Chapter Text
“Computer-Aided Design Modeling Project: due Friday 11:59pm” flashes across Toru’s mind. It’s Tuesday. His twin brother dragged him to another party suggesting that he lives a little despite the fact that 30% of his grade is on the line. It’s not as if his major is easy such as, let’s say, business, but his brother Satoru pays it no mind.
Tempted to abandon his brother at the party and leave, he thinks over the consequences. He could actually start his project worth a major portion of his grade that requires a long, laborious process of trial and error as well as calculation. Or he could wake up to hundreds of missed calls and an irritated, hungover twin brother banging on his door at 4 in the afternoon. The benefits seem to outweigh the costs, but nevertheless, he pushes off the idea of leaving his brother behind.
Who the hell throws a party on a Tuesday night?! Why the hell are so many people actually attending a party on a Tuesday night?! To answer his own questions, Toru looks around at the guests. The party consists of mostly frat guys and sorority girls, conjoined at the hip and sharing drinks loudly. Otherwise it’s just random arrays of kids all across different majors who happen to enjoy partying at any time of the week.
Even though Satoru had moved into the frat house his freshman year, he still felt the need to drag his brother along to every party he went to. As the reliable, more responsible twin.
And also the person who could convince Toru’s roommate, Suguru to tag along. In accordance with Satoru’s begging for him to do so.
Usually, he just drops in for a second then comes back to pick his brother up, but of course, today of all days, he gets roped into staying longer than he wants to.
So here he is, at a frat party, on a couch in the living room, thinking to himself with a major project due very soon. Not to mention, it took almost an hour to convince Suguru to go with him. He had to come up with an array of stupid reasons to bring him, eventually landing on a desire not to show up to a party alone.
Being the kind person he is, Suguru finally obliged and tagged along, although skeptical of his intentions as it’s very unlikely for him to be going to a party the week he has a huge assignment due.
Unluckily for his brother who had begged him to have his dark haired roommate tag along, the other does not share the same desire to see him. Suguru doesn’t like Satoru. At all. Toru wouldn’t go as far as to say that he hates him, but he certainly would not have shown up to the party with him if he said his brother had asked for him. Honestly, he doesn’t know how he’d react— whether it would be disgust, irritation, or something in between.
Off in the corner he sees his brother likely annoying the shit out of Suguru, and feels bad for him. While mulling over the gravity of his assignment in his head, he feels a red cup tap the side of his head. He looks up to see, undoubtedly the ringleader of the party, Ryoumen Sukuna smirking down at him.
Wafting away his inner thoughts, he takes the cup and thanks him. Immediately after accepting the cup he tilts his head back down to closely examine the floor, after momentary eye contact of course.
Honestly, he’s waiting for the guy to leave, but of course, he sits down next to him and drapes his arm over his shoulder.
“You never stay at my parties this long. What’s the occasion?” he chuckles, radiating an overwhelming smell of beer and weed.
“Satoru asked me to.” is all he says in response, taking a sip of whatever Ryoumen had handed him and coughing immediately.
99% vodka and 1% fruit punch. Typical. The tattooed man laughs at him, patting him on the back. Toru avoids any eye contact and sets the cup down on the floor.
“What, is it too strong for you?” he chuckles more, pulling him closer.
Now being pushed up against the guy, he feels he’s forced to answer.
“Yes.” is all he says, avoiding the incessant gaze he can feel burning into the side of his head. Seriously, he’s staring so hard.
Toru would say something about it but their faces are far too close together for him to comfortably turn around. And who wouldn’t the drink be too strong for?? You might as well drink an entire bottle dyed red. What’s even the point of the fruit punch? Is it just a formality or—
His thoughts are cut off again when Ryoumen speaks.
“Yeah? I’ll make you another one. Gimme your cup.”
Instinctively, Toru turns to face the man next to him, whose arm is still around his shoulder and body pressed next to him. He had forgotten how close they are, and is met with auburn eyes boring into his, their faces not more than an inch away. It’s silent for a couple seconds, and Toru’s eyes widen. His glasses could have easily hit the other’s face if they were any closer.
For those couple of seconds, Ryoumen just stares at him, amused, flicking his gaze down to his lips then back up into his eyes. Noticing the predatory manner in the look he gives him, Toru turns around quickly and goes down to pick up the cup. He feels Sukuna’s large, tattooed arm slip off his shoulder and hands him the cup but doesn’t look back at him.
So here he is, on the couch waiting for Ryoumen Sukuna, who was most definitely flirting with him, to make him a new drink. His hands meet his face in anxiety and irritation. He probably isn’t going to be able to leave early. Maybe leave at all, now that the ringleader’s eyes are apparently set on him even though there's plenty of people he’s already acquainted with around. Man, he’s probably going to get roofied.
Now he can’t think about his project. Now he has to devise some sort of escape plan, but it seems like there’s a slim chance for him, considering the fact that Ryoumen is set on hanging out around him for a while.
Maybe he should just gun it out the door right now. It’s a good idea. A great idea. Ryoumen looks distracted. Fairly drunk and high. Maybe he won’t even remember the ordeal and come after him tomorrow.
Toru chuckles to himself, feeling as though he’s won.
Only to look up and realize that the door is closer to who he’s trying to avoid than it is to himself. The only door near to him leads to a small bathroom. He could hide there, but he doesn’t particularly want to. It’s probably disgustingly dirty in that tiny prison chamber labeled as a bathroom.
He knows because he’s been in it before, to hide from Ryoumen at a party extremely similar to the one he’s currently at. In any case, that time he ended up vomiting so much in the toilet due to the dirtiness of the bathroom combined with overwhelming claustrophobia that Satoru had to drive him home early.
So now, Toru is completely stumped. He takes his glasses off and cleans his handprints off of them, then rubs his eyes and puts them back on. He fights back the overwhelming urge to flip over the couch and bang his head against the wall like a madman.
Lost in his thoughts again, he barely registers the dreaded man returning, who had been watching him rub his eyes and put his glasses back on. When his vision is restored, he looks in front of him to see his red cup in the larger, tanner hand and accepts it with a sigh.
“What’s in this?” he asks, trying to discreetly look inside the cup. He’s not completely worried he’d be drugged, but with the way Ryoumen has been looking at him again, he can’t be too sure.
They’ve had what you’d call “unresolved tension” since high school, having met for the first time in Toru's junior year. Sadly for him they also ended up at the same university, but they aren’t friends by any means. They just see each other around and exchange glances accompanied by small unimportant conversations much like the one they’d just shared on the couch.
To the average viewer it’d seem boring. Between them, it’s almost second nature. A necessary measure. To glance at each other, hunger in one’s eyes and uncertainty in the other’s. To spark up some useless talk any chance they get and sit unbearably close to one another. Almost always touching. Maybe even shrinking past that point of “almost” and actually touching. Arm against arm, leg against leg, an arm around a shoulder, etcetera.
It’s been 4 years now and honestly, Toru doesn’t know how much longer he can take it. Sometimes it’s interesting, sometimes he can’t help but stare back, or brush his arm against Sukuna’s ever so slightly. But usually it feels like he’s being hunted.
Especially when Ryoumen is the last thing he wants on his mind at the moment, academics still clouding majority of his thoughts and worries after he had given up his escape plan.
At least in college he’s caught somewhat of a break from him. And that calm, blissful year left after Ryoumen had graduated. Back in high school he came over more than once every single week, being close friends with his brother and all.
Thinking back on it, he remembers some of the times things went past just tension. Like when they fell asleep next to each other after his brother insisted on Toru staying awake to watch a movie with them. Lying half asleep on the couch, he’d felt Ryoumen snake his hand up his shirt, and just let it happen, too tired to care. Luckily his hand stopped at his stomach, splaying out and pushing him closer. He basically fell asleep in his arms, but it wasn’t really his choice. Moreso the consequence of the other not believing in personal space when it comes to him for some reason.
Or the time he had almost tripped while walking home with the two of them and was caught by Ryoumen’s hand against his chest. Satoru had relentlessly made fun of him the entire day afterwards even though he was already clearly embarrassed. Although thankfully, his brother hasn’t noticed how much tension really lies between them.
There's plenty more. Maybe that time they made out while drunk could have been brought up in his mind, but Toru had chosen to forget about it when he woke up extremely hungover the next morning.
“The same shit. I just drank half of it and added more fruit punch.” Ryoumen sighs, plopping back down next to him with a beer in hand now.
Of course he drank it, what else would he have done? Toru takes a sip. It does taste a lot better. It’s actually drinkable now and doesn’t taste or feel like swallowing rubbing alcohol.
“Thanks.” he says, just sitting there and holding the cup.
Toru would much rather be doing something else. Anything else. Primarily, he wishes he could go home and start his project. After a couple minutes of unbearable silence he glances at the man next to him quickly, who he realizes had been staring at him. Again.
“Staring is rude. What do you want?” he sighs, exasperated.
Sukuna hadn’t expected him to say anything about it as he rarely does, so he laughs a little, surprised but also amused at his forwardness.
Then he leans in and whispers in his ear.
“Lets go upstairs, Toru.”
—
Satoru doesn’t care if Suguru looks like he’d rather shit in his hands and clap than continue talking to him. He’s not going to give up, nor is he going to be deterred. He is entirely determined to make Suguru fall for him. Sure, it’s been two years and he’s only become less and less fond of him, but he doesn’t care. That means nothing. He can still achieve his goal.
Looks aside, he reasons that he’s plenty charming. It’s only a matter of time, is what he says to himself. Despite the arrays of “huh” and “I see” you only really say when you desperately want the person talking to you to shut their mouth and leave, Satoru continues talking to Suguru.
He’s cut off after a couple more minutes, the dark haired man finally finding the suffering unbearable.
“Did you ask Toru to take me with him?” he interjects, dark, scrutinizing eyes peering at the stupid expression on Satoru’s face.
“I…yes. I did.” he rubs the back of his neck and chuckles awkwardly, looking down at his cup and finally stopping with his word vomit.
He comforts himself internally by repeatedly thinking that he only responded like an idiot because he was caught off guard.
Suguru knows full well that Satoru has a crush on him. He’s definitely attractive, no doubt about it, but he’s an insanely annoying rude asshole. For him, Satoru’s looks aren’t convincing enough. Otherwise, he’d probably already be dating Toru.
Aside from that, he also finds him to be an arrogant, egotistical, jerk manwhore. Why would he give a guy who’s probably fucked more than half of the girls at this party a chance? So he sighs, annoyed, and takes a sip of his drink. It’s outrageously strong, but he’s fine with that. Hard liquor might be necessary for him to get through a night avoiding Satoru’s advances again.
“So…you came even though you knew?” the man asks quietly, peering down at him.
His big blue eyes are kind of irritating.
But at least he doesn’t look arrogant at the moment. Moreso curious and hopeful.
“I came for Toru, because I knew you’d keep harassing him if he didn’t bring me.” he shrugs in response.
Satoru feels very, very jealous of his brother when it comes to Suguru. Not only does he literally live with him, but he makes him laugh and gets to see him smile. He’s already tried asking his brother what the guy likes but he can’t pry anything of much use out. Whenever he tries to use what he knows, it never works anyways. Suguru always either looks at him deadpan, or annoyed. He doesn’t exactly know how to make him like him.
Now, he’s starting to feel deterred instead of momentarily crushed, considering he now knows that Suguru has been aware of his intentions.
It’s not fair. He wants to be close with him like his brother is.
It’s not fair at all, because his brother doesn’t even like him.
Satoru has thought about it over and over again despite Toru completely rejecting the idea, but If Suguru likes him…he might have to take drastic measures. Implement Plan B: set his brother up with someone. Fast. Eliminate his only competition, who isn’t even interested in the contest or the prize.
“I see. You came for Toru. Well, if you did, there’s something I need your help with concerning him.” Satoru manages to hide his jealousy and sound as serious as possible.
This is the moment of truth. If Suguru refuses, he definitely likes him, so he’ll just have to make his brother break his heart so he has nobody else to turn to but the guy who’s conveniently his identical twin. If he accepts, then the two will have no choice but to work together in an attempt to fix his brother’s pathetic, deflated, neglected love life and spend so much time together that Suguru will end up falling for him along the way. It’s flawless. Impeccable.
“Really? And that is?” he responds sarcastically. Of course he doesn’t believe him.
“Look at him. Look how sad and lonely he looks on that couch over there. The only people he has to talk to here are us: me being his brother and you being his roommate. Oh, and Sukuna, but ignore his presence, he doesn’t count. It’s so depressing. It makes me feel bad for him. And because I love my dear, younger, nerdy brother, I can’t help but want to set him up with someone. And I need your help as his roommate to convince him to go out and give me intel on his thoughts and feelings. So, what do you say?”
Suguru watches him speak, realizes that he’s entirely serious, and laughs. Satoru can’t help but blush a little at the sight.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll help you.”
—
Little did they know, Toru was already in a (somewhat) love life predicament of his own.
“What. What? What?!” flashes across his brain after hearing Ryoumen’s words. He’s entirely stunned but feels his face heat up slightly when he feels the man’s weight shift off the couch.
“Why…what’s upstairs?” he asks quietly, sounding innocent against his own will.
He’s scared, really. He has plans of doing his project, and isn’t trying to spend his Tuesday night with a jaw full of dick.
The older guy manages to stifle his laughter, but before he can respond, Satoru loudly walks up to his brother. It seems like Toru’s roommate is next to him. Ryoumen wants to strangle his friend at the moment.
“Toru! Suguru and I are going to set you up on a blind date!” he says to his brother, smiling.
So his idiotic plan of playing matchmaker in an attempt to woo Suguru is in effect, is what Toru thinks. But, considering the circumstances, he’s so happy to see his brother. He feels as if his twin and roommate are his guardian angels at that moment.
So he tries to ignore the terrifying presence of Ryoumen looming over him and gets up quickly. He wants to hug his brother.
“Sure! Sure. Haha…” he laughs nervously, excited at having been saved but anxiously conscious of Sukuna, despite attempting to ignore his presence.
With a quick glance Toru can see that he looks pissed. Extremely pissed. It’s not like it’s the first time Satoru’s cockblocked him. Silently, he thanks his brother for every time he has.
This could go a number of ways. Either he successfully is able to escape and go talk awkwardly to random frat girls, or Ryoumen loses it and takes his jealousy out on him for no particular reason. There’s a plethora of things that could happen then. All of them are petty.
There’s also the possibility of Satoru being chased away, and him being left alone again. With him. The guy who looks like he wants to tear his brother’s organs out and eat them.
“Sorry, Satoru. I’m actually talking to Toru right now. You’ll have to talk to him about this little date he’s so eager to attend later.” Ryoumen is smiling but he isn’t at all amused.
Even his smile looks livid. His tone is far from friendly, entering the realm of aggression more than anything.
“No! It’s actually not that serious, Satoru!” he yells out, startled and just trying to get away from the situation.
Thankfully nobody is really paying attention to the extremely embarrassing scene, is what Toru thinks to himself at the moment. It’s extremely loud in the room, a mix of laughter and conversation with blaring music drowns out their little predicament.
Yeah, he’s utterly fucked now. Probably literally. When the tattooed man’s face twitches slightly, he realizes he’s achieving nothing. Then he opens his mouth to speak and Toru prepares for the worst.
“Actually, Toru, I’m tired. We should go home for the night. It’s been nice, Satoru.” Suguru says calmly, interrupting the man from speaking and patting his brother on the shoulder while smiling understandingly.
He really doesn’t want to deal with Satoru’s antics at the moment and can sense how angry the twin’s presence is making Sukuna.
Even the guardian angel Suguru can’t save him when all he hears from Ryoumen is his name sternly. Nothing else. Then he’s really put on the spot.
He glances between his brother’s pleading eyes, Suguru’s reassuring ones, and skips the last person. This is all too much for him to handle. How the hell is he supposed to choose and escape and minimize damage and—
“I’m tired. I’m going home, I’m not going on or talking about a date, and I have a project to do.” he ends up mumbling rapidly.
That being said, he just hands his cup to his brother and turns around to walk out the door. He’s so done.
Looking at things rationally, he reasons that he’s now properly achieved Satoru’s goal of talking to Suguru, and escaped from Ryoumen.
As he shuts the door behind him he feels a little bit better. That is, until someone’s hand grips his wrist before he can make it to the elevator.
Now he’s irritated. When he hears his name again he can’t help but yell.
“Okay, fine!”
And so Toru’s limit has been reached and he’s too tired and irritated and stressed to care about anything. And so he drags the man he had previously been avoiding into the bathroom next to the elevator, locking the door behind him.