scene before them.

With that, Seishiro hastily grasps onto Reo's wrist, but even Shouei can tell from sight alone that he doesn't grab onto the other harshly, a light but still firm grip. "Reo, let's go now," he ushers the other, starting to pull him towards his room, where Shouei presumes the two will be hanging during the visit.

Reo follows after Seishiro's lead, but not before he flashes a small smile towards Shouei and his sisters, waving, too. "It was nice talking to you all, Shouei, Tsuyuko, and Kyoka."

"Reo..." Seishiro continues to whine, growing all the more embarrassed at how he acknowledges his siblings' existences, the same ones who've been putting Seishiro on blast.

Tsuyuko and Kyoka wave back to Reo before Seishiro manages to drag him away, and all Shouei shows him is a curt nod to his head. Before Seishiro could completely escape to his room with Reo, Shouei could catch a quiet 'Wait, why don't you call me by my first name, too?' and then a laugh and a soft 'Because that's different, Nagi!' following after, before the door closes behind them.

Shouei stares at the door for a second longer than necessary, mulling over his thoughts peacefully now that the chattering was put to an end, his sisters already, too, running off to their own room. He wonders how could Reo Mikage himself have possibly found his way into the Barou household with how incredibly reputable and distinguished his status is. And much, much more than that, Shouei wonders how Seishiro could possibly think that that kind of public figure is his fiancé. 

He realizes with a small sigh, that if he wanted to find out the raw truth to this bizarre situation, he's going to have to be the one who probes for answers, himself. But, luckily and simply enough, he has the man in question here in the house with him. Shouei can manage to find a time that he can conversate with Reo— Mikage, properly, and ask him everything that Shouei's been questioning from Seishiro's stories for six months straight now.

Shouei stands from the table, deciding to kill time in the meanwhile that he waits. He takes one step forward before he then freezes in place and remembers.

Seishiro and Mikage locked him out of his own room.

Shouei's chance strikes when he sees Seishiro leave the room to use the bathroom, and after a few more seconds, Mikage leaves after, too, heading for the kitchen. He stands from the couch he had been forced to chill on, walking to the kitchen, too, as Mikage grabs a full water bottle from the fridge, uncaps it, then takes a drink.

He clears his throat as he steps closer, and Mikage turns to look at him curiously. "So," Shouei starts, and while he had the plan, he hadn't really given any thought to the execution. Though, Shouei's never really been the type to think over his words with second thought, he's always spoken first and bluntly, true to his soul. "Are you and Seishiro really partners?"

Mikage perks up at that, blinking from the sudden question, but also seemingly like this were something he enjoyed talking about. "Yeah, we're partners. You play soccer, too, right?" Mikage then asks, and Shouei pauses at that, confused at the topic change. "I'm sure Nagi's told you about our dream."

Shouei's nose scrunches up, and he frowns. "Dream?" He repeats back. Is this guy trying to act romantic by calling their engagement a dream or something? In a way, would that confirm the engagement was real? "As in that vow he said you two made?"  Shouei continues to ask.

It's Mikage's turn to pause, as if recollecting if he's ever said such a thing to Seishiro. Then, he smiles like he finally found it after a second. "Oh, right, about Nagi never giving up soccer? I guess that'd be step one to our dream, yeah." 

Well, in Mikage's own words, it sounds just as unromantic as he thought it did when Seishiro said the same thing. But, this isn't about what Shouei thinks about it anymore, but how Seishiro does, who's been firmly recounting the story as a proposal. "So, what's the final step then? Tying the knot?"

Mikage tilts his head at that. "I've never heard it be called as tying the knot before," he ponders, raising his hand up to scratch at his chin. "I'd more say, like, score the winning goal?"

Shouei balks at that. "You think you're the one scoring the goal with Seishiro?" He asks in disbelief. Is this guy crazy? In what world could the creature that is Seishiro Nagi be considered a goal, if it not being that he's the goal for what a Slenderman dupe should look like?

Though, Mikage does wave his hands at that. "Oh, no, Nagi's the one who's going to score the winning goal!" He's quick to say, which baffles Shouei a bit. Of course, with his status, it's no doubt that he had every right to be smug about who's really the catch between him and Nagi, but Shouei didn't think he'd be so blunt about it.

Instead of mulling over it any longer, though, Shouei grunts and shakes his head. "I haven't got a clue in the world how that loser managed to bag a literal Mikage," he honestly says back.

Mikage's short eyebrows furrow slightly at that, as if he, too, were starting to get lost in how the conversation's running. "Have you seen his talent?" He starts to defend Seishiro. "It's only been six months, and yet he's easily beaten several teams who've been playing all their lives, all without breaking a sweat." He quickly 'corrects,' though Shouei isn't sure at all what he thinks he's correcting, seeing as he's even more confused than before.

Shouei's stumped. Why is he even dancing around the question he's been holding back for months, now that Mikage's given him the perfect opportunity to ask? "What even is the correlation between soccer and your dream?"

Mikage's eyes blow wide open, and from that alone, it clicks in both the boys what the lost piece in their conversation seems to be. "I want to make Nagi the greatest striker in the world, and I'll be by his side as his partner. That's how we'll win the World Cup, how we'll achieve our dream." He explains slowly, as if really wanting Shouei to process every word right. "What did you think our dream was?"

In all brutal honesty, it doesn't shock Shouei at all how Mikage's answer holds no hint or clue of marriage or a proposal being involved in it, not even a inkling of romantic intentions. And while it's what he expected, it's not as if to say he's relieved at being proven right. 

He knows Seishiro loves this boy, and from what he saw earlier, while Mikage might not realize it yet, Shouei also knows that Mikage's thoughts on Seishiro aren't entirely platonic. Although, Shouei can't say for certain if something as significant as an engagement could be possible between Seishiro and a Mikage, not like Seishiro's thinking there can be, but there's definitely still something to try between them. If this were anybody else's situation, he'd have most likely turned his back, since, at the end of the day, this was not his problem, and would have moved on without any lingering regret.

But this is about his brother, not just anyone. Shouei doesn't exactly believe that he has a guaranteed chance with Mikage, but seeing as there was the barest hint of one, Shouei could try what he could for Seishiro's first love. So, he exhales through his nose before he then asks, "Does Seishiro know that?"

Mikage frowns at that, as if taking slight offense. "About our dream? Of course he does."

"I'm asking if he knows it ends there."

That pauses Mikage. "Where else would it end?"

Shouei glances away for the first time that entire conversation, muttering under his breath, "You should ask him that, not me."

Mikage isn't given even a second to wonder what Shouei's implying with that, before he then feels a hand gently grab onto his shoulder and pull his attention away from the other. He turns his head to see Seishiro wearing a small pout, giving the look he always does when he's wanting to be spoiled.

What Shouei sees, though, when he trails his eyes back to the two, is a nasty side-eye that Seishiro shoots his way, which causes him to bristle with anger. What the fuck is his problem, looking at Shouei like that when he's being kind and not holding hatred in his heart for once in his life? He keeps a note in his head to never show Seishiro any pity ever again.

"Nagi?" Mikage is the first to speak. "Sorry, I didn't even notice that you were back."

"Reo," Seishiro drawls out as he looks back to Mikage, and immediately his eyes soften to something innocent looking, pure, even. "Don't you think it's cramped hanging out in my room?"

Mikage blinks at that, his breath hitching slightly as he recomposes himself from the unusual conversation he had with Shouei just now, pushing that worry away and instead putting all his focus back onto his treasure. He grins and raises a hand up, intending to card it through Seishiro's hair and hopefully soothe the other, but instead, Seishiro nuzzles his cheek against his palm, and now Mikage's found himself cupping Seishiro's face. "What else would we do then, Nagi?"

"Let's go to your place instead," Seishiro immediately answers, perking up as if he'd specifically been waiting for that question to come from Mikage.

Shouei cuts in before Mikage could answer. "Dumbass, you can't just ask to visit Mikage's house without any warning beforehand. That's basic, common courtesy."

At that, though, Mikage turns back to Shouei, ignoring his other points as he says with a polite smile, "Oh, Reo is perfectly fine, by the way. I'd much actually rather go by Reo than Mikage."

That takes Shouei a bit off guard. But, taking a second longer to think about it, he supposes that he was wrong earlier in thinking that there had been some imbalance between Reo and Seishiro's relationship, all just because the other was a Mikage. While it were a logical assumption on his behalf, Seishiro and Reo seemed to be everything but logical, as he watches Seishiro nuzzle against Reo's hand, not caring for how grossly pathetic it made him look. Shouei didn't have much material to make this guess off of, but otherwise, to him, it felt like Reo actually acted like a person rather than a figure around Seishiro, relaxed, like he truly enjoyed the other's company.

The thought pushes Shouei to say, "If Reo is fine with it, though, then there's really no problem."

So, both brothers turn their stares to Reo, who immediately grins at Seishiro. "Of course it's okay with me, Nagi," he quickly agrees, as if rejection weren't ever an option. "If you want to go right now, I'd just have to grab my phone I left in the room real quick."

Seishiro nods, so Reo slips away and out the kitchen, heading back for the bedroom. Seishiro and Shouei share a look, but the older is the one who speaks first.

"Have you ever told Reo how you felt about your 'engagement'?" He bluntly asks.

The younger is silent for a small moment, and there's not really anything that can be read in his gaze. "Reo already knows how I feel about us, he's my fiancé," is the answer he settles with.

Shouei's expression pinches up. He's sure that sentence alone is the root to this entire predicament. He doesn't say much about that, though, not yet. Instead, he barks back, "That's the way cowards too scared to talk about their own feelings think. Don't you love this guy?"

"Of course," Seishiro immediately hisses out, very obviously offended by Shouei's tone and implications.

"Then how come you can't even say that to him?" Shouei retorts back, not losing his cool like Seishiro was, even though he wants to call the other a dumbfuck for being in love with a guy he barely met six months ago, which he'll scold him for properly on a different day. He taunts further, really wanting Seishiro to understand his point: "If saying words is too much for you, then maybe you ought to reconsider how you think you feel about him. You clearly aren't ready to spend the rest of your life with him, not as you are right now."

Seishiro doesn't respond to his brother; instead, his eyes heavily drop to the ground, hardening his gaze there. Though, he quickly eases up again when, speak of the devil, Reo walks back to the two of them with a slight jog to his step. "Sorry for the wait," he apologizes with a huff. "My phone ending up sliding down between the wall and bed, and I had to crawl under to grab it." He groans as he explains, before he then turns to Seishiro, smiling and picking up his voice again. "What about you, you ready to head out?"

Seishiro's expression and voice softens just by being in the presence of Reo. "Mhm, I'm ready just like this. Let's go."

+1.

When Seishiro and Reo walk inside the Mikage's lavish penthouse floor dedicated solely to himself, Seishiro lets out a quiet 'wowza,' but doesn't say much else. Reo, of course, takes notice, since the both of them were silent on the drive here, Reo having called some woman with a witch's nose to pick them up, and the ride up the elevator. Walking further into the room with Seishiro following close behind, he then turns on his heel to face the other.

"So?" Reo goads, catching Seishiro's attention and gaze, him also standing straighter at being spoken to. "Do you want to tell me why you suddenly wanted to leave? I know it isn't just because you wanted some space and to visit my home."

At that, Seishiro deflates again, his shoulders slacking as his eyes cast away. Honestly, right at the tip of his tongue, Seishiro wants to sigh out, 'it's a hassle to talk, I really did just want to spend time with you alone, Reo,' and hope that was that. But, his brother's words linger in his head, about being open with Reo on any and everything he feels. While it's true that Seishiro did want to be alone with Reo, it's also true what Reo said just now, that Seishiro had another, bigger reason behind it.

Tentatively, Seishiro takes a few steps closer towards Reo, who doesn't back away, only watching with a worried furrow to his small brows. Seishiro meets Reo's eyes, but he can't hold the contact for too long, always glancing away after a few seconds. "Reo," he then slowly starts, "I think I've been feeling a bit... insecure."

"Insecure?" Reo parrots back, his eyebrows lifting and voice hilting, clearly having expected anything but that answer to come from the other boy. "About what, Nagi? Is this about soccer?"

Seishiro's frown tightens at that, his expression pinching up into an almost pained one. "...Yes and no," he reluctantly answers after a long second. "I'm more worried about how you see me in soccer, Reo," he then confesses shortly after.

Reo blinks, dumbfounded. "Nagi," he croons, reaching forward and reassuringly grabbing onto both of the other's hands, squeezing them in his own. "What's there to be insecure about? You know you're my Treasure, you know about our dream." Reo's voice trails off more quietly with that last word, thinking back to what he was asked earlier, relating to their shared dream.

His thoughts are cut short, though, and he can't say much else since it's Seishiro who says something first. "Maybe now, but..." He's anxious, his words are tinged with it, and Reo can also tell from how Seishiro doesn't even try to meet his eyes anymore. "What if something changes? It could be that I get worse, or that someone is just better, or both, but Reo ends up finding another treasure besides me. Your dream would change to him, right?"

"What makes you think I'd do something so cruel?" Reo asks, his heart aching at how Seishiro's eyes glaze over from the hypothetical he speaks of.

"You told me," Seishiro insists, looking back to Reo again, finally, "that you'd abandon me if that happened, the same day we exchanged vows."

Seishiro's phrasing sticks out to Reo, but he doesn't comment on it, instead thinking back to when he'd said something so careless to his treasure that stood with him for so long. Then, his eyes widen as he recalls, Seishiro was talking about the same day his brother was. Does that mean Seishiro had this lingering on his mind for so long he'd taken to opening up with his family about it?

Reo squeezes Seishiro's hands again, holding them up against his chest. "I'm sorry, Nagi, I did say that, didn't I?" He softly apologizes, a frown full of regret tugging down at his lips. "That was when we bought your first cleats together, right?" Reo then tilts his head slightly, trying to meet Seishiro's eyes more directly as he offers him a small, comforting smile now. "I didn't know you then like I do now, Nagi. It isn't just about soccer for us, not like I first thought it'd be the day we met. It's about us being together, my dream isn't mine anymore if it's not with you. You feel the same way, right?"

Seishiro nods his head, color filling his face again. He knew Reo understood how he felt. His brother's an idiot, tell Seishiro something he doesn't know.

He eases, the tension in his shoulders melting away, and his expression softens, also tilting his head slightly to stare at Reo more clearly. "I'm glad," he confesses, squeezing Reo's hands. "I've known that soccer isn't the biggest thing in our relationship, but I think for a little while, I might've forgotten. So, I'm glad that I can hear it from Reo." Well, he supposes Shouei might not be the biggest idiot, since he does have a point. If it's nice for Seishiro to hear Reo comfort him, then obviously the vice versa would be true, too.

Reo beams at hearing Seishiro's words, the earlier unease in his heart blossoming with endearment. Obviously they were friends— each other's best friends, more accurately, but it's still nice to know that Seishiro cared about their friendship so deeply! "Of course!"

Seishiro continues on with, "Actually, I was really nervous bringing Reo over to my home."

"Really?" Reo asks, he never would have been able to guess that, Seishiro didn't give any sign that he felt that way. "Why's that?"

A bit nervously, Seishiro rolls his foot on the ground, almost looking as if he were kicking a rock as he glances down. "You know Shouei plays soccer, too," he starts to confess, "and, I guess.. he's not that bad at it... and I thought if Reo found out about that, you might reconsider which brother you wanted to be your treasure." 

Reo tries not to giggle at the fact that Seishiro just admitted how he was feeling jealous before, which Reo had no idea about, it taking him by surprise and making him weirdly happy. He tries to fight back a grin, but it won't last for long, so instead, he lets go of Seishiro's hands and instead wraps his arms around the taller boy's neck, pulling him in for a reassuring hug. Seishiro immediately melts into it, his arms bending up under Reo's own, his hands flat against Reo's shoulder blades and pulling him in closer. Reo hopes the other doesn't feel how he trembles slightly laughing under his breath.

"Nagi," he exhales out after a moment to himself, sounding breathless with adoration, "it's you that I want." One of his arms stay wrapped around Seishiro's neck, while his other hand reaches up and pets the back of Seishiro's head, his fingers carefully brushing through the white, fluffy locks there. "Maybe there are other treasures out there, but you are mine. I wouldn't ever replace you, not for anyone else, and especially not your homophobic brother."

Seishiro quietly laughs at that, the small, short sound muffled against Reo's neck that he's currently nuzzled against. But, more than that, he hides how his face shades red at Reo's profession, feeling shy at how openly Reo can talk about his feelings towards Seishiro. Obviously they were engaged— each other's fiancés, to be more accurate, but it's still nice to know that Reo cared about their relationship and love so deeply. Gently, his hands grab at the back of Reo's shirt, wanting him in his arms forever.

"I was also jealous when you called him by his first name but not me," Seishiro continues to admit.

That Reo had a guess about, humming softly. "I didn't have any other option, Nagi, what else would I have said in the moment? 'It was nice talking to you all, Barou, Barou, and Barou?'" He teases.

"That's different, Reo," Seishiro whines, shaking his head minutely against Reo's skin. "You're my fiancé." 

That snaps Reo out of his domestic daze, immediately placing his hands onto Seishiro's shoulders as he pushes him back, keeping them there as if needing to use Seishiro for balance, while the two stare at each other, startled. Reo, especially, as if he weren't the one who pulled away.

Of course, the first things Reo wants to ask have to do with that word Seishiro used— fiancé. Oddly enough, Reo can feel his face start to heat a faint red, but he doesn't dwell on how this makes him feel, but rather, what does Seishiro mean by that? He wants to know: how long has he had that idea in his head, what pushed him to that conclusion, why had he said nothing mentioning it even once before—

But, then, Seishiro's older brother's words slam to the front of his skull.

"Nagi, what do you think happens after our dream?" He asks instead, rushed in one breath. "After we win the World Cup?"

Seishiro's eyes are wide, but not nearly as much as Reo's were. He hesitates for a second, wondering if he said something wrong, as he raises his hands up to lay them onto Reo's tensed arms, trying to soothe the other. "Um..." He sucks in one of his cheeks inside his mouth, wondering if he should admit a secret he's been thinking of for a while now, but at Reo's frazzled expression, he supposes he should go ahead and expose it. "I was thinking that, since Reo likes and wants the World Cup so much, that I could maybe... get a small piece of it melted into a ring, just for Reo."

Both the boy's faces color red, Reo's more so than before; the difference is Seishiro's from being bashful, and Reo's from being abashed.

"A ring?" Reo wheezes out, embarrassment, confusion, and surprise all being mixed in his tone.

None of which Seishiro catches onto. "I know Reo's the one who proposed to me—"

Reo's the one who proposed!?

"—and while the apple was delicious, I still thought that I'd like for at least you to have a ring. But, I can't afford a pretty one right now, even though I'd have liked for you to be wearing one our whole engagement. I thought waiting was the best option, and then I thought if I were going to wait anyway, I should give you the best ring, so... What does Reo think?"

What does Reo think? Reo thinks he's somehow woken up in an alternative universe without even realizing it, one where apparently he and Seishiro were fiancés. But, Seishiro's looking to him with wide, hopeful, awaiting eyes, and Reo's mouth dries up, his denials dying on his tongue.

He clears his throat, and Seishiro's thumbs start to caress his skin while he patiently waits for Reo's thoughts. "Nagi..." Reo starts to say, hoping the other didn't hear how his voice cracked, "when you mention an apple, do you mean... that day we were talking about earlier?" He slowly asks, realizing mid question that that's why Seishiro phrased his earlier words as 'exchanged vows.'

Seishiro nods his head, but doesn't say anything more.

So Reo's the one who continues. "Don't... you think it's a bit weird to get engaged one day after we met...?" He carefully asks, minding each and every one of his words to not phrase it in a way that might hurt the other's feelings, even though he isn't quite sure why he's making the extra effort. Why isn't he just clearing up Seishiro's misunderstanding? He's been thinking this for six months straight, after all, Reo should just break it to him in the kindest way possible.

Though, Seishiro's expression pinches up slightly at Reo's question, which silences his current thought process, and his breath catches in his throat. "Did my idiot brother say something to you?" He suddenly accuses.

"What?" Reo panics, not wanting to cause an accidental rift between those two. "No, not at all!"

Seishiro glances away, his frown turning into a petulant pout now. "'Cause he did to me," he then explains. "When I first told him about us."

"He did?" Red hot embarrassment courses through Reo's body, now realizing that the reason why his brother had been interrogating Reo earlier that day was because he thought he were Seishiro's fiancé. Everything's adding up, and yet Reo's mind feels as if it's still lagging behind the present, not yet processing how he's ended up in this situation. 

"Yeah." Seishiro hums. "But... if he didn't say anything, then why are you asking me this? You're the one who proposed to me suddenly..." Seishiro asks, making Reo purse his lips.

Because I didn't propose to you, this is all just a funny misunderstanding that one day in the future we'll laugh about, Reo thinks.

"Because I want to know how you feel about it," Reo says instead. "You never told me."

Seishiro seems satisfied with that answer, with how his expression softens. Again, it all comes back to Seishiro just saying how he feels. He thinks now is the perfect time. "I love you."

Silence. It stretches across the room for a still moment. Both the boys are breathing so slowly and quietly, as if they were scared letting out a sharp exhale and piercing the air would cause it all to come crashing down.

"What?"

"I love you," Seishiro says again, as if it were easy. "Did Reo not know that?" He trails his hands from Reo's arm to his shoulders, up his neck, until he's delicately cradling Reo's face in his palms. "I should say it more often then. I guess I was nervous, since Reo never said it to me first."

Reo's breathing so shallow with his lips parted while he looks up to Seishiro with wide, shocked eyes. There's so many thoughts, questions, and wonders fogging up his mind, so loud that it becomes muted. "You were waiting for me?" 

Seishiro nods at that, but with a bit of hesitation, as one of his eyebrows quirk down like he just realized something. "I was," he agrees, "but... that doesn't seem fair. Reo confessed and proposed to me, and didn't even know how I felt about it. I should've said it first."

Reo's the one who confessed first, too? 

"I'm glad that I did," Seishiro continues, a ghost of a smile upturning the corners of his lips. "The face that Reo's making right now is really pretty."

It's such a sudden compliment that Reo can't help but choke out a laugh, still in disbelief at this entire situation. "You're still going on about that?" His question comes out in one sharp exhale.

"You're pretty like color itself, Reo," Seishiro doubles down on his compliment as he speaks. "I mean it. I love that about you. I love you."

Color itself. It's the second time Reo's heard the phrase today, one being a secondhand account from Seishiro's brother, and the second being how it slips passed Seishiro's own lips, in that sweet voice of his, speaking it as truth. Reo lets it seep into his mind as truth. Seishiro truly means what he says, and Reo's almost overwhelmed entirely.

It makes him think back on everything, not with doubt, but a slow forming clarity. The way Reo, like instinct, was drawn in by Seishiro and could immediately tell he liked the other boy, just in the small moment they were within each other's presence. The way Reo's always somehow found himself with his arms around or hands on Seishiro, whether it's a shoulder hug, offering a piggyback ride, or just threading his fingers through the other's white hair, it's like his body's wanted the intimacy before his mind even realized. The way Reo calls out to the other, unaware at how his tone always raised to a sweeter pitch, a voice only used towards Seishiro, and the words he'd use with that voice. Treasure, partner, even something less sentimental like good boy, Reo would never call anyone else but Seishiro this.

Seishiro's always been the exception for Reo, nothing more or less than the one for Reo. He's known this, with how he's said so just a few moments ago, how there was no one else but Seishiro, not in Reo's world. Now, he's finding out that it's the same on the other boy's behalf. They both feel the same, and Seishiro feels it with love.

Somehow, Reo finds himself pulling his arms back and hesitantly placing his hands above Seishiro's own; he gently grabs one of his, moving it as he tilts his head down and to the side, and Reo doesn't know why, but he places a delicate kiss to the center of Seishiro's palm. "I... I don't know if I'm... ready to say it back, not yet, at least," Reo then whispers against Seishiro's skin, his eyes drifting away from how lovingly Seishiro stares at him.

Not yet. It's two words, but Seishiro holds them to his heart, like a promise.

"That's okay," Seishiro whispers back, having caught Reo's words. "I made Reo wait, so I don't mind waiting, too. That makes it even. I'll wait however long, six months like you did, or six days, even six years, doesn't matter. I'll wait for you to say it back, for you to call me by my first name, and for us to stand at the altar."

Reo's heart is pounding in his chest, but he could very clearly hear how each beat sings with love, love, love. It's a new realization for him, and he'll need time to properly let these heavy feelings settle in both his mind and body, but he's ready to do it with Seishiro by his side, every step of the way.

"I just have one condition for that, Reo," Seishiro then adds on, which draws Reo's eyes back to the taller boy. "I don't mind waiting, but in the meanwhile, just don't die before I do."

A smile pulls at Reo's lips, and Seishiro can feel it against the skin of his hand. Reo can't help the small snicker he lets out, muttering, "Is that a promise?"

"It's a vow, Reo," Seishiro insists, looking to Reo a bit more seriously.

Seeing how the other isn't taking such words lightly, it makes Reo nod his head, nuzzling his face against Seishiro's palm in a small, reassuring manner. "It's a vow, then, Nagi," he says back, his tone matching just how serious Seishiro's had been. Reo places another kiss against the other's palm.

This pauses Seishiro, and an almost contemplative look wears at his face, taking a second to himself to mull whatever was happening in his mind over. Eventually, he decides to go for it, because Seishiro leans in just a fraction closer to Reo, murmuring gently, "Reo... How long do I have to wait for a kiss?"

Reo's eyes widen at that, his breath catching in his throat but with a tiny pitch, almost making it sound like he squeaked. He swallows down any other embarrassing noises he could've made at his surprise, shrinking slightly when Seishiro takes a step closer.

All Reo sees in Seishiro's eyes are want, desire, longing, none of them looking as if they were new, but instead, something he's been wishing for for however long. And Reo, despite still coming to terms with his newly discovered feelings, feels a magnetic pull towards Seishiro's own feelings, because he's always indulged his treasure. And, more than that, Reo wants this, too.

Reo hums in his throat, pulling back from Seishiro's hand a bit shyly. "Not long," is all he offers for an answer, his free hand reaching up and cupping Seishiro's own face.

It seems that despite it being Seishiro's own request, his eyes widen and his entire face reddens like the candy apple Reo proposed to him with, as Reo closes his eyes and leans forward and delicately presses their lips together like they were meant to fit against one anothers. Reo can feel how sharply Seishiro inhales through his nose, and he's sure Seishiro can feel his eyelashes against his skin. They're so close, and when Reo pulls back, it feels like he's cold, like he needed Seishiro's body heat to function.

"I can kiss my own fiancé," Reo then says, smiling a bit more cheekily, with more assurance, as he sees just how he's flustered the taller boy. "And my fiancé can kiss me whenever he wants, too." With those words, Reo's solidified what Seishiro's thought for months, and honestly, he's ecstatic, he's engaged, and he wouldn't want anyone else, he never did.

Seishiro's still flushed red, even as Reo's pulled back from their kiss for a few seconds now. And it finally clicks in his head, passed his initial surprise, he just had his first kiss with Reo, and it was like a dream. He moves one of his hands back from Reo's face to his own, covering his mouth and half of his blush, but not before Reo could catch the start of a smile forming at his lips.

"Reo's so cool..." is all Seishiro can mumble in a daze. "I think I'm swooning."

Reo laughs, growing more embarrassed as it clicks in his own head, too, how he's not only taken Seishiro's first kiss, but initiated it, too. "You should get used to this, Nagi," he cooes, his hand on Seishiro's cheek moving over slightly, so that his thumb can trace along the other's bottom lip that he can feel is still smiling hidden under Seishiro's hand. "Can't have you getting this flustered when we kiss at the altar."

It's a tease, but Seishiro melts into Reo's touch and his words, like he's genuinely picturing that scene awaiting their future. "Reo," he then softly speaks up, his tone picking up Reo's attention, who blinks once. "You know how I told you that as a kid, I was asked if I wanted to either keep my name as Nagi, or change it to Barou?"

"Mhm?" Reo hums, wondering where he's going with this.

"I don't know why I chose to keep Nagi. It didn't even feel right, just natural. But, now I think I know why." Seishiro closes the distance between them again, pressing his forehead against Reo's, as he whispers out, "I was always meant to give you my last name."

A hot shiver runs down Reo's spine at that, heat blossoming in his chest and face. What's making Reo fluster the most is the fact that Seishiro isn't even trying to sweet talk him, he's just speaking so honestly and raw, that now it's Reo who's swooning. 

Reo doesn't need to say anything back, because seeing how his eyes glisten over with adoration is enough for Seishiro, who leans down for another kiss. They fit perfectly together.

Reo didn't exactly want Seishiro to remember the days they went shopping and first met to be the days their relationship first started. But, he doesn't want to tell the other that that isn't true, since their feelings are now mutually known by one another, and since they are properly engaged now.

So, instead, Reo gets Seishiro a gift the day after they visited one another's homes. He does this so that his fiancé will at least have this present to commemorate and remember these days, them being days that their relationship was solidified in Reo's terms. Reo can't get Seishiro a ring, since they both agreed to wait until they had the perfect rings, so, instead, he gifts Seishiro something that will live long into their future, to see their time passing closer to marriage, firsthand.

Seishiro's been sitting at his windowsill for hours now, his head leaning against the wall as he does nothing, really, simply just staring at the new plant basking in the sun. He feels giddy, unreasonably so, just by the sight of his brand new cactus, knowing that it's something that Reo's personally gotten for him.

The cactus is weirdly shaped, and it sticks out to Seishiro. He almost feels like it's making a peace sign at him, its appearance resembling one of scissors.

That'd make a simple enough name. "Choki," Seishiro mutters to no one but himself as he reaches a hand up to greet the plant, lightly pricking his finger against one of its spines. "Ouch."

Seishiro decides that once his brother's returns home from his Saturday practice, he'll ask him to drive Seishiro to the closest flower shop, since he's now wanting to gift Reo his own cactus. He never thought he'd be a plant owner, never having felt any emotional pull to them, but now imagining how they could decorate his and Reo's future home, he thinks he gets it.