Work Text:
A yawn escaped Riku as he woke, soft sheets covering his body. Sunlight was streaming through the gaps between the curtains. His body ached in all the good ways. Blindly, he felt around for something to wear until his hand closed around fabric that felt like it could be a shirt.
With slow and careful movements, Riku sat up and inched towards the edge of the bed, where he let his feet touch the carpeted floor of the hotel room. Another yawn escaped him, and his eyes felt like they were glued shut. It took him a couple of tries until he managed to get the shirt on. It felt a little too big on him, but he was too tired to care as he buttoned the shirt up.
Stretching, Riku got to his feet, swaying for a moment before managing to steady himself. If Riku was honest, he wanted to stay in bed and sleep the whole day. However, they had lessons today in order to prepare for their next stop of the Twelve Fantasia tour.
If someone asked Riku later how he made it to the breakfast room without tripping or walking into something, he wouldn't be able to explain. With a mumbled greeting, Riku closed the door behind him drawing the attention of the eleven idols already sitting at the breakfast table. A squeak was heard from somewhere and then all noise stopped in an instant. Despite still being half asleep and his eyes refusing to open fully, Riku could feel the stares boring into him.
When the door to the breakfast room opened, no one was surprised to see one Nanase Riku standing in the doorway half-asleep. What did take them by surprise, though, was said person standing there in nothing but an oversized shirt.
"……Nanase-san, where are your trousers?" Iori asked, his voice calm once he had found his voice. Riku couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else in his voice that was anything but calm. His sleep-addled brain needed a couple of seconds to process Iori's question.
"Eh?" Riku responded tilting his head in confusion. He had no idea why Iori would ask him that. A growl from his stomach interrupted his wondering. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the breakfast table. Meanwhile, Yamato inched away from Ten, whose chopsticks were creaking in an unpleasant manner.
With another yawn, Riku flopped down in the seat between Mitsuki and Ryū. Without a second of hesitation, he let his head fall onto Ryū's shoulder, which earned him a weird mix of a groan and squeak. Ten's chopsticks snapped in half, an odd contrast to the angelic smile on his face.
Most of the room's occupants eyed TRIGGER's centre with various degrees of weariness. Re:vale was more interested in the new development presenting itself to them than being wary of Ten. Riku, who was happy to snuggle into Ryū's shoulder while munching on a piece of bread, was blissfully unaware of the tension permeating the room.
Ryū, while enjoying Riku leaning on him, had his face buried in his hand in embarrassment and dread. Embarrassment from Riku's attire and dread from knowing Ten wouldn't let him get off easy. It couldn't get any worse.
"I guess congratulations are in order", Yuki chuckled. The temperature in the room dropped a notch. Ryū let out a soft whine.
"Congratulations to the new couple!" Momo exclaimed. It could get worse. Hell just froze over. Ryū's free hand, which was beneath the table, found its way to Riku's naked thigh, applying light pressure and anchoring him. The scraping of a chair being violently pushed back echoed through the room.
"Ryū, I need to have a word with you", Ten said, his voice deceptively calm. Iori, Yamato and Nagi, who knew that expression well remembering it from the Okinawa incident, grabbed their plates and moved as far away from TRIGGER's centre as possible.
If anyone had paid attention to Nagi, they would have heard him mumbling about what an honour it had been to know Tsunashi-shi. However, everyone's attention was on TRIGGER's centre, including Tsumugi's, who was trying to desperately figure out how to diffuse the situation.
"Can't that wait until later? I don't wanna lose my personal heater", Riku, who was nearing full alertness, piped up with a whine, clinging to Ryū and moving the leg with Ryū's hand on it to lie across Ryū's thigh.
"Well, well. Aren't we being bold, Ryū?", Gaku snickered on Ryū's other side despite his weariness of their centre.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, GAKUUUUU", Ryū spluttered snapping his head around and letting the hand covering his face fall to the table. His face was flushed, rivalling Riku's hair in colour. Even the tips of his ears were red. Riku's hold on Ryū tightened slightly.
"Now, now. I'm sure there's a perfectly valid explanation for this", Mitsuki offered with only the barest hint of nervousness in his voice. Yamato, who was standing off to the side with Iori and Nagi, wasn't sure whether to be thankful for Mitsuki's intervention or not. Despite not wanting to cross one Kujō Ten in that mood, he was torn between pitying TRIGGER's eldest member and joining TRIGGER's youngest member in his quest to murder said eldest member. To his luck or not, he didn't have to make a decision as the door to the room flew open revealing the managers of TRIGGER and Re:vale.
"Boys! I don't know what shenanigans you are up to this morning, but you need to get into gear. You first lessons of the day are starting shortly", Kaoru barked, unheeding of the tense atmosphere in the room. A look at the wall clock told those, who bothered to take a look, that they were indeed running late.
Tsumugi could be heard exhaling with relieve written all over her face. The noise brought Kaoru out of their glaring and led them to survey the room. Their eyes widened the moment they laid sight on Riku, who was still clinging to a flustered Ryū.
"Oh my, what a lovely and daring sight! That shirt looks breath-taking on you, Riku-kun!", Kaoru gushed, their eyes sparkling with unabashed wonder and joy. Upon hearing his name, Riku lifted his head off of Ryū's shoulder turning his head towards the source of the call.
"Eh?" Riku responded, eyes blinking sluggishly as he stared the pink-haired manager. However, Kaoru didn't pay him any heed and continued gushing about his shirt. Several seconds of Riku blinking in confusion while staring at Kaoru ticked by until he looked down at himself.
Blue and black greeted his vision. Another couple of seconds passed. Did he own any blue and black shirts? A frown marred his face. The shirt did look familiar, though. Wait a second. Was he even wearing anything else aside from the shirt?
A loud squeak escaped Riku when the realisation hit him like a freight train. No, he did not own any blue and black shirts. The shirt was the one that belonged to Ryū's Regality solo. And, no, he wasn't wearing anything aside from the shirt. Not even underwear.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry, Ryū-san! I didn't realise I took your shirt", Riku apologised as he turned back towards Ryū, face flaming red.
"Uh, ah…. No, it's okay. Though, you might want to get dressed. Lessons start soon", Ryū stammered and squeaked, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Riku nodded wordlessly and slipped out of his seat. He made his way towards the door, bowing to the two managers as he passed them, and left the room.
The others, who had been watching the happenings with rapt attention, stared at the spot where Riku had disappeared around the corner. Ten even had forgot his murderous plans for a moment. An awkward silence descended on the room as the majority of its occupants processed the implications of what had taken place mere seconds ago.
Hurrying down the corridors, Riku berated himself for the obvious mistake he had made. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to regret having spent the night in his boyfriend's room. His speed-walking slowed down to a regular pace as the door leading to his boyfriend's hotel room came into view.
As Riku came to a stop, his hand moved to retrieve the key card from his back pocket, where he usually kept it. Except his hand was met with the hem of Ryū's shirt instead of the back pocket of his trousers. Right. He wasn't wearing anything aside from his boyfriend's shirt, which could just as well be considered a dress seeing as it reached his thighs.
Turning on his heels, Riku trekked back to the breakfast room. To his surprise, everyone else was still there when he entered the room again. This time, he couldn't help but squirm a little bit at the staring. He was still unaware of the lingering tension, though. With a brisk stride, Riku walked up to Ryū.
"Uh, can I borrow your key? Mine's in my trouser pockets", Riku mumbled scratching his flushed cheek. The reactions were almost instantaneously. Kaoru began cooing, while everyone else hurried away from TRIGGER's centre as another pair of chopsticks fell victim to his failing restraint. Iori was the only one not moving.
"On second thought, could you come with me? I don't want to lose your key", Riku ventured when Ryū was about to hand him his key. Considering the mishaps that had already happened so far since he woke up, he wouldn't be surprised if he managed to lose Ryū's key card.
Ryū, honest to god, wasn't sure which way this was heading as he nodded his agreement, too nervous to speak, and rose from his seat. On one hand, going with Riku meant temporary safety from a pissed off Ten and a potentially mad Iori. It was difficult to figure out with the blank look on his face. On the other hand, it only delayed the inevitable and would make it worse.
The ice-cold twin stares piercing into the back of his head sent shivers down his spine and not of the good sort like Riku's presence tended to do. A relieved sigh fell from Ryū's lips as the door fell closed behind the pair despite knowing the reprieve would not last long.
His worries were put to the back of his mind when he felt fingers entangle themselves with his own with practised ease. Even now, after months, Ryū marvelled at how well their hands fit together. Out of habit, he let his thumb massage the back of Riku's hand as they walked towards his room on silence.
When they reached Ryū's room, both were reluctant to let go of each other. They both knew, though, that they had to hurry. Their lessons were going to start in half an hour. While Riku took a speed-shower and got dressed, Ryū tidied up the room.
Riku stretched with a yawn as he returned to the hotel. They had been split up into various groups for their lessons. His lesson, which he had shared with both members of Re:vale, had run later than the others. He was still the last one to return having told Re:vale to go ahead without him. The reason had been that he had wanted to make a small detour to buy a couple of charms he had seen earlier during the day.
As Riku passed the room that had been given to them for their common activities, he heard muffled voices coming from inside. He stopped in front of the door. One of the voices sounded like his brother's voice and he didn't sound very happy. After a moment of hesitation, he opened the door.
"…and what were you thinking!?" Ten scolded. There was no other way to describe it. The scene was one that he hadn't expected leaving him stunned. Ten was standing in the middle of the room towering menacingly over Ryū, who was performing dogeza.
"He's still a child! And you're too old for him", Ten went on making Riku frown. What were they talking about? No one seemed to have noticed his presence yet as he closed the door behind him without a sound, his mind working overtime to make sense of the situation.
Everyone was so focused on whatever it was that was going on that Riku made his way to Kaoru without anyone taking notice of him. When he stood next to them, he pulled at the fabric of their shirt above their elbow startling them into looking at him.
"Uhm, what's going on?" Riku questioned, his eyes flicking towards Ryū with a hint of worry shining through. Instead of an answer, he was enveloped in a sudden hug causing him to yelp in surprise. All noise ceased in an instant as everyone's attention was drawn towards the pair.
"Uh, hi?" Riku greeted with more than just a little awkwardness as he waved a hand towards the others. He could see Iori and Mitsuki staring at the two of them wide-eyed over Kaoru's shoulder. He wouldn't be surprised if the others were wearing similar expressions.
"Anesagi-san?" Riku cautioned. The arms tightened around him for a brief moment before he was released from the embrace. Instead, his shoulders were grabbed, and he was pushed back slightly. Kaoru began fussing over him, bombarding him with questions about his days. At one point they even grabbed his cheeks, framing his face with their hands.
Riku tried to make sense of what was going on, but he couldn't come up with an answer. Perhaps he was just tired from the long day and it had been a series of odd occurrences starting with his accidental fashion mistake at the beginning of the day. Re:vale had been shooting him weird looks during their lessons from time to time and made the one or other odd comment.
"Anesagi-san, may I borrow Nanase-san for a bit?" Ten, whose voice sounded very close and calm in an odd way, requested. Kaoru and Riku turned their heads toward him. Even Riku felt a sliver of dread at the aura Ten was giving off.
"Don't be too harsh on him", Kaoru said as they let go of Riku. Ten wasted no time grabbing Riku's wrist and pulling him out of the room leaving a bewildered and worried group of idols and managers behind.
The door fell shut, the sound echoing throughout the otherwise silent room. Worried and confused looks were exchanged by the idols and managers alike. With the exception of Ryū, who exhaled a sigh of relief as he sat up, the tension he had been feeling leaving his body.
"Well, I guess it's time to give Riku the talk", Yamato announced scratching the back of his head. No one noticed Ryū flinching at the words as he got up from his knees. Dumbfounded silence reigned for a short moment before shouts of disbelief broke it, two of them far louder than the rest.
"Oh, hell no! You're just going to tell him perverted stuff!" Mitsuki exclaimed, his tone scolding.
"Then why don't you do it?" Yamato countered, crossing his arms and leaning down to Mitsuki's level. A teasing smirk adorned his face. For a moment, Mitsuki could do nothing but stare at Yamato with a blank face. Then he heaved a heavy sigh pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Guess I'll have to do it", Mitsuki breathed, rubbing his neck, eyebrows creased. Better him than anyone else, if he was honest with himself. He was thankful that, in Iori's case, their parents had taken that role before they had moved into the dorm. He still remembered the embarrassment when he had been on the receiving end of that talk. He wasn't looking forward to it all that much, but it had to be done. His reluctance must have shown considering what happened next.
"If Nī-san doesn't want to do it, I will do it", Iori proposed. While his voice was steady, his eyes were shut, and a light blush dusted his cheeks. A bout of stunned silence.
"Ah, you, you shouldn't have to do that, Iori-kun", Sōgo stammered, eyes flitting back and forth with nervous energy.
"Ah, don't get me wrong, you're very mature, but this matter should be taken care of by the adults", Sōgo added hastily. He almost started rambling if not for an interruption.
"Oh, but wouldn't Riku feel more comfortable discussing something like that with someone he's close with? He is closest to Iori after all", Nagi interjected. Meanwhile, the managers looked on, torn between worrying about where this was heading and amusement. Re:vale and Gaku, on the other hand, were just plain amused.
No one paid any attention to Ryū, who was listening to the conversation with a nervous smile plastered onto his face. Sitting at the table, his elbow was propped up on its surface, his hand covering half his face. There was no way he would dare tell them that their conversation, its topic, in particular, was futile at this point.
If he did, it would cause an uproar. Not to mention that he would have to explain the reason. Which would lead to questions he didn't want to answer. And those answers could get him killed. Or at least bring him a world of pain. The best he could do right now was to keep a cool head and brave whatever was heading his way. With that in mind, he decided to tune back into the conversation going on.
"Instead of fighting about, why not just do it together?" Tamaki, who had been silent up until then, suggested, causing everyone to look at him in surprise.
"Might as well. Saves us the energy of arguing about who will have to do it and we can cover for each other", Yamato said with a shrug. Looks were exchanged between the members of IDOLiSH7 before murmurs of agreement left each of them. Ryū wanted to crawl under a rock.
The door of Ten's room shut with a soft click behind Ten and Riku. Ten dragged his younger twin towards the bed, where he pushed him down by the shoulders to sit at the edge. Riku, who had been silent the entire time, looked up at his twin with enquiring eyes, unsure of what was to happened next.
Ten, however, didn't say a word and started pacing up and down in front of a confused Riku. However, the redhead chose to stay silent, well aware of the tension radiating from his elder twin. The silent pacing lasted for several minutes during which Riku observed his brother trying to figure out what was going through his mind. Then, after what felt like an eternity, Ten stopped in front of Riku, placing his hands back onto Riku's shoulder in a tight grip.
"Riku, listen carefully. You can't do stuff like this. Especially with Ryū", Ten lectured, voice stern. Pink orbs stared into crimson ones.
"Eh? Why?" Riku asked tilting his head to the side not understanding why his brother was bothered by his relationship with Ryū. An exasperated sigh left Ten as he closed his eyes for a brief moment and let his head dip forward.
"Think about your schedules. We're on a joint tour, but you are members of two different idol groups. Your schedules won't leave any time for spending time together, which will lead to your relationship suffering and breaking", Ten explained, his eyes boring into Riku's with an odd intensity.
"I think we'll manage to work around that. There's video chatting and our agencies are in the same city. And there's a number of celebrities who've managed their relationships just fine despite the hectic schedule. Like Kurosawa Haru and Fukui Jūrō, among others", Riku responded with startling ease and certainty, as if he either had heard the argument before or at least thought about the issue. Ten opened his mouth to counter but found that he had no counter-argument. He closed his mouth, staring at his younger twin for a moment, before heaving another sigh.
"All right, but what about your image? We know Ryū's not the womanising ero-ero beast the media portrays him to be, but it's what the public thinks of him. For the most part. It could affect your image in a negative way", Ten advised, letting go of Riku's shoulders and resuming his pacing.
"You could be seen as 'easy' by the public, a traitor by fellow idols for breaking the no-dating clause and by fans for fraternising with a rival group. The media will pick apart each collab between our groups saying you slept your way into the industry given TRIGGER's fame", Ten claimed, his voice becoming more heated as he went on. It was clear that he was working himself into a frenzy. Even when he continued his pacing, despite having stopped his small rant, Riku waited with patience until he came to a stop and faced him again.
"Neither IDOLiSH7 nor TRIGGER have a no-dating clause in their contracts. We made sure of it. Our own fans are quite fond of our groups being friends. As for the other points, that will only happen if anyone outside our circle of friends and agencies finds out", Riku returned with the same ease, not losing his calm as most would expect him to, and stared at his brother with the stubbornness he was so well known for among their friends. He heaved a small sigh on his own.
"I admit I was a bit careless this morning", Riku acknowledged after a small pause. He had been berating himself for the better part of the day when he hadn't been busied by other things.
"But what if you are found out?" Ten shot back, unable to keep his worry from his voice any longer.
"That won't happen unless we slip up in public or any of you tell someone. We didn't just start dating yesterday. Now that all of you know, it might actually be easier to keep it hidden with everyone's support", Riku argued rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. He loved his brother, but this was proving to become an annoyance. Even more so since he was tired from a day of hard work and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep on the soft mattress of a bed at this point.
"He's too old for you", Ten sighed, rubbing his face with a hand. The almost whining tone would have been comical to Riku if it hadn't reminded him of what he had walked in on earlier. Now knowing what had been going on, Riku suppressed a shudder. His brother had seemed rather upset with Ryū at the time.
"We're only five years apart. I'm above the age of consent. I'm not a kid anymore either and Ryū-san isn't some sort of predator. He always makes sure I'm comfortable with what we are doing and that we are moving at my pace", Riku defended, no less stubborn than before. However, tiredness was beginning to creep into his voice after the long day he had had. Ten's pacing resumed. Riku wished that hey could have had this conversation the following day instead. The positive side of having it now was that it would be over with.
As Ten's pacing continued and didn't look like he was about to stop, Riku flopped back onto the bed. What he wouldn't give to be in his own room, or even Ryū's, and be able to curl up beneath warm and soft blankets. While it was summer, their current stop was one of the northern cities and as such colder in temperatures. Their rooms did have heating but being surrounded by soft blankets was so much more comfortable. Just the thought of his comfortable bed made his eyes feel heavy.
"The potential physical strain on your body with everything could be dangerous to your health. Our schedules as idols are demanding", Ten exclaimed without a warning, startling Riku out of dozing off. He propped himself up his elbows to look at his twin, who had stopped with his back to Riku.
"IDOLiSH7 already debuted and I doubt the schedule can get a lot more demanding than what we have already experienced. Plus, believe it or not, I learnt my lesson the last time", Riku said with exasperation. He wouldn't dare presume that they had already experienced the limits of how stressful their schedules can get, but Takanashi Productions was an agency that looked after the well-being of their talents.
"I'm not talking about that. Well, sort of but……there's……it's……", Ten vacillated with a sudden reluctance as he turned around to face Riku. Was that a blush Riku could see on his brother's pale features? The expression his twin was wearing almost seemed shy. As he studied Ten's expression, he waited for his brother to continue since he had no idea what else his brother could be talking about.
The seconds ticked by. Ten's eyes flitted around the room, never settling on Riku for more than a brief moment, while he seemed to have a mental argument with himself. At some point, the blush on his cheeks spread and deepened. When he appeared to have found his resolve, at last, Riku was unsure of how much time had passed.
"I'm……I'm talking about s-sex", Ten spit out his face flaming. For a brief moment, Riku wondered if that was how he had looked this morning when he had realised his state of dress. It took him a moment longer to process the actual words because of how tired he felt.
"Huh?" Riku vocalised as his tired brain caught up the conversation. He could do nothing but blink in confusion, not sure what sex had to with all of this. Ten made strangled noise in response. Riku couldn't tell if it was exasperation, something else or a mix of something he couldn't identify.
"S-sex is a rigorous activity that will put an additional strain on your body. A-anal sex even more so. And Ryū's strong. What if loses control by accident. There's no way he won't leave bruises then. Or cause unintended injuries. Which will both be bad for your health and cause an uproar if seen by others", Ten ranted, seeming unable to stop once he got over his initial reluctance. For the third time, he started pacing in the middle of his speech. It was starting to make Riku's head spin.
Riku exhaled a heavy breath. He hoped that what he was about to do wouldn't make things worse or drag the conversation out even further. He got up from the bed and stepped into Ten's path while he was still pacing, bringing him to a still stand. This time it was Riku who put his hands onto Ten's shoulders.
"Ten-nī, I really appreciate your worry for me, and I understand your concerns. But I love Ryū-san more than I can put in words. I want to be with him and I'm willing to fight for that and brave any challenges coming our way. He makes me happy", Riku declared, voice soft as he put his forehead against Ten's. Their eyes locked. For a while, neither moved. Then, Ten closed his eyes, breaking the staring contest, and heaved a sigh.
"You're such a stubborn one", Ten commented, cracking his right eye open. Riku knew better than to argue with that statement, instead gracing his brother with a smile.
"All right. But promise me to be careful", Ten conceded and took a step backwards, putting distance between them. A blinding, if not slightly tired, smile was Riku response. Ten shook his head in an exasperated manner.
"Go on. I'm sure your group mates also want to talk to you", Ten mentioned nodding towards the door. Riku gave him another blinding smile before heading out of the room. It wouldn't be until much later that he would remember having forgot to sit his brother down for a more detailed version of the talk.
Riku had just planned to go to his room, get into bed and fall asleep. He had not expected to find his group mates and Re:vale waiting for him in front of his room. Would he be able to sit through another discussion or lecture of his relationship with Ryū? He was starting to have trouble staying awake.
In the end, Riku decided it was better to get it over with and let them into his room. While they made themselves comfortable, he changed into his nightwear knowing he was likely to fall asleep anytime now. After that, he sat down on the bed, cross-legged, and took one of the huge pillows to use as a make-shift teddy bear.
"All right, Riku. In light of this morning's incident, we've decided that it's time to tell you about the birds and the bees", Mitsuki announced with his usual energetic disposition. While Riku gave only a slow blink on the outside, immense relief flooded him. He didn't doubt that he one or other person would want to discuss, interrogate or lecture him about his relationship with Ryu at a later point, but it appeared that tonight was just about being given the talk.
"And Iori and Tamaki are here for that, why……?" Riku asked, face blank as his eyes darted to the aforementioned pair before settling back onto Mitsuki. He couldn't care less about them being here, but it was still odd.
"They both already got the talk and we decided to do it together", Yamato chipped in but didn't elaborate on the reasons any further. Riku shrugged in response resting his chin on top of the pillow in his arms. Mitsuki then took a deep breath.
"First off, general information that applies regardless of what your partner's gender or biological sex is. Safe sex. Use condoms. If you're considering going without, make sure both your partner and you get tested before forgoing them", Mitsuki pointed out with an unusually clinical voice followed by a strong exhale. His face was dusted red. Yamato tried to hold back a chortle but failed, which earned him an elbow to the ribs from Mitsuki.
Riku just hummed to show that he was listening. Or at least trying to. It was tempting for him to just tune out the entire conversation. However, he knew better. Iori would give him an earful about caring for his health and safety if he ignored the conversation.
"Also, don't let yourself be talked into anything you don't want to do. Exploring is okay, but make sure to tell your partner to slow down or stop when you don't feel comfortable with something", Nagi added with a rare seriousness as Mitsuki seemed to gather himself for the next part. Out of the corner of his eyes, Riku could see both members of Re:vale giving approving nods.
"Now. Since you're dating a man, there's a couple of things you need to keep in mind for when the two of you decide to have sex. Number one. Start slow and use lots of lube. Number two. Make sure that whoever is on the receiving is relaxed enough. Number three. Make sure to do enough prepping. Either with fingers or toys. They all serve to avoid injuries", Mitsuki listed holding up a finger for each item he mentioned. Somehow, he managed to keep eye contact with Riku the entire time. Sōgo and Iori's faces were flaming red as they listened, while Yamato sported a Cheshire grin. Nagi and Tamaki seemed unbothered by the topic. Momo and Yuki, on the other hand, were beaming with pride. For what reason, Riku didn't know.
"And last, but not least, number four. Do research and don't hesitate to ask questions if you are unsure about something", Mitsuki added.
"O-nī-san can get you a couple of erotic gay magazines for research", Yamato offered with a cheeky grin and thumbs up.
"That's not proper research material!" Mitsuki chastised turning to face IDOLiSH7's leader, his usual energetic behaviour resurfacing. The serious atmosphere broke as laughter filled the room. Even Riku, who felt like dropping dead any moment now, joined in with some chuckles.
"I'm surprised, though, that you are so well informed about this", Sōgo commented when the laughter had died down.
"Our parents are very open-minded and made sure to prepare us for regardless of whether we would end up with a girlfriend or a boyfriend", Iori explained, cheeks still dusted pink.
"Or even if they turned out to be transgender", Mitsuki supplied with a shrug of his shoulders. Nagi made an awed noise in response.
"Riku, I have some books I can lend you and I know a couple of stores that might be helpful", Momo chimed in drawing everyone's attention to the two eldest people in the room. Riku gave him a thumbs up and a tired smile.
"Do you have any question at the moment?" Yuki, to everyone's surprise, asked with a gentle smile. Riku shook his head and tightened his hold on his pillow.
"I think Rikkun's tired", Tamaki said having watched Riku for most of the time during the conversation. Riku hummed in acknowledgement.
"In that case, I think we should leave it at that for today. Besides, we still have something else to take care of", Yamato hummed. Riku, who was already half asleep by now, missed the questioning looks from everyone else and the responding shake of the head from Yamato indicating he would tell them later.
Everyone bid Riku a good night before leaving the room. Once the door fell shut, Riku flopped down onto the bed. It was tempting to fall asleep right there and then, with his legs hanging off the bed. He knew, though, that he would regret it in the morning. For that reason, he gathered the last of his energy and crawled under the covers, where he fell asleep almost instantly.
With a soft click, the door closed behind Ryū. Leaning against the door, he was still shaken from the shovel talks he had got minutes earlier from the others. The only one who had taken pity on him had been Gaku. Pushing off from the door, he toed off his shoes making his way to the bed, where his boyfriend was sleeping soundly despite the light still being on.
Ryū stripped down to his underwear, draped his clothes over the armchair next to the bed. Then, he opened the bedside table drawer to pull out a pair of sweatpants Riku kept there for him. Once he had put them on, he slipped beneath the sheets and turned off the lights.
Turning to face Riku, Ryū wrapped his arms around his sleeping boyfriend and tangled their legs together, curling up with his boyfriend. A groggy mumble left Riku.
''Sorry, did I wake you up?" Ryū murmured as he nuzzled Riku's forehead. He was starting to relax, now that he had his boyfriend in his arms, the tension and discomfort that had been mounting during the day draining away.
"Is fine", Riku murmured, voice filled with sleep, tilting his head to rub their noses together. Ryū stole a quick kiss from his boyfriend, which earned him a sleepy giggle. All the glares, threats and lectures had been more than worth it. He adored Riku more than anything.
"I love you", Ryū breathed as Riku's head settled on his collarbone. One of Ryū's hands found its way into Riku's hair, raking through it.
"Love you, too", Riku returned snuggling into Ryū, seeking as much contact as he could. Which Ryū was more than happy to give him. It was then, that he remembered what had started the day's events to begin with.
"You looked damn good in my shirt", Ryū whispered and kissed the top of Riku's head. It was a shame he hadn't been able to savour the sight. Perhaps he could get Riku to wear it again. Riku's answer was a satisfied purr. Make that definitely. They murmured their good nights and let sleep take them knowing they had another long day ahead of them.