Three is Enough for a Party

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/42198630.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Relationship: Kaedehara Kazuha/Scaramouche/Shikanoin Heizou,
Scaramouche/Shikanoin Heizou, Kaedehara Kazuha/Shikanoin Heizou,
Kaedehara Kazuha/Scaramouche, Minor or Background
Relationship(s)
Character: Shikanoin Heizou, Kaedehara Kazuha, Scaramouche (Genshin Impact),
Venti (Genshin Impact), Xiao | Alatus (Genshin Impact), Tighnari
(Genshin Impact), Cyno (Genshin Impact), Kuki Shinobu
Additional Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, Semi-Public Sex, 4NEMO Fanon Band
(Genshin Impact), - Aether, world tour, PTSD, Panic Attacks, The
perfect balance between sexy and angsty, Slow Burn, Angst, Fluff
(maybe?!), Xiao’s got insomnia, Scaramouche has a small dick,
Heizou’s got a massive crush, Scaramouche a wingman and a love
interest????, Depressed Scaramouche (Genshin Impact), Scara
bottoms for both of them, Heizou and Kazuha switch, Singing, stage
performances, Threesome - M/M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be
Added, Venti and Xiao are in an established relationship, Is Heizou
being into S&M + Bondage OOC???
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2022-10-06 Updated: 2023-01-12 Chapters: 13/15 Words:
140575

Three is Enough for a Party

by MikaelasMayhem

Summary

What happens when the guy you just had an amazing one night stand with ends up
becoming your unannounced manager?

Heizou would know seeing as he just shared a passionate night in the bathroom of a club,
dick buried in Scaramouche’s ass before waking up the next morning fully expecting to
have nothing to do with him again. Haha. Oh, was he ever so very wrong.

Now @MikaelasMayhem on tw!!

Notes

I like how I said I’d take a break and it hasn’t even been a month. I like how I also said this
would only be like 12k words, but here we are. If you don’t know me, I’m Mikaela :] Just
 call me Mika. I hope you enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the work for more notes

 Small World
Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Fuck, Heizou is so in love. With who? His best friend of four years. He’s been in love with Kazuha
since the day he first laid eyes on him in that group assigning by his record label. It’s been a while
since Kazuha first sauntered into his life and completely took over his mind with his everything.

The way he thinks, the way he smiles, the way he walks, and the way he talks— all of it has
Heizou completely entranced and it’s making him extremely frustrated. Sexually frusterated. He
often times spends his nights tossing in bed with an aching, burning design deep within his groin
that’s telling him he needs Kazuha there in his arms right now, but he never acts on it.

No, he would never act on it because acting on it opens an opportunity for a change in their current
relationship. And normally with these types of situations, that change is for the worse, not for the
better. So, what decides to do instead, is hit up a club. No harm in sedating his desire, right? Right.

So, with one final glance in the mirror, Heizou runs a hand through his hair, messing it up a bit
before heading out the door. All his roommates should be asleep right now— his roommates being
Venti, the lead singer, Xiao, the lead guitarist and Venti’s boyfriend, and finally, Kazuha, their
second guitarist and also the keyboard player, Heizou’s crush. With this in him, he slips out
quietly, making sure he makes as little noise as possible before hailing a cab and heading straight
for that club.

That burning desire is still a hot flame within him right now and it only grows and grows the more
he lets his mind wander off to Kazuha. If it weren’t for the fact that the driver can see him right
now he might’ve just started jacking off right in the backseat of this cab. But he has morals (a lie).

The car ride isn’t that short considering their apartment building is in the dead center of the city,
with lights lighting up the night sky in every which way and cars honking all. The. Damn. Time .
It’s so fucking annoying but Heizou manages by playing some soft music as he sleeps. Any noise
when he’s trying to rest is enough to wake him up. Cruse him for being such a light sleeper.

When the taxi comes to a stop Heizou impatiently throws cash at the driver hoping that’s enough
(it probably is more than enough by the way the driver’s gasps and giggles say anything) before
slamming the door behind him and speed walking into the club. The bouncers don’t even need to
glance twice at Heizou before letting him cut the entire line and letting him in which results in a
bunch of curses being through his way.
He just chuckles to himself with a smirk, tossing his hands in his pockets as his heart races the
louder and louder the music gets. It’s so dark in here and it smells like alcohol and sweat, but that’s
perfect for exactly what Heizou is looking for. Maybe he should have gone to a strip club to get a
quicker lay, but he thinks the people there are more likely to not be clean. Don’t get Heizou wrong,
it’s fine if you got a little musk to you, but he’d prefer if he came back mostly smelling like himself
and preferably without any STDs despite using a condom.

When he enters the main room where the music is loudest and the smell is strongest he can see a
mass of people all crowding around each other, making out and almost borderline dry-fucking, but
hey, he can’t judge, he’s here to do the exact same thing. Sauntering over to the bar, Heizou grabs
himself a drink and heads out to the dance floor immediately slotting himself right in. Did he forget
to mention this was a gay club?

He can already feel the eyes of multiple men on him whether they wanted to fuck or be fucked by
him he could tell purely by where they looked at him. Most guys that wanted to fuck him would
stare at his ass or face, while those who wanted to be fucked by him would stare at his dick or
hands. Lucky for all parties, Heizou is fine with either situation.

Almost instantly after he’s set foot on the dance floor a guy that’s almost the same height as him
makes his way into Heizou’s space, drink in hand and pupils blown impossibly wide. “Heyy,
you’re such a hottie, are you looking for a fun night?” he giggles, running his hand up Heizou’s
chest and to his shoulder as Heizou rests his free hand on the dude’s waist.

“So what if I am? ‘Think you’re worth a chance?” Heizou challenges. He prefers if his partners
have some confidence in themselves and can candle a bit of harsh teasing. S&M is something he’s
recently discovered to be an interest of his as well as bondage. It all started when their record label
had Kazuha wear this really flattering red outfit with skin tight shorts and these really fucking hot
red stockings, god Heizou loved those.

The red went so nicely with Kazuha’s pale, soft skin, and the way the outfit hugged his body made
Heizou wanna do all sorts of different things to the man from telling him how fucking gorgeous he
is to making sure he knows he looks like a slut in those clothes. Oh, how it turned him on high.

The guy before him falters for a second and that’s when Heizou knows from here on that he is
definitely not sleeping with this man. Sensing this, the dude tries to make up for his mistake, but he
stutters, “I-- I’ve got more than just what meets the eye! If we just slipped away right now maybe I
could show you exactly what you’re missing,” the stranger tries, but Heizou has already lost
interest, taking a lazy sip from his drink and removing his hand from the guy’s waist.

Seeing that Heizou lost interest, the stranger scoffs and pushes his chest away from him, cursing
under his breath as he storms out of the room. Heizou just chuckles to himself and takes another sip
as his eyes scan the room and land on the perfect person.

Heizou can tell this next stranger won’t let him down like the previous one from the way the guy
keeps his eyes locked with Heizou’s over his glass from across the room. So, swerving through the
crowd, the redhead makes haste over to where his going-to-be lay for the night is. When he comes
up on the man, he realizes that he’s just a bit shorter than Heizou with a slender face and beautiful
deep blue eyes. His haircut is.. questionable but somehow the guy manages to pull it off.

“Hey, I hope I read your invite correctly,” Heizou speaks first, maintaining eye contact with the
beautiful petite stranger. Said stranger chuckles, taking Heizou’s hand placing it on his waist. The
way he could easily press his fingers into the boy’s back and thumbs into his waist drives Heizou
insane just imagining how easily he’ll be able to control him.

“That you did, but let’s not get too confident now. What makes you think you’ve made it just
because I invited you over here,” the stranger taunts, clearly having witnessed what went down just
a minute ago. Heizou feels heat rush to his groin, so he presses their hips together, causing the man
before him to suck in a sharp, pleasured breath.

“That’s what,” Heizou smirks, downing the rest of his drink placing it on the tray of a passing
waitress, watching as the stranger does the same. “Call me Shikanoin, by the way,” he says,
spinning the stranger around in his hold so they can walk to the main part of the dance floor better.
The stranger's eyes grow slightly wide before he tilts his head.

“Is that an Inazuman name?” he asks, placing his forearms at rest atop Heizou’s shoulders,
crossing his wrists behind the taller’s head. Heizou’s interest is now thoroughly piqued as he lets
his hands fall to the stranger’s waist, giving it a squeeze which causes the man to shudder.

“And if it is?” Heizou teases, watching the way man’s eyes close for a second to control himself
with the way Heizou is touching him. The crowd seems to have dispersed somewhat but still not
enough to allow them too much room in this sweaty, alcohol-smelling place.

“Always games with you, huh?” The stranger says, a smirk gracing his lips with is bordering on a
scowl. If he wants to play the sass game, Heizou can play it too and there is nothing but sass in
Heizou’s body right now. So, he pulls the stranger in by his hips and slips the tip of his fingers into
the top of the man’s waistband.

Heizou huffs out a laugh at the way the stranger seethes, clearly trying not to give in just yet. “Yes,
it’s an Inazuman name. And as for yourself?” Heizou asks, fully not expecting a reply, but he’s
slightly surprised when he actually gets a decent one.
“I’m Inazuman as well, but just for that you don’t get my name, you get my nickname. Call me
Scara,” he replies, bringing Heizou’s neck down so they are more at eye level as he speaks in just a
loud enough voice to be considered a whisper amongst the cacophony of sounds. Heizou smirks,
letting his fingers dip just a bit lower.

“Okay, Scara, you look really fucking sexy right now. Is Scara short for something?” Heizou
speaks, swaying them to the beat of the music as he pulls back from Scara and spins him before
replanting his hands on the man’s waist. His blue eyed companion giggles at the action, letting his
hands fall to Heizou’s shoulders instead of behind his head.

“Scaramouche,” he says and Heizou pauses, face scrunching up in confusion, but Scaramouche can
see the question coming from a mile away so he just sighs. “Yes, like from the song,” he speaks
and Heizou chuckles, smirking down at him.

“I didn’t even say anything,” the redhead speaks, smirk crossing his lips as his eyes glint with a
hint of mischief. Scaramouche just gives him a deadpan expression which causes Heizou to
actually laugh this time.

“See? You didn’t have to, it was written all over your face,” Scaramouche sighs and Heizou
chuckles, placing one hand on Scara’s lower back and the other on his cheek. Grabbing his chin as
he pulls him in close to speak in breaths against his lips.

“Yeah, okay, but that’s enough with the talking, let's go do what we came here to do,” Heizou
replies, and with that they’re off. Taking Scaramouche by the wrist he drags the smaller man
through the crowd feverly as he shoves him into the bathroom and locks the door.

Immediately Scaramouche is on him, pulling his shirt loose from where it’s tucked halfway into his
pants and running his hands up Heizou’s chest. Heizou reacts just the same, slamming Scara’s back
against the wall of the bathroom mirror— the one for outfit checks, not the one for the sink— as
his lips clash with Scara’s.

He normally doesn’t kiss strangers for fear of whatever the fuck could be in their mouths, but this
dude is too hot not to ravenge and ravenge he plans to do. So, slipping his tongue down
Scaramouche’s throat, he lets his hands slide into the waistband of his pants again. This time he
pulls them right down and surprisingly they come off so easily, causing the blue eyed boy to gasp
at the chill of the air.
Scara’s hands explore Heizou’s body, running up his toned chest to gripping at the front of
Heizou’s pants. “I trust you came prepared?” Heizou asks between kisses, grabbing their dicks and
giving them a few strokes together. This causes Scaramouche to mewl in between kisses.

“I wouldn’t exactly be a good quick fuck if I didn’t, now would I?” Scaramouche replies, gasping
when Heizou presses a hand to his neck, not choking him, but enough to give the sensation. The
redhead’s smile is absent, but Scaramouche’s smirk is wider than ever. The way Heizou glares at
the shorter from underneath his bangs, frown the deepest it’s been all night turns Scaramouche on
so fucking much.

Heizou presses his entire body weight against Scaramouche against the mirror, taking advantage of
their position to grip his chin, turning his face to the side. He nips and bites at the stranger’s neck,
fully intending to leave marks even though he usually never does such a thing to a stranger.

Heizou’s free hand snakes behind the little shit as checks for himself just how well prepared
Scaramouche is, but when his finger tips brush on metal the redhead pauses. His smirk returns as
he buries his face deep in Scaramouche’s neck, “hah.. fuck..,” Heizou mumbles with a breathy
laugh, grinding his knee that’s between Scara’s legs against his hard cock.

Scaramouche smirks, panting out of breath from all the kissing as he eyes Heizou the best he can
from still being forcefully turned away from him. The metal butt plug buried deep in his ass has
been keeping him nice and stretched for whoever he deemed to be a fit match all night. He’s
ecstatic that that person happens to be hot as fuck and totally into rough play a.k.a Shikanoin.

Once he’s sure that he won’t just flip Scaramouche over and fuck him senseless (he’ll do that in a
second), he grabs the end of the ass plug and moves it in and out of Scaramouche’s hole, thriving
off the way the stranger’s knees buckle as he grasps Heizou to keep from falling. The redhead
doesn’t stop, though, he keeps thrusting it in and out of Scaramouche until he’s leaking precum and
his face is fully flushed, eyes glazed over with lust.

Heizou resumes his adventure of leaving hickies down Scaramouche’s neck when the stranger
decides to grip his cock and begin pleasuring the redhead as well. The redhead rolls his hips
against Scara’s, causing the man to moan, head falling back in Heizou’s hold.

Speeding up the pace, Heizou makes sure the butt plug hits as deep as it can and when he’s sure
Scara is about to cum with how loud he’s being, Heizou rips the plug from his ass and catches him
when his knees buckle. “ O—ohh.. shit.. ,” he moans, hands trembling where they’re gripped
around Heizou’s cock . Scaramouche pants as Heizou tosses the butt plug aside, stripping off his
and Scara’s pants completely. When he goes to remove Scara’s shirt he’s stopped. “Leave it on.
That’s my one request,” Scara pants, face completely fucked out already.
And who could say no to that? He’s being so good for him so far, so what’s the harm? Heizou
nods, dropping the man’s shirt back down and flipping him around roughly so he’s facing the
mirror on the wall. Scaramouche’s cheeks immediately alight with flame as he ducks his head, but
Heizou is quick to wrap a hand around his chin and force him to look at his reflection.

“Spread your legs for me, Scara— if you wanna act like a little slut with that butt plug I’m gonna
treat you like one,” he finishes, knocking the strangers feet apart with his foot. He fishes out a
condom from his pocket and rips it open with his teeth as he grinds against Scara’s backside,
causing him to moan.

Removing his hand from the man’s chin, Heizou slides the condom down his cock and places a
hand on his waist as he uses the other to guide himself inside. This is all after applying some saliva
to help the intrusion, of course. Scara’s eyes widen as his jaw drops, breath hitching, but Heizou
doesn’t stop until he’s fully situated deep inside his partner.

They stay like the for a moment before Scara’s cheek that’s pressed against the mirror becomes too
boring, so Heizou grabs the stranger’s wrists and holds them behind his back as he begins to thrust
in and out of him.

Scaramouche immediately becomes vocal, moans becoming higher pitched the faster Heizou goes.
If it weren’t for the sign on the door to the MEN’S bathroom, anyone that passes by would
probably assume a woman is getting fucked right now. Somehow that turns Heizou on even more
— Scara is the perfect mix between feminine and masculine, just like someone else he knows.
Maybe he’s got a type he should consider.

Heizou pants heavily as he grinds his dick deep inside the stranger, his free hand coming around to
wrap around Scara’s cock, stroking it as he thrusts inside him. The overstimulation causes Scara’s
body to instinctively try to pull away from Heizou’s touch, but it only pushes his as back into the
redhead’s dick.

But it quickly becomes annoyingly difficult to keep the steady rhythm with him doing this, so he
switches the hands holding Scara’s wrists as he brings one up to his hair, pulling hard. “ Quit it ,”
he demands, causing Scara to gasp, tears pricking his vision from the rough grip on his hair, but
quit he does.

Instead, he shifts in Heizou’s hold in a different way, arching his back as he presses his cheek
against the glass once more, his hair becoming disheveled. Heizou accepts this as he slaps Scara’s
ass, thriving off the way the stranger squeaks and squeezes around him tightly. Archons, he hopes
Kazuha is into this because this is so fucking hot.
Heizou’s cock penetrates Scaramouche deeply, hitting his prostate with every thrust. Turns out
Scaramouche becomes the whiny type in bed and Heizou can get behind that. “Maybe I should pay
you for how well you’re prostituting yourself to me right now,” Heizou breathes against Scara’s
neck. This causes the man to whine trying to hide his face in his own shoulder, but Heizou won’t
let that be.

He moves the stranger’s hands above his head against the mirror, causing him to look at his own
fucked out expression. From this position Heizou can see the tears in Scara’s eyes as well as his
cute little cock, swinging back and forth every time Heizou thrusts. The redhead brings the stranger
back by his hips so as to arch his back more and further intensify the pleasure.

Scara moans loudly and his knees buckle when Heizou hits his prostate just right, but of course the
redhead is there to catch him with his freehand, slapping his ass to make him behave. “ Hah. .
you’re so fucking hot, you know that?” Heizou coos, ramming his dick inside the man, “are you
sure you aren’t a prostitute— ahh..— or sex worker of some kind? ”

Scaramouche moans, biting his bottom lip as he listens to the sounds of their bodies colliding.
“Angh..! Yeah— yeah I’m sur—,” a gasp, “sure. Is that— mm..! Is that.. a compliment?”
Scaramouche pants, arching his back as he feels his balance swaying. Heizou chuckles, not
answering his question as fixes their position by tugging Scaramouche’s waist snug against his
waist when he thrusts forward.

Heizou leans forward to mark up Scara’s neck and shoulders, making sure to moan in his ear quite
seductively. It works as intended when he feels the stranger clench around him and drop his head
so his face can’t be seen in the mirror, but Heizou fixes this issue rather quickly. The redhead
roughly presses Scara’s body against the mirror, snaking his free hand around his body to grasp his
neck firmly but not enough to hurt him.

The stranger lets his head fall back against Heizou’s shoulder as he hides his face in the space
crook of his neck. In this position each other moans can easily be heard by each other and it’s so
arousing. “My.. hah.. my cock is rubbing against.. ahh..! Against the wall..!” Scaramouche whines,
eyes shut tightly in pleasure as his breath comes out labored.

Heizou just hums making sure to grind his hips roughly against his ass in order to further stimulate
that already overstimulated cock of his. Luckily the wall is flat and smooth so it’s not going to hurt
him, at least not too much. This causes Scaramouche to shudder and his knees to buckle against
which earns him a slap on the ass from Heizou.

“ Behave, ” he warns, which causes Scaramouche to release a shaky breath of a laugh.

Scaramouche’s cock isn’t the only thing rubbing against the wall currently, his nipples are too
from underneath his shirt, which is a very sensitive place on his body. Heizou, being the ever
perceptive person he is, notices this and removes his hand from Scara’s neck to play with his
nipples instead.

Scara’s head falls forward, arching his back as he grits his teeth, whining right through them as
sweat drips from his body. His bangs stick to his forehead and his face in red from arousal. His
entire body is flushed as well, clear evidence of their current events.

His eyes run over the marks Heizou has left on his body and lock on the redhead’s face, eyes
closed in concentration and sweat dripping from his forehead. It’s a really hot sight to see his cock
dripping with precum swinging back n forth from each heavy thrust, made that way by the insanely
sexy man behind him.

He chuckles breathlessly before it quickly turns into a moan and into a high pitched whine. Scara’s
close, he can feel it in the way he clenches around Heizou’s cock, his insides spasming around him
as his breath picks up. The stranger’s eyes fall closed as his mouth falls open in silent pleasure as
he begins to try and pull away from Heizou, feeling his climax arriving soon.

The redhead doesn’t let him pull away, though, in fact, he pulls him in tighter, making the thrusts
fast and deep. Heizou brings a hand down to Scaramouche’s cock and begins jerking him off. The
following loud as fuck moans are like music to the redhead’s ears as he watches Scara’s facial
expression in the mirror with hooded eyes.

Tears are pooling there from all the pleasure and with his denied orgasm earlier, he’s really feeling
it. This makes Heizou smirk as he kisses up Scaramouche’s neck, sliding his thumb over the tip of
his cock. The smaller man’s body reacts instantly as he pulls away at the touch and the stranger
whines.

“Gonna come?” Heizou asks teasingly, but Scara’s whines are surprisingly very honest as he starts
begging. This initially shocks Heizou as he can feel hot arousal pool in his stomach as his eyes
darken with lust. Instead of teasing him, the redhead decides to fuck him faster and harder.

“ Yeah..! Ohh.. fuck yeah..! Please, please, please..! I’m gonna.. annghh.. I’m gonna come.. don’t
stop.. don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop..!” Heizou smirks against the stranger’s thinking about the
way he became unraveled and lost his sassy attitude the minute a cock entered his ass. How cute.
Heizou chuckles to himself.

Using his begging to further fuel him, Heizou moves perfectly as he slams the head of his cock
against Scaramouche’s prostate. It only takes a couple more rough thrusts and a few pumps of his
cock before Scara is coming all over the mirror and wall, back arching and biting into his bottom
lip harshly. The tears in his eyes nearly fall as his eyes close tightly in pleasure. Heizou can feel the
way his body shudders from head to toe and the way his ass clenches around his cock.

Once the high ends, Scara releases a borderline scream in pleasure, before letting his head drop as
he pants. The redhead still hasn’t come yet, though, as he continues to thrust roughly inside of this
stranger. He knows he can’t be too far off, though, once he feels the heat pool in his gut.

Speeding up the pace even further, Heizou fucks his cock into Scara’s overstimulated ass before
coming with a groan, eyes shut tightly. His body shudders against Scaramouche’s as the strangers
feet nearly lift off the ground from how much Heizou is pushing him forward.

Panting, the two stay there for a second just relishing in the post orgasm high before Heizou
releases Scara’s wrists from his hold. His arms must be tired from being kept up there this whole
time which is proven to a Heizou when the stranger shakes his arms out to get the blood flowing.

He keeps a firm arm around Scaramouche’s waist in favor of him not falling and hitting his ass
hard against the floor, so he gently guides him to it instead. He runs a head up the stranger's face,
pushing his bangs from his forehead as he smirks at his panting form. “Such a pretty little thing,
aren’t you?” Heizou teases, earning a glare from Scaramouche.

Heizou just chuckles as he cleans himself off, taking the condom off and tossing it in the trash
before sliping his pants back on. As he does so he spots the butt plug that was discarded on the
floor earlier. Smirking, he picks it up and rinses it off before he crouches down in front of a still
calming down Scaramouche. The stranger gives him a quizzical look before the redhead wiggles
the toy in front of his face before he pushes his legs apart.

Scaramouche grimaces as the toy slides into his abused hole, holding his breath. Once it’s all in he
exhales heavily, glaring up at Heizou who gives him a knowing smirk. “Wouldn’t want you to get
caught with that in your hands on the way out, now would we?” he teases, causing the stranger’s
face to light up with a blush.

The redhead laughs lightly before standing up once more and cleaning his come off the wall,
“wow look at you, looks like you were just as pent up as me,” he comments, swiping some of
Scaramouche’s cum off the wall and spreading his fingers apart to watch the ropes succumb to
gravity.

“Ew, that’s fucking gross. Put it down,” Scaramouche comments, side eyeing Heizou from his spot
on the floor. Heizou doesn’t look at him at first as he continues playing with the cum on his
fingers, but then he smirks, turning his face to the side and seductively licking the cum from them.
He tastes the way the salty liquid covers his tongue as he savors the— truthfully— disgusting
taste.

Scaramouche turns to him fully as his jaw drops and eyes blow wide, arousal pooling in his gut
once more as his face blooms with a dark blush. Heizou sucks off his fingers as he watches
Scaramouche watch him. To make the show even better, he adds a sultry moan to the mix which
causes Scaramouche to groan.

“Okay, that’s enough, I get the point,” Scaramouche grimaces again, hiding his face in his hands.
Heizou laughs before grabbing a paper towel and cleaning off the wall before doing the same to
Scaramouche. It must feel like sandpaper on his cock, but it’s all they have at the moment.

Once the stranger is redressed and sure he can stand properly, they both stretch, feeling great after
such a passionate fuck. Not being able to hold himself back, Heizou takes one glance at Scara’s ass
before giving it a squeeze which causes the stranger to slap his hand away after a surpassingly cute
little whimper leaves his throat.

“Now I really do feel like I should pay because fuck ,” Heizou laughs, biting his lip as he looks
over Scaramouche’s body. The stranger just gives him a deadpan stare before crossing his arms and
smirking.

“Hey, you don’t have to pay me for the sex, but I’ll gladly take the money,” Scaramouche smirks,
tilting his head with teasingly soft eyes. Heizou just shakes his head, flipping him off before
opening the door to the bathroom. The loud music and flashing lights start flooding in again and he
looks over his shoulder.

“Maybe not this time, next time,” Heizou winks, throwing up a peace sign before he leaves the
smirking stranger there by his lonesome. His body feels so light after that heavenly release and his
hands still feel the ghost of the stranger’s body in them.

His skin was extremely soft and his eyes were so beautiful. A deep ocean blue that complimented
his perfect complexion. His ass was tight as fuck and his waist was the perfect size for Heizou’s
hands. Archons, he was beautiful. That’ll definitely be the one night stand he remembers years
after it’s happened.

Feeling giddy, Heizou stops at a small convenience store, picking up some candy and a drink to
wash the taste of Scara cum from his tongue. A bad decision on his part, but definitely a sexy one.
Heizou smirks to himself as he idly browses the shelves before picking something out and bringing
it up to the counter for purchase.

He quickly pays for his items before leaving the small store and hailing a cab, getting in and
snacking away as he waits for his arrival home. In all honesty, it’s quite dangerous for him to be
going out alone at night like this, but he knows he’s never alone. His bodyguards have long since
been familiar with his habit of sneaking out at night, so they definitely tailed him as per usual.

Some would be embarrassed about them knowing what he does in the middle of the night, but not
Heizou, he doesn’t mind. After all, if he fakes it like he doesn’t even know he was followed, then
how will they ever know he knows? For the couple times they’ve stood outside the hotel doors
hearing the loud sounds of sex at 2am.. he doesn’t apologize. Oh, well, they’re probably used to it
by now.

When the cab stops, Heizou pays once more before heading into his building, taking the elevator
with a yawn before sipping from his drink. Him and the others happen to live in the penthouse of
this building, so the elevator ride is long and boring and he finds himself dozing off during it.

When the machine dings, he hops off with a pep in his step and candy in his hands. The taste of
Scaramouche’s cum is slowly fading from his tongue as quietly slips off his shoes and turns to
head to his room. Bhe almost chokes on his candy when Xiao is also up late sneaking around. The
guy suffers from insomnia, so it’s normal, he just didn’t expect to run into him right now. It feels
like he’s been caught red handed.

“Hey, where have you been?” Xiao asks curiously, in a quiet voice. Heizou walks over to him and
asks him and motions for him to hold out his hand. When he does, Heizou drops a piece of candy
in his awaiting hand. The guitarist takes it, inspecting the sweet before unwrapping it and popping
it in his mouth.

“I was out getting sweets,” Heizou says, which isn’t technically a lie. Xiao gives him a deadpan
look, crossing his arms as he shifts his weight to one foot. Heizou laughs nervously, scratching the
back of his neck before sighing.

“Okay, yeah, so I went out to a club and THEN got sweets,” Heizou says, which still isn’t a lie, but
that’s clearly not the answer Xiao is looking for as shown by the eyebrow raise. Heizou watches
his friend suck on the candy before he speaks.

“You reek of sex, Heizou,” Xiao accuses and Heizou smiles nervously. It’s not like he did anything
wrong, it’s just embarrassing to be caught in the act. The redhead chuckles before handing Xiao
more candy and patting his shoulder, not confirming nor denying whether he did or did not have
sex.

“I’ll just take a shower then,” he mumbles quickly, before skittering away to the bathroom. On the
way to it, he passes Kazuha’s room whose door is slightly ajar. Glancing around to make sure
nobody is watching, he takes a quick peek inside before smiling gently and closing his friend’s
door.

Now that he thinks about it, he didn’t think much of Kazuha at all tonight which means the sex
worked. It was exactly what he needed to release his pent up sexual frustration as well as relieve
some stress. It obviously helped that Scaramouche was really fucking sexy. How can one not be
entranced by the guy?

Entering his room to use his own en-suite, Heizou immediately strips and heads for the shower.
Once he’s back in the confides of his own room he can definitely smell the scent of rough sex
surrounding him. Damn. That’s kinda embarrassing. Heizou thinks, looking back on how even
Xiao noticed. Oh, well, couldn’t be helped.

He hops in the shower and takes it quick and cold, before stepping out and drying off his hair with
a yawn. Man, that really tired him out, but hey, that must mean it was good. It was great, actually.
He smirks, reminiscing as he spots his phone on his nightstand.

He checks the time and sees it’s 2 AM, yikes . Then he sees the date and remembers that they were
supposed to pick out a new manager yesterday. Heizou just shrugs it off, though, he’s sure his
friends chose someone very reliable and capable, so it doesn’t mean much to him. He’ll just have to
remember to ask about it tomorrow.

With that being his last thought for the night, he crawls in bed and shuts off his bedside lamp
before snuggling under his covers. His breathing slows and his body relaxes as he lets himself fall
into a blissfully peaceful sleep.

———

The following morning Heizou wakes up with a big stretch and yawns. Rubbing his eyes as the
sunlight in his room welcomes him to the start of a brand new day. Today they’d have to meet their
manager and show them around the place. Teaching them about their duties and habits— how
things work and such.
So, he cleans up nicely, but casually and grabs his phone before leaving out of his room to grab
something to eat. He hadn’t eaten anything more than the candy he had last night, so he’s
borderline starving, of course.

Still in a daze, he doesn’t pay attention to the people in the vicinity as he opens the door to the
fridge and grabs a drink out, bringing it to his lips as he turns around. Mid-sip he chokes as he spits
out his water and starts coughing, placing his bottle on the counter as he crouches down to get
himself to stop coughing.

“Oh no! Are you okay??” Venti asks, rushing to his side in an instant, rubbing his back. Heizou
nods, standing up as he takes a drink of his water once more. He avoids all eye contact with the
new person in the room, the one that made him choke as he asks Venti with a nervous smile.

“Haha.. yeah, so is this the new manager?” he asks, voice raising an octave in nervousness as he
tries to control his breathing. Venti nods with a smile, walking back over to where their new
manager is, grasping his arm.

“This is Kunikuzushi! He’ll be our new manager from now on. I hope you approve of him
considering you didn’t even stay to help sift through all the choices,” Venti glares, squeezing his
arm. Heizou nods slowly, finally locking eyes with an equally shocked Kunikuzushi.

Kunikuzushi being.. Scaramouche. The very same Scaramouche he had just fucked into oblivion
not even twenty-four hours ago. The man is stood, arm tangled in Venti’s with a turtleneck on for
obvious reasons. He looks nicely groomed and well cleaned up compared to last night.

The both of them stare at each other for a second before Scar— Kunikuzushi reaches out a hand.
“I’m Kunikuzushi, it’s nice to meet you. Your friends informed me your name was Shikanoin,
correct?” he says, smiling as he pretends the best he can that he doesn’t already know who Heizou
is.

Heizou reaches out a hand to grasp Kunikuzushi’s. “Please, we’ll be in close contact from now on;
just call me Heizou,” he replies, grasping the very same soft hands he hand pressed up against the
bathroom mirror last night.

Fuck.

If that wasn’t the last thing he expected to happen on his Wednesday morning then he didn’t know
 what was.

Chapter End Notes

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new fic! I’ll see you next week,

Mika.
 Let the Training Arc Begin
Chapter Summary

Scaramouche begins his training as their new manager and Heizou learns that he is a
lot more jealous than he initially thought.

Chapter Notes

It is currently exactly 5:00 am and I randomly woke up out of my cold, dead sleep and
was like: “oh, it’s upload day. I’ll just upload it and check it when I wake back up
again.” So here we are. I normally upload weekly unless I’m busy. Enjoy,

Mika

See the end of the chapter for more notes

After recovering from his initial shock, Heizou now starts internally panicking instead.
Scaramouche? Here? In his house?? How did this even happen? How did his one night stand turn
into his manager in less than a day?? Heizou might just faint.

Xiao looks at the exchange as well as Venti. The two give each other a look clearly sensing the
awkward tension between the two— not that either of them had any idea why they were being
awkward. Maybe they were high school classmates?

Luckily, Heizou is saved from the awkward tension by Kazuha who walks into the room with a
yawn, rubbing his eyes. The redhead immediately softens with a sparkle to his eyes as he turns to
their new arrival. “Good morning sleeping beauty,” he jokes, shoving Kazuha with his elbow.
Kazuha just smiles, shoving back.

“Good morning to you too. You look like a mess,” Kazuha laughs, causing Heizou to blush and
attempt to fix his hair. He thought he looked fine! When he looked in the mirror before leaving his
room his hair looked slightly less messier than usual. He’d consider that a win. “Hello, I am
Kaedehara Kazuha, you must be our manager,” the white haired man greets Scaramouche.

The stranger turned manager reaches out his hand as well, grasping Kazuha’s, “Kunikuzushi. Nice
to meet you, Kaedehara,” he smiles, teeth shining brightly as he does so. The smile Scaramouche
gets from Kazuha only makes Heizou a little jealous. ..Just a little.
“Right then! Now that everyone is familiar with each other, let's give Kuni.. Kunizushi— no—
Kunikazu—,” Venti struggles to pronounce his name. Feeling ashamed, a light blush coats his
cheeks and he scratches his cheek with an awkward smile. The singer looks over to Kazuha and
Heizou for help since the two would know how to pronounce it, but Kunikuzushi, himself, speaks
first.

“If it’s a bit too much of a mouthful you can go ahead and call me Kuni. I don’t mind since you are
my employers. I’d rather you be able to call my name when you need me rather than struggle,”
Scaramouche compromises, laughing lightly when Venti sighs in relief.

“Okay, Kuni it is! I swear I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful,” he laughs nervously but
Scaramouche waves him off, brushing some hair out of his face. Heizou takes note of the
conversation as he sips from his water bottle, eyes locked on Scaramouche.

“Well, with all the staring you are doing I would assume you are interested in him,” Kazuha jokes,
side eyeing Heizou from where he stands at his side. Heizou tenses as he turns to Kazuha with
wide eyes. Before he even attempts to defend himself Kazuha laughs, “It’s fine Heizou, we’re all
accepting here,” he says with a smile.

Heizou sighs, shoving his shoulder again, “you know it’s not like that,” the redhead laughs,
looking over at his companion. But when he does Kazuha mutters something under his breath
which causes Heizou’s mind to come to a halt. What did he just say?

“Do I, though?” he mutters, snatching Heizou’s water bottle from his hand and taking a sip from it
before letting Heizou get a chance to ask him about it. The redhead doesn’t even register that his
water bottle has been stolen from him until Kazuha walks away back to his room to properly get
dressed.

What the fuck?

Heizou blinks, processing what just happened. Okay.. maybe he misheard? Shaking it off, Heizou
turns back to the group before him, leaning against the counter as he snatches an orange from it.
Peeling it, he listens to the others speak to each other.

“The job isn’t too demanding I’d say. Each of us are pretty good at helping out when needed and
stuff. Despite you being our manager we wouldn’t want you to be overwhelmed and quit on the
first day, y’know?” Venti smiles, fidgeting around with his hands. Scaramouche just smiles,
nodding.
“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind when any of you try to reject a request of mine,” he jokes, crossing
his arms, teasing Venti with a smirk and an eyebrow raise. Venti sputters, hands pausing where
they’re fidgeting and eyes blown wide. Heizou snorts when Venti blinks.

“Wait, no, listen,” Venti laughs nervously, “I sleep a lot, so, like, if you call my name and I don’t
hear you then—,” Venti says, cutting himself off as he negotiates with Scaramouche. Xiao smiles,
shaking his head as Heizou pops part of the orange in his mouth, the exchange between the two
becoming quite amusing

Scaramouche shakes his head, a small smile to his lips, “relax, I’m just joking around,” he says,
before looking over to Heizou. This catches the redhead off guard and he pauses mid chew, a face
full of surprise. Scaramouche glances down at the orange in his hand and then back up to Heizou’s
face.

The redhead blinks, looking down at it before offering it to Scaramouche who just lets out a
breathy laugh. This causes a light blush to appear across Heizou’s cheeks from the obvious
misunderstanding. “Well, damn, I was just being nice,” he mutters, angrily chewing on another
orange slice.

“Do you know each other?” Xiao asks, out of the blue. Both Scaramouche and Heizou tense,
sparing each other a glance like they’ve been caught red handed before glancing away from each
other quickly. Venti and Xiao shoot each other another look before turning back to their friends.

“Is that a yes?” Venti asks this time, folding his arms over his chest with a knowing smirk. Heizou
swallows thickly, picking at what’s left of the orange in his hand. He doesn’t answer immediately,
but when he tries, Kazuha reappears from his room.

“Hey guys, we ready to—“ he pauses, glancing around at all the people before him before
speaking wearily, “is something the matter? Why are you all so tense?” Kazuha questions,
Heizou’s water bottle nowhere to be found. The members of the group all look at each other before
silently deciding to just drop the topic in favor of keeping the peace. Which is such a relief to both
Heizou and Scara.

“Nothing, we were just waiting for you to be done, princess,” Heizou, of course, speaks first,
sauntering over Kazuha. He offers the last piece of the orange to him and Kazuha opens his mouth
obediently, taking it from Heizou. It’s clear to everyone, but apparently those two, that this is
obviously flirting.
Kazuha, unphased by the nicknames by now, just chews the orange slice, nodding his head in the
direction of the living room of the penthouse. “Let’s start with the tour then. We woke up earlier
than normal to do just that, anyways,” he says, swallowing as he licks his lips from the remaining
orange juice. Heizou watches the action closely and swallows thickly, looking away. Scara takes
note of this silently.

“Okay, sure! This way then, this is the living room. We just have a TV here alongside some
consoles for video games. Heizou is normally the one on it the most,” Venti explains, leading the
group. “He likes detective and mystery games. It’s honestly so scary how he can figure out the
solution so quickly,” he explains, crouching down to shuffle through some of the games.

He shows some to Scaramouche who takes them in hand, looking at the covers and the backs of
each of them. “Oh? So you play Mysteries at Mansions then?” I heard you have to be pretty smart
to play it; nobody uploads tutorials or anything and if they do they instantly get taken down.
Something about ruining the point of the game,” Scaramouche comments idly, handing the games
back to Venti to put away.

Heizou nods, preening, “yes! Exactly— see guys? He gets it!” Heizou smiles proudly. “I’ve
actually completed the first and second part of the game, I’m working on the third part. It’s the part
where this woman is accused of being a murderer but that wouldn’t make any sense because none
of the evidence points to her! I mean if anything, it’d be more likely that her five year old son was
the—“ he pauses mid sentence, a realization coming to him, “That’s it!” he snaps his fingers, eyes
alight in understanding, “it’s her son! Her son is the murderer! I mean, it’s perfect— everything
points to him now that I think about it and also he’s only five! Nobody would suspect him at first
glance, but if you think outside the box and consider the possibilities then it’s totally likely that he
could be the murderer!”

Everyone blinks at Heizou when he finishes his rant, causing the man to shrink in on himself and
his smile to falter. He scratches his neck awkwardly and looks away when Venti speaks, “scary,”
he says, a hint of a laugh to his voice. The others laugh lightly with him before the singer stands
and leads them back to the kitchen.

“Our kitchen, uhm, don’t look in the fridge. It’s currently empty right now, Kazuha and Xiao didn’t
go grocery shopping yet,” Venti laughs nervously, shooting his boyfriend a look who just looks
away like he heard nothing. The singer just scoffs but a small smile is present on his lips, “other
than that, we’ve got snacks in the cupboards and stuff. Feel free to take whatever you want just try
to keep it clean,” he finishes, shutting an open cabinet.

“Cool, I’ll remember that when I take all the good chips,” Scaramouche jokes, watching the way
Kazuha laughs at his playfulness. Heizou glares, mouth shut tightly. Scaramouche was already on
his hit list from the moment he made Kazuha smile, but making him laugh? Oh, is he in for it now.
It’s funny how the manager went from being under Heizou to being on his metaphorical hit list.
Heizou crosses his arms and taps his bicep impatiently as he continues to watch the two throughout
the rest of the tour. “The rooms are this way. In order it’s Kazuha’s, an empty room— it used to be
mine— Xiao and I’s, and then Heizou’s at the end of the hall,” Venti explains, totally missing the
information he just gave away.

Luckily for him, Xiao notices it, “I assume you signed a contract of silence; Venti and I’s
relationship is to be kept strictly under wraps. If word gets out, it will be you who we point to
first,” the guitarist threatens, glaring at their new manager from where he stands. Scaramouche’s
eyes widen before he smirks, watching the way Venti steps in front of him with an awkward smile.

“Ah, my warrior, so brave of you,” he says, kissing Xiao’s cheek to snap him out of protective
boyfriend mode. And, of course, it works immediately as a light blush dusts Xiao’s cheeks and his
tense structure falters. The group giggles at their lead guitarist’s actions before turning back to
Scaramouche. “That’s.. pretty much it I think. At least for the house anyways. You got up here just
fine so I can assume you know how this all works already,” Venti smiles, rubbing Xiao’s arm
absentmindedly.

Scaramouche nods, “I do. It was a lot less confusing than I had first assumed,” he says, returning
Venti’s smile with one of his own. It seems to border on fake and real, like he can’t choose
between letting himself relax and staying tense all the time. Huh, interesting.

“If it ended up being too difficult for you to understand, I would have gone to get you,” Kazuha
explains, picking a lint from his clothes. Heizou tenses at Kazuha addressing Scaramouche directly,
but this feeling never occurs when he talks with Venti or Xiao. Is it because he knows Kazuha
won’t get with either of them because they’re taken? What the fuck? Is he really this jealous of
their manager? Of his one night stand??

The following interaction only makes his situation worse. “I would be honored,” Scaramouche says
charmingly, resting a hand over his chest dramatically. His nails are painted a dark black and
trimmed nicely. And his sleeve falls down just ever so slightly to show his small wrists that are
clearly still red from last night. That makes Heizou look away, slightly embarrassed.

“No need, I am just being respectful of our new guest,” Kazuha smiles, causing Scaramouche to
falter, swallowing thickly. Heizou feels a dark emotion pool in his gut and he turns away, crossing
his arms as he stares pointedly at the floor. Why is he feeling this way? All of these emotions feel
like they’ve come out of no where.

This has never happened before. When fans would try to be all over Kazuha it never bothered
Heizou. Is it because he knew they’d never stand a chance or have a chance? Applying the “Xiao
and Venti” logic to that situation: it is the same. But with Scaramouche.. they’re on equal footing.
Heizou knows their manager is fair game considering he just had him bent over in a bathroom last
night and Kazuha is fair game considering he’s also single.

So..

Is this the aching jealousy that comes with having to fight for someone’s affection? But is this
really even a fight? Is Scaramouche even aware of his crush on Kazuha? Is Scaramouche even
trying to get with Kazuha?? They just met! And before now Heizou would have never considered
himself an overthinker. Oh, how pleasantly humbled he has become.

“Great, then let’s get on with the day! We’ve got practice right now so let’s hop in the bus and get
moving,” Venti commands, pulling Xiao by his arm towards the elevator. Heizou snaps out of his
dilemma just then and heads for the elevator, Kazuha and Scaramouche following behind him.

They take it all the way down to the parking garage and file into their small bus which will take
them to their record label. The bus is more like a glorified van with a woman named ‘Jean’ driving
them. She has been their designated driver for a little bit now and at one point was their manager,
but when they noticed how overworked she has become babysitting for a friend of hers and
tackling other jobs, they forcefully demoted her to bus driver. In some cases this would make
Jean’s situation worse, but their label was generous enough not to pay her any less than before.

Venti and Xiao sit in the forwardmost seats as Heizou and Kazuha sit in the middle seats— their
usual seats— with Scaramouche sitting in the back. The redhead didn’t notice before, but he is
carrying a smaller than average backpack presumably for all the work manuals, his own things,
and their schedule. There’s probably a few random items, but Heizou didn’t care to think that far.

So, with stressful thoughts on his mind, the drummer looks out the window stubbornly with a pout.
He has a lot to think about considering the difficult situation he’s now in. Such as: should he come
clean about having slept with Scaramouche? And should he tell Scaramouche to back off of
Kazuha for technically no reason? Both of these questions and more are giving him a headache,
noticing this out of the corner of his eye, Venti leans forward, tapping Jean to turn on the stereo.
This immediately makes Heizou’s frown falter and almost turn into a smile. The lot of them would
regularly have singing sessions in the car with Venti starting them out followed by Xiao, himself,
and Kazuha (not necessarily in that order).

Sometimes they’d all sing together or in duets or just sing solo. Nobody is embarrassed to sing
anything and everything in this van. In fact, the van is often where Heizou comes to destress. He
just sits in his seat and snacks on chips while watching videos on his phone or he sings while
tapping the seat in front of him with his finger tips. It’s pretty fun, he’d say.
The song starts playing, the vocals doing their part, but Heizou doesn’t sing. Venti knows this is
one of Heizou’s favorite songs, which is driving him crazy because he never played it in front of
their lead singer. He must have heard it from his showering, damn it.

It continues like that with the song playing idly, but Venti has Jean turn up the volume and
suddenly Heizou is finding it hard not to sing. This music genre isn’t really Venti’s style, so his
voice doesn’t fit well with the instrumental, but he sings anyway, making Heizou smile. He
quickly hides it behind his hand, but then Kazuha nudges his side and nods towards the stereo with
raised brows, telling him to sing.

And how can Heizou say no to that? So with great reluctance, he joins Venti in singing Cliché
Love by The Revelries. “—I think I’ve had enough,” he sings, glaring at Venti, “So you can say
what you want to say; I want that cliché— that cliché love,” he sings, shaking his head. He
seriously hates Venti’s ability to make anybody and everybody happy by just existing.

“ That burning fire, getting higher, movie stuff,” he continues, as his eyes slide over to Kazuha’s
who is smiling at him and quietly clapping his hands. Heizou immediately looks away, propping
his chin on his palm and staring out the window, but he doesn’t stop singing. He can feel
everyone’s eyes and ears on him and it’s making him nervous even though he’s used to singing in
front of a crowd.

Then the chorus ends and it’s on to the next part of the song. He continues singing and hits every
note and word with little to no struggle. The words come easily to him since he used to listen to this
song on repeat, especially when he was down in his feelings for Kazuha, actually. Kind of
embarrassing that he’s singing it like he knows it by heart (he does) in front of the guy he would
and should be singing this to.

Eventually the song returns to the chorus and he sings the held note instead of returning back to the
first part, which earns him cheers from his friends in the bus. Then the song ends and he’s smiling
when Kazuha gives him a thumbs up causing the drummer to smile as well. As stated before, curse
Venti for working his magic like he always does.

The stereo goes to the next song in the queue and they (mainly Venti) continue singing along all
the way until they reach their record label. Even when they exit the van and start heading into the
building, Venti is still singing with a skip in his step. Moving his hands around dramatically and
making faces at Xiao who is walking beside him.

From his place behind him, Heizou can see the small smile on their lead guitarist’s lips as he
watches his boyfriend sing and dance to him. It’s funny how such an introverted person is happily
chained down by a bubbly song bird like Venti. What a world , he supposes.

When they make it up to their practice and recording room, Venti begins explaining everything to
Scaramouche. “To be honest, you don’t really have to stay in the room with us when we practice,
but you do have to be back here by the time for our next event on the schedule,” he explains,
cracking his fingers. Their manager nods, setting his backpack down by the sofa in the room.

A short woman with round glasses walks into the room before spotting Scaramouche and ducking
behind Kazuha. Scaramouche is startled by this, but he just tilts his head, waving a small awkward
wave. “Ah, this is Sucrose, our sound.. person.. thingie— I forgot what it’s called, but yeah. She’s
super cool! She tunes our voices and fixes up some bits in the instrumentals and when we go to
concerts she directs the people behind stage and in the booth on how things should be going. She’s
pretty shy, but once she gets to work she is stone cold focused,” Venti praises, smiling over at their
sound tech. She just shrinks further behind Kazuha who smiles and scratches the back of his neck.

He side steps, exposing the woman who squeaks and hides behind her clipboard, “I apologize.. I
am not very good with new people,” she nearly whispers, but Scaramouche still hears her. When he
speaks, it makes her lower her guard and her clipboard.

“That’s fine, I don’t mind. Hi, I’m Kunikuzushi; their new manager,” he says, holding out a hand
for her to shake. She furrows her brows before reaching out a hand hesitantly, but Scaramouche
takes the initiative and shakes it gently. It surprises her at first, but it isn’t too shocking.

“Pardon me, but what happened to Jean?” Sucrose asks when they release their hands. Her brows
are still cutely furrowed and her arms are wrapped around her clipboard, stature awkward. Venti
blinks at her, his hand on his hip before he realizes they forgot to tell Sucrose about their new
manager situation.

“Oh, right. We decided as a group that Jean was really overworked and needed a less taxing and
stressful job, so we demoted her to bus driver. Even so, she still gets paid the same. She’s way too
good at her job to be paid anything less,” Venti smiles proudly, laying a hand over his chest nobly.
Sucrose nods, thinking for a moment before she snaps into action.

“Okay, let’s get to work then. Nice to meet you, Kunikuzushi,” she says, familiar with
pronouncing difficult words. It shocks Scara at first, but then he nods, sitting down on the sofa,
legs spread and arms crossed as he watches them all file into the singing booth.

They all put on their respective headsets, Sucrose following suit as she sits down on her cushioned,
black stool. The multitude of buttons and sliders in front of her are enough to give Scaramouche a
headache, but he continues watching nonetheless.

All of them adjust their settings according to Sucrose and reread their parts of the songs. By now
they have all of it memorized, but they still keep the sheet music around in case they need to add
any marks or reminders to it that Sucrose dishes out. Heizou uses this tool quite often, but he uses
it more so when he is just purely on procussion duty, so it’s a bit different for him since he actually
doesn’t sing that much.

While they are setting up in the booth, Heizou notices Scaramouche staring at them and— to be
fair, that’s to be expected, but it’s making him self conscious. So, he can get naked in front of the
guy but he can’t sing in front of him? But he just did in the van, ugh, feelings are confusing, so he
decides to pretend Scaramouche isn’t there.

They run through all of their songs, repeating and nitpicking at some parts as per Sucrose’s request
before focusing on individual songs. All of this practice is going towards the tour that they will be
going on very soon which is totally not stressing Heizou out. No, not at all. Don’t get him wrong,
okay, he loves his fans— their fans— and he loves the adrenaline of being on stage, but sometimes
even the flirtatious Heizou gets nervous sometimes.

Waiting for his turn in the booth, he decides to scroll through his social media as his friends chat
beside him. He could have chosen to have his social media handled by someone else, but he felt the
need to be authentic when presenting himself to his fans, so having someone else run his socials
felt too fabricated.

He idly scrolled through his feed, seeing things that his friends have posted in the music industry
and of course checking his private and hidden account to check in with his personal friends. Kuki
Shindou, a girl he met back in grade school and has been friends with since forever, posts of her
time in the Arataki Gang. Which in reality is just a group of friends banding together and doing
charity work— mostly because they got themselves in trouble and now need to do charity work.

He chuckles to himself as he scrolls through her posts, liking and commenting to let her know he’s
missing her. As previously stated, they’ve been friends for years, so it’s pretty often that he’s
missing Shinobu. Once upon a time they dated in high school, but they both broke it off and agreed
that it was weird and better if they just remained friends. Luckily, their little hiccup did nothing to
deter their relationship.

His attention was brought back to the present moment when Venti, speaks, Kazuha getting up off
the sofa to go into the booth. “Xiao and I are gonna go get some snacks; anything you guys want?”
he asks, looking at all of them, including Sucrose. The woman just shakes her head with a polite
‘no, thank you’.
“Get me something to suck on,” Heizou responds, earning him a snort of Scaramouche. His head
snaps to the dude, but before he’s even able to say anything, Venti addresses him.

“And you?” he asks, his question directed at Scaramouche. The manager shakes his head and says
‘nah, I’m good’ with a wave of his hand before Venti turns to Kazuha who politely asks for water.
The lead singer gives him a thumbs up before him and Xiao disappear from the room.

A couple beats of silence pass before Heizou speaks up, “didn’t know you were so immature,” he
grumbles, teasingly. Scaramouche laughs, hiding his smile behind his hand as he watches
Sucrose’s hands move over the dials in front of her. Heizou looks over at him, though, and he looks
back.

“You gotta admit it was a funny sentence,” he presses, crossing his arms as he tilts his head
teasingly. The redhead scrunches up his nose as he mocks his words without speaking them. But it
doesn’t go as intended when Scara, stifles a laugh before outright laughing, causing Heizou to
laugh too.

“It was only funny if you thought about it too hard. Which means it’s not funny, by the way,”
Heizou says, crossing his arms as well and watching Kazuha sing. Archons, he looks so beautiful,
using all of his strength to belt out the notes, hand on one side of his headphone so he can hear
better.

Scaramouche’s laugh falters, taking in the way the redhead looks at their keyboard player. He
sucks in a sharp breath, turning towards Kazuha as well. Lost deep in thought, he doesn’t notice the
way Heizou’s gaze returns to him and now the redhead’s got the wrong idea again.

With a silent huff, Heizou blows his bangs from his face, rolling his eyes. He thought they were
bonding, but then Scara had to go and look at his crush with those eyes again. It’s beginning to
irritate him— or maybe it had already begun to irritate him and this is just adding fuel to the fire.
Whatever, he doesn’t care (a lie).

Soon enough, Xiao and Venti return, snacks in hand, but unfortunately it’s right in time for Heizou
to be doing his individual practice. So, he just tells Venti to hold onto his candy for him as he
walks into the booth, putting his headphones on, as he looks out the glass window. He can see that
Kazuha has sat right next to Scaramouche and next to Kazuha is Venti and Xiao.

For some reason, he’s beginning to feel left out.

Shaking it off, he decides to focus all that energy into his practice; letting all that emotion be the
fuel to the fire burning inside him. As it happens, he doesn’t have much to tweak and fix since all
that redirection seemed to make him execute his parts almost perfectly. They’ll be releasing this
album in a few days and then heading out on tour to sing them all. The fans have a chance to bring
their discs and vinyls to get signed by each of them which is pretty cool, he thinks.

When his practice concludes, Venti is already growing sleepy and the rest of them, besides
Scaramouche, are on their phones. Their lead singer growing sleepy isn’t unusual, he’s very often
asleep or tired, his body is so small it seemingly can’t contain all his energy and it makes him tired.
Heizou finds that aspect of him very endearing.

“Hey guys, ‘we ready for lunch? Because I am, I’m actually starving,” he says, a hand over his
stomach. He thanks Kazuha when he hands him his bag of sweets, popping one in his mouth. Venti
stirs ever so slightly before waking up with a yawn, lifting his head from Xiao’s shoulder.

The singer rubs his eyes as he readjusts to being awake. “Yeah, where do you all wanna eat,
though?” Kazuha asks, looking at all his companions. They all shrug their shoulders, before
turning to Sucrose who is fixing up some audio things behind them. She doesn’t notice their
staring at first, but when she does, she tenses and turns around slowly.

“..Yes..?” she asks, adjusting her glasses. They all smirk at her causing her heart to drop as she
nervously looks over their faces. “Wha—what is it?” she asks again, more nervous this time. They
all chuckle at her before Kazuha speaks again.

“Got any ideas on where we should eat and do you wanna have lunch with us?” the white haired
man asks, stretching his shoulders, taking a hand and rubbing them. Sucrose ponders the question
for a moment before she checks her watch.

“I can’t join you for lunch today, but if you are truly torn on where to eat then why not get some
ice cream or deep fried food. You guys have been eating out at fancy places lately considering all
the business meetings and such, I suppose some good old fashioned junk food would do the trick,”
she rambles, tucking her hair behind her ear, as she picks up her clipboard and hugs it to her chest.

The men ponder over this answer before Kazuha nods, “I’m down. Fast food sounds so good right
now,” he smiles shyly when his stomach grumbles. Heizou, being unable to resist, walks forward
and pokes his stomach, Kazuha slapping his hand away when he does. “Excuse you,” he says in
mock offense.
“Excuse me,” the redhead says as he pinches his cheek instead, ruffling his hair. Sometimes
Kazuha is just too cute to resist touching. This is one of those times seeing as his body moved on
its own to mess with the white haired man. “I’m down as well, then. Venti looks about ready to
pass out again, so we should probably get going. See you later, Ms. Sucrose,” he says with a smile,
as his friends rise from their places on the couch.

“Just.. just ‘Sucrose’ is fine,” she reminds. ‘Reminds’ because this wouldn’t be the first time
Heizou has put the word ‘miss’ in front of Sucrose’s name out of respect. But, of course, Heizou
feels that is just too impolite, so he shakes his head with a smile, walking with Kazuha out the door
and out to the van. The three others follow suit, waving goodbye to Sucrose as they do so.

Once situated in the van again, soft music plays this time so as to lull Venti into a peaceful
slumber. Practice normally takes a lot of the guy, so seeing him in this state isn’t unnatural and
considering he hasn’t eaten much today either, it’s very normal. They all decide on a fast food
place to eat at where they can just grab the food and go home for a while before the next thing on
schedule. And according to Scaramouche, that gives them about four to five hours of downtime, a
common theme in their everyday life.

They used to be super busy when they first started out, booking interviews and going to all sorts of
different concert halls. But lately, they’ve had to dial it down a notch considering how all of them
— not just Venti this time— are growing tired of same wake up and repeat routine. So, they were
able to negotiate 5 hours of downtime per day other than their sleeping hours.

It’s both very convenient and very much needed. Venti sleeps like a cat, while Heizou is oftentimes
using that time to play video games, completing game after game way too quickly considering his
high IQ. Sometimes he loathes being so academically talented because it makes life all too easy for
him. When does he get to be surprised by movie endings and experience plot twists like all those
around him do? It sucks, but it’s what he has to live with. Even so, he still enjoys playing games
and watching movies— not to mention theorizing with other people online about certain things in
TV shows, video games, or movies. It’s fun being online anonymously because people treat him
like any other person they would interact with. It’s like a breath of fresh air being able to talk to
someone who doesn’t only know him as the drummer from their band. Also, even if Heizou is
quite smart, when it comes to the simplest of things.. sometimes.. he isn’t the brightest tool in the
shed. He supposes that comes with his packaged deal— can’t have it all, he shrugs.

During that downtime Xiao is either napping alongside Venti or engaging in some of his different
hobbies. One, of which, includes cooking; hence the reason why he goes along with Kazuha to buy
groceries. Those two are the ones who mainly provide the food around the house as well as
manage their diets whereas Venti and himself normally tidy up the place and decorate for different
seasons and occasions. One thing that sucks about being on maid duty, though, is doing laundry.
Archons, Heizou hates the way dry clothes feel on his finger tips. So, while Venti is pressing every
warm clothing item to his face, Heizou is cringing at the feeling of the towels he is folding. He
shudders just thinking about it.
Kazuha during that time is most likely out on the terrace, tending to the plants or just simply sitting
outside to be outside. The guy is obsessed with nature and loves the way the wind feels on his face.
He says one of the reasons he keeps his hair long is because the feeling of the wind running
through his locks is extremely calming. Heizou has always wondered if that could be translated to
fingers combing through his hair as well. And speaking of Kazuha’s hair, not often does Heizou
ever see it down. Kazuha normally keeps it in a low ponytail or in some kind of design by Venti.
It’s interesting to say the least, but, hey, who is he to judge? Heizou himself barely lets his hair fall
loose.

The redhead is snapped out of his daydream when he is handed his order of food, taking it with a
small ‘thank you’ and setting it on his lap. He is so happy Sucrose suggested deep fry because he
loves deep fry. Anything and anything tastes better deep fried and no one can tell him otherwise.
Food like this has been his favorite for ages and he’s just so in love with the way the greasy food
tastes on his tongue. If heaven had a taste, he’s pretty sure this would be it. And maybe he’s being
a little too dramatic over this food, but listen. It’s better than those shitty lunches he sometimes is
forced to eat when they get held up at the studio for too long. Ugh, just thinking about them makes
him wanna gag.

So, with zero reluctance, Heizou grabs his food out of the bag and begins digging in; graciously
accepting the napkins handed to him by Kazuha with a funny smile on his lips. The greasy chicken
is all over his fingers and he really did need a napkin for this stuff. If they weren’t used to eating
such foods, one would be worried about getting it all over their clothes, but not Heizou, no. He’s
become so skilled at avoiding that exact situation that he has resorted to stuffing napkins in the
collar of his shirt like those old western royals did back in the day.

Admittedly, he looks goofy like this, but he doesn’t care. Food is food and as long as it’s good he’ll
eat it. Anything, just to spite those archon-awful things they call lunches and/or diners and
breakfast back at the studio. So, with a pleased hum, Heizou ungracefully bites into his chicken,
nearly moaning at the delicious taste. Guess he is more hungry than he remembered being. All that
pouting and changes in emotions and moods must have taken a toll on his stomach. Yikes.

“You look like you’re enjoying that a little too much,” Scaramouche comments, making Heizou
freeze when he was about to bite into another piece. He swallows, putting it down and wiping off
his fingers before turning around to look back at the blue eyed man. Or are they purple? He can’t
tell, it’s like they fluctuate depending on when and where you look at them.

“Because I’m being so generous, I am willing to offer you a bite of my chicken because it’s so
good you’ll be moaning too,” Heizou smirks, ripping off and handing it to Scaramouche. The
manager looks at it skeptically before taking it cautiously and smelling it causing Heizou to laugh.
“Man alive! It’s chicken! It’s not gonna kill you unless you consider deep fry poisonous,” he says,
watching as Scara looks over the food in his hands.
“How do I know you didn’t poison it yourself?” Scaramouche says, an eyebrow raised as he looks
back at the drummer. The redhead just huffs, crossing his arms which causes Scaramouche to
laugh and pop the piece of chicken in his mouth. He hums delightedly, eyes wide as he pressed his
fingers to his lips.

“Damn, that’s good,” Scaramouche says, wiping his fingers off on the napkin that Heizou hands
him. Heizou smiles brightly, swallowing around his own piece as he nods. Maybe hanging around
Scaramouche won’t be so bad after all.

As they converse and eat the rest of their food, Jean drives them home, stopping at stop lights and
making sure to drive as smoothly as possible so as to not wake up the sleeping Venti. The lead
singer tried to eat, but he was too tired and ended up falling asleep with his food in his lap; so Xiao
gently took it from him, closing it up and putting it back in the bag.

And when they finally arrived home, all of them made their way upstairs after saying goodbye to
Jean. Kazuha had invited Scaramouche to stay since they would need him right back by the end of
their downtime and he accepted. It only made Heizou a little bitter. Just a little. But he thought the
better of it and thought he could go ask Scaramouche if he wants to play video games with him.

But.. as he returns from his room after getting changed into more casual clothes, he sees Kazuha
and Scaramouche sitting rather closely on the couch together. They’re laughing and looking down
at something in their lap, presumably one of their phones. This makes Heizou’s heart sink, but the
emotion quickly turns from sad jealousy to a fiery jealousy as he turns around and heads back into
his room, shutting the door softly.

He flops face first down on his bed and just lays there for a moment thinking. As he does so, he
really starts to pick apart the reason he is being this way. Is he being overly dramatic or is Kazuha
really getting too friendly with Scaramouche for his jealous liking? At times like these he wishes
he had someone he could ask, but asking Xiao or Venti seems like a bad idea and he already
decided long ago that he is never going to tell Kazuha how he feels. By that logic shouldn’t he have
no right to get jealous over someone who is completely oblivious and unaware of his feelings? But
he can’t help it, it hurts.

So, with a huff, he pushes himself up from his bed and lays on it properly, beginning to scroll
through his phone, but he quickly gets bored. Frustrated, he throws his phone down on his bed with
a frown, staring up at the ceiling. He wants to play video games and he wants to be nice and invite
Scaramouche too, but then he lets his feelings get the better of him and now he’s pouting in his
room alone. No video games, no Scaramouche, and no bonding time. Is he a child?
With a groan, he sucks it up and picks himself up from his bed, fixing up his appearance and
putting on a joyful mask as he opens his door. “Hey, guys. I wanted to know if—“ but he cuts
himself off. The two of them looked to be having a serious conversation and Kazuha appears to be
nearly on the verge of tears and Heizou just thinks his heart shatters. He’s never seen Kazuha cry
before. A stranger gets to see him cry before Heizou does?

Words cannot express how heartbroken and betrayed he feels right now, so he shuts his door again,
slamming it this time without thinking. He makes his way back over to his bed and crawls
underneath the blankets, curling up underneath them into a ball. Now he feels like crying. What did
he do wrong in Kazuha’s and his relationship that would discourage the white haired man from
confiding in him, but allow him to confide in a practical stranger? The feeling is eating him up
inside and he sniffles, but refuses to cry.

He stares pointedly at the wall in front of him, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself and
after about an hour a soft knock that he knows to be Kazuha’s sounds at his door. “Hey, can I come
in?” he asks without opening the door. Heizou really wants to say no, but he doesn’t want Kazuha
to think anything is wrong. So, he sits up, fixing his bed head and wiping his eyes. He checks
himself in the camera of his phone before getting up off his bed and opening the door with a
fabricated smile.

“Hey, what’s up? Need something?” He asks, leaning against the door frame. Kazuha looks at him
quizzically, before looking back at Scaramouche who is sitting on the couch, still looking down at
his phone. Heizou watches as Kazuha’s Adam’s Apple bobs when he swallows thickly.

“No, not really, I was just wondering why you aren’t playing video games like you normally do? Is
it because of Scaramouche; ‘cause he and I can move onto the terrace,” Kazuha speaks gently,
laying a hand on the doorframe near Heizou’s body. The redhead looks down at the hand before
moving away from it and instead leaning against the door, a smile still on his face.

“You’re overthinking. I just didn’t feel like playing today,” Heizou lies, begging Kazuha silently to
believe him. The white haired man falters for a moment, the look of worry ever present on his face
during this conversation. Heizou sighs, “Kazuha, I promise I’m fine. If you really don’t believe me
you can come in here and keep an eye on me,” he says, mainly as a joke and partially as an
underlying request.

Kazuha bites his lip as he nods. “No, it’s all right, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t having
stomach issues of some kind again,” Kazuha explains, a smirk on his lips. Heizou blushes as he
crosses his arms, looking away.

“That was one time! One! It wasn’t my fault I didn’t read the label before eating it! Okay— maybe
it was but listen—“ Kazuha’s laugh cuts him off and Heizou can’t help but feel his heart swell,
 feeling prideful over the fact that he is able to make the usually reserved man smile and laugh so
much.

His smile turns gentle as he reaches a hand up to pinch Kazuha’s cheek, causing the keyboard
player to swat his hand away and rub his abused face. Heizou just continues smiling, a small,
breathy laugh leaving his lips. Archons, he is so in love with this man and the thought makes his
heart hurt because he knows he can never tell him. So, before he can let his emotions get the better
of him once more, he ushers Kazuha out of his door and back to the living room.

Once he knows Kazuha isn’t worrying anymore, he returns to his room and falls back into bed.
Maybe he should make like Venti and take a long ass nap before they get back to work. He ends up
following in his lead singer's footsteps and actually taking a nap. He guesses Mysteries at
Mansions Part Three will have to wait.

Chapter End Notes

I’m gonna wake up and see a buncha mistakes I made when I was half asleep aren’t I?
Oh, well, see you next week,

Mika.
 Not What He Expected
Chapter Summary

Scaramouche finishes up his first day as new manager while Heizou finds out more
than he wanted to.

Chapter Notes

Welcome back to chapter three! TW for self harm and attempted suicide. Enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Heizou,” Kazuha whispers, gently tapping his shoulder. Heizou can faintly hear him from his
slumber as he scrunches up his face and stretches out on his bed with a yawn. When he opens his
eyes he is greeted by the sight of Kazuha leaning over his bed, hair tied back and a soft smile on
his lips. What a lovely way to wake up.

Heizou rubs his eyes, stretching out his arms for a hug which Kazuha happily obliges to. All of the
members of their group are pretty okay about sharing physical contact with each other and Heizou
and Kazuha have always been especially cuddly. Mostly when they’re alone, though. But then the
redhead remembers why he even forced himself to take a nap in the first place and suddenly their
hug feels suffocating.

“Mm.. what time is it?” Heizou asks with a grumble, releasing Kazuha and sitting up in bed to
check his phone. It’s 5 PM and time for their dance rehearsals. Their group does multiple things,
actually. They sing, dance, and function as a normal band. Not only that, but they have their own
clothing line as well as other merchandise for consumers to buy.

“Five in the afternoon; we have rehearsal in 30. Are you ready?” Kazuha asks, watching as Heizou
stands from his bed and stretches some more. His shirt rides up his stomach which sends a shiver
down the redhead’s spine from the change from warm to cold air. So, he drops his arms and heads
to his closet and grabs his gym bag. The clothes he’s wearing right now could also be acceptable
for practice, but he’d prefer to lounge in these later.

The redhead doesn’t mind Kazuha’s presence as he tosses his gym bag on the bed and yanks his
shirt off over his head, shuffling through the bag to acquire a very open tank top. The sleeve holes
are wide enough to where if he bends over one could look right through his shirt, but it allows for
very easy movement. Plus, at practice, he can feel Kazuha’s eyes on him and the way they linger
longer than usual, but he’d be a fool to think that means he feels the same way as Heizou does.
Right?

Heizou continues to strip himself of his lazy clothes and throw on his workout clothes before
stuffing them into his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. When he looks back up at Kazuha his
cheeks are slightly flushed and his gaze turns away from him quickly. The redhead tilts his head,
thinking he’s seeing things before snatching his phone off the bed and nodding towards the door.

“Let’s go. Are the others ready?” he asks Kazuha, shutting his bedroom door behind the man once
he exits. Kazuha waits for him to finish the motion so they can walk together back down the
hallway.

“Yeah, they’re all in the van already,” he says, picking up his bag he set down by his door earlier
to later grab at this very moment. Heizou nods, head still a bit hazy from his sleep as he checks his
brain for whether he’s processed what happened earlier.

On one hand, Heizou could say he has, seeing as he no longer feels sad or irritated over it, but on
the other.. The other reminds him that he currently feels empty, numb, like nothing, right now and
it’s a painful reminder that he has, in fact, not gotten over it. Which is annoying because now he’s
going to think about it all practice because he’s going to have Kazuha wrapped in his arms the
entire time.

When they have dance numbers when performing some of their songs, the choreography gets a
little handsy. It’s one of the reasons why Heizou despises yet loves some of their dance numbers.
For example, there’s a part in one song where it’s required of Heizou to bring Kazuha’s back
against his chest and run his hand down his chest. Kazuha does not help his case because he— in
the most sexist way ever— tosses his head back on Heizou’s shoulder. It drives Heizou over the
edge and he’s lucky that he doesn’t pop one right on stage. He’s honestly not sure how Xiao
doesn’t considering they preform the same thing.

Shaking his head, he ignores the way Kazuha looks at him skeptically as they ride the elevator
down to the parking garage and make their way out to the van. And once they arrive, everyone
greets him like they’ve never seen him alive and breathing before.

“Heizou! What took you so long? You’re normally the first person out here,” Venti questions.
Shutting and locking his phone so he can properly address Heizou. The redhead doesn’t answer at
first, letting himself sit down in his seat after giving Xiao, Jean, and Scara a small wave in greeting.
“I was asleep,” he answers, running a hand through his hair as he sets his bag down at his feet.
They all look at him skeptically except for Kazuha who obviously knew already since he was the
one who came to wake him up. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Am I not allowed to
take a nap?” the redhead asks, shrinking in his seat from all the attention placed on him by his
comrades.

“You were asleep? You never sleep during break; you’re always playing video games,” Xiao
points out, looking at him suspiciously. Their lead guitarist has always been a pain in his ass when
it comes to trying to keep things on the down low. He’s one to never let things slip past him when
it comes to unusual behavior. The redhead doesn’t know where he gets it from, but both he and
Venti combined are one terrifying duo.

“I just felt like it,” he shrugs nonchalantly, not meeting his gaze. Xiao stares at him for a moment
before he looks away and out the window, clearly done with the conversation. Heizou is grateful
for that, though, as he lays his head back against the headrest of his seat and closes his eyes. He
listens to the sound of Jean starting the vehicle before they pull out of the parking garage and out
onto the street.

As always, music plays quietly in the van while everyone relaxes before practice. He can hear the
sounds of Scaramouche and Kazuha chatting softly beside him while Venti and Xiao watch videos
together on Xiao’s phone. Speaking of Xiao, the guy has a whole ass motorcycle but he can’t use it
very much because the dude’s way too famous to be out alone. And Heizou is pretty sure the
person he wants on the back of his ride is Venti, not a bodyguard.

The thought makes Heizou laugh to himself lightly which catches Kazuha’s attention. “What’s so
funny? Care to share with the class?” he asks in that sultry tone of voice of his. Heizou pops one
eye open, looking the man over before closing it and sighing dramatically. Kazuha laughs at this, a
hand over his mouth to hide his smile.

Heizou lets his head lull to the side, looking at Kazuha now as well as Scaramouche who is leaning
forward towards the edge of his seat in order to be a part of the conversation. He was like that
before Heizou even entered it, so he doesn’t think too much of it. “I was just thinking about how
funny it is that Xiao’s got a bike, but he can barely use it. That’s not the funny part, though, the
funny part is the fact that I imagined him having to ride with one of our beefy ass bodyguards on
the back instead of Venti,” he smirks, catching Xiao’s eyes from over Kazuha’s shoulder.

Venti, Kazuha, and Scaramouche all giggle. Even Jean can be seen with a small smile on her face
in the rear view mirror, but Xiao just huffs, crossing his arms. “I’d rather ride with Childe then
have to ride with anyone that isn’t Venti,” he grumbles, which causes everyone to giggle even
more. It’s a pretty known fact that Xiao doesn’t get along with his mentor’s fiancé very well and so
it’s become sort of an inside joke between them all.
Surprisingly, Scaramouche doesn’t seem fazed by the causal mention of such a famous figure, but
to be honest, who would be in his situation? He’s the manager for a very popular boy group/band,
so the bar is set pretty high for him before he gives up any kind of reaction. All he does is laugh
along with them and Heizou finds himself absentmindedly staring because Scaramouche— despite
making him insanely jealous— is still really fucking beautiful.

His gorgeous fluctuating eye color and his silky smooth skin that’s very soft to the touch topped
off by his gorgeous purple hair with a little strip of discoloration in it. Not to mention the fact that
he paints his nails black and his voice is quite the one to come by. It gets Heizou wondering more
about Scaramouche, so he quietly makes a note to himself to look the guy up on the internet later
when he gets home.

Drawing his attention back to the present, Scaramouche addresses him. “Like what you see?” he
asks, teasingly, a smirk ever present on his face. Heizou doesn’t flater, though, he looks him up
and down and smirks, nodding. This causes Scaramouche to falter instead, his face forming a
shocked expression while Kazuha’s is unreadable.

“Yeah, I do. You’re pretty hot, Scara, I bet a lot of people ask for your hand in marriage everyday,”
he chuckles, but Scaramouche’s face turns pale and Heizou freezes. Oh. Oh no. He just
accidentally called him Scara instead of Kunikuzushi and there’s no way nobody didn’t hear that
because at the very least Kazuha did.

“‘Scara’?” Kazuha asks, a frown on his face. Heizou doesn’t think he’s breathing anymore as his
eyes dart from Kazuha’s to Scaramouche’s before coming back to Kazuha’s. He swallows thickly,
a nervous smile present on his lips as he goes to make up an excuse, but Scara beats him to it.

“He probably saw it painted on my nails,” he says, showing Kazuha and Heizou his nails which
had the letters ‘Scaramouch’ on them minus the ‘e’. Heizou nods, playing along when he is fully
aware that is not where he got that name from. Kazuha takes Scara’s hands gently and runs his
thumbs over the painted surface, humming. This causes Scaramouche’s breath to hitch as he
watches how softly the white haired man handles him and Heizou feels his heart sink again.

“The ‘e’ is missing,” he grumbles, crossing his arms as he faces forward in his seat again. Kazuha
laughs lightly, releasing Scara’s hands before he returns to facing forward as well. Heizou tries not
to be too hyper aware of his presence next to him, but he can’t help it.

“Shut up, okay, I only have ten fingers,” Scaramouche huffs, leaning back in his seat as he inspects
his nicely painted nails. But, for real, when did those letters get there because Heizou swears they
were not there before. Maybe Scaramouche is some type of magical being that can perform magic.
It wouldn’t be surprising to Heizou considering in the world he lives in there are half humans
amongst them. It’s kind of weird to think about how people who aren’t entirely human are roaming
around them, but he couldn’t be any wiser.

They keep themselves hidden so well it’s almost impossible to find them and there’s even all sorts
of TV shows and documentaries about hunting them or learning about them. It’s like the case of
Bigfoot all over again, Heizou thinks the majority should just leave them alone and let them live
peacefully. He’s sure such people are already going through enough. In fact, he knows they are
because one time he met a fan who told him secretly what they are and he’s kept this secret and
will keep this secret to his grave. His dear fan entrusted him with such information, so he will keep
it hidden for them.

The fact that these people exist isn’t that big of a detail, though, considering how their existence
doesn’t harm him or concern him in the slightest. Technology is so advanced nowadays that
nothing shocks him anymore regarding the ‘supernatural’ and such. Not to mention his talent for
easily figuring things out. It’s hard for him to be shocked over anything, no matter how crazy it is.
They’re almost all extinct now, though.

“Add the last letter on your toe,” Heizou suggests, a smirk on his lips at the obviously ridiculous
idea. Kazuha and Scara just roll their eyes, causing Heizou to laugh as they pull into the parking lot
of their dance studio. Their teacher is a fine young woman by the name of Eula who is especially
known for being one of the best choreographers in the whole of Teyvat. A very trusted instructor
indeed.

Scaramouche doesn’t get a chance to reply more than just a scoff and a roll of his eyes before
they’re all filing out of the van and heading into the studio. The place is big as expected
considering Ms. Eula only teaches the best of the best and not even money can sway her. If they
don’t have the spirit or drive she’s looking for in a student, then they won’t be accepted into her
studio; and that’s that.

So, without further ado, they all make their way into their practice room and begin stretching.
Scaramouche is instructed to wait outside the dance room with Jean. It won’t be a boring wait,
though, because the glass is actually a two way mirror— allowing people to see inside, but not
outside. Thus they can sit and watch a group of sweaty men dance to a bunch of variations of
songs.

On the tour that is coming up, they will have a mix of dances, singing, and a whole performance
by the band. Of course, each place they visit will have the chance to experience all three because it
wouldn’t be fair to anywhere else. But, with each nation comes a special bonus depending on
where they are. For example, Heizou and Kazuha have their duet featured in Inazuma only,
whereas Xiao has his solo in Liyue, and Venti has his solo here in Mond. Venti and Xiao also have
a special duet planned for Liyue considering by the time they arrive it will be Lantern Rite, but it
hasn’t been approved. Right now it’s just a request.

“Heizou, come lean on me,” Venti requests, as he spreads his legs on the floor and reaches forward
with his arms. Heizou easily obliges as he rests his knee against Venti’s back and presses his
weight onto the man. He lets out a squeal as he is quickly pushed chest to the floor and is kept
there for a solid fifteen seconds before Heizou lets up. It’s incredible just how flexible Venti is, but
if Venti was impressive then Heizou is out of this world.

Not to brag, but his history of martial arts forced upon him by his father didn’t leave him with
nothing at all. It got him into a daily workout routine that he has kept up still to this day alongside
making him very flexible. It’s a nice asset to him for more.. adventurous partners in the bedroom.
And to be fair, all of them are pretty flexible. The one most likely to be the least flexible is Kazuha,
actually, and Kazuha is pretty flexible.

Kazuha is pretty flexible..

Heizou’s mind starts to wonder as he continues to help Venti stretch mindlessly before venturing
off to stretch on his own. With Kazuha’s flexibility it would be no problem at all to tie him up in
all sorts of slutty positions with gorgeous red rope. Not to mention the ease he would have when
playing rough. He could toss a leg over his shoulder and lean forward.. pressing all his weight into
each thrust without actually causing any harm to the man. He could ask Kazuha to do the splits on
his dick for shits ‘n giggles.. ask him how wide he can stretch for him.

Heizou chuckles quietly to himself at the thought. He better stop before he gets a boner right before
practice. Heizou doesn’t know about anyone else, but moving around with a hard stick between
your legs without anyone noticing is pretty challenging. Not to mention the way he’d be distracted
throughout the whole practice, but then he remembers that today is practice day for that song. The
one where it gets hot.

The redhead frowns at his reflection in the mirror at his realization as he grabs his toes from his
sitting position on the floor. When he does, he catches Kazuha’s eyes in the mirror and nearly
jumps out of his skin as he whips around to face him, form falling apart. “Y-Yes, Kazuha?” Heizou
asks nervously. Oh, please let Kazuha be unable to read minds.

The white haired man just chuckles, a fist coming up to his lips as he does so before coming to sit
next to Heizou on the floor. “No need to be so skittish, Heizou. We always stretch together
anyways,” he says nonchalantly which makes Heizou believe he’s in the clear. So, he releases the
breath he didn’t know he was holding as he watches Kazuha spread his legs and lean forward,
looking over at Heizou. “Care to be a dear?” he teases and Heizou rolls his eyes, shoving Kazuha’s
head down in order to get him to stop looking at Heizou which causes the guitarist to laugh
lightly.
“Oh, wow, look at you go. Almost at my level of flexibility,” he teases when he knows it isn’t true.
Kazuha groans, pinching Heizou’s knee on his back which causes him to yelp. “Ouch! Okay, okay,
I’m just kidding. But you have significantly improved. Your chest is almost to the floor,” the
redhead points out, looking down at Kazuha before looking at their reflection in the mirror.

His eyes dart over to Venti and Xiao behind them as the pair are casually dancing to whatever
rhythm Venti is humming. Heizou watches as Xiao spins his partner before bringing him back
close to his chest and moving them in a circular pattern. It looks sort of like an off brand Salsa
dance if Heizou had to guess. Nevertheless, it makes the redhead smile to see them casually having
fun dancing together and when his eyes drop back down to the mirror, his gaze locks with
Kazuha’s.

The white haired man gives him an unreadable look that could almost pass as envy or.. annoyance?
Before he pushes up against Heizou’s knee to return to his normal sitting position. Kazuha stands,
bending his knees to get rid of the phantom feeling of still being stretched before turning to
Heizou. “Will you help me lower into my splits?” he asks suddenly, which causes the redhead to
freeze. But before he gets a chance to reply, Ms. Eula enters the room, clipboard in hand.

They all look over to her, Venti and Xiao detaching from each other as they all gather in a line in
front of her. “Afternoon boys, I trust we are all stretched and ready to begin?” she asks and they all
nod. That was the entire point of them arriving fifteen minutes earlier than the actual start time.
This way, they waste no time in practice for stretching. “Right then, let’s get down to business. We
can start with the ‘spicy’ choreography as Amber calls it,” he says, making them all smile. Amber
is Eula’s fiancé and ever since they’ve gotten together Ms. Eula has been more and more relaxed—
more gentle than she used to be. It makes all of them happy to know their dance instructor found
someone to calm the whirling ice storm around her heart. Ms. Eula is quite the reserved person, so
having someone as sunshine-y and bright as Amber around has done wonders in her progression to
opening up.

They all move to their situated positions while Ms. Eula walks over to the stereo system and plugs
in her phone, swiping until she hits the song she’s looking for. Once the beginning starts playing,
she grabs the remote control and goes to pace around them as they begin. In synchronized
movements, each pair parts from each other before returning to each other to place a hand on the
other’s cheek, letting it slide from their turned faces as they glide past one another.

They circle around each other before coming together with hands around waists and arms around
necks. The leading role in each pair dramatically removes their partner’s hands from around their
neck to spin them around and forcefully bring their back against their chest. This leads them to the
part Heizou was most dreading as he runs a hand down Kazuha’s chest, his other gripping his waist
tightly. And, as always, Kazuha feels the need to intensify the action as he brings an arm up to
wrap around Heizou’s head while he leans his own back against the redhead's shoulder.
That isn’t originally in the choreography, but Kazuha did it once and Ms. Eula loved it so she let
him add it in. Heizou’s mind doesn’t allow him to pay attention enough during that time to see
whether Venti and Xiao do the same. This is because he’s too busy grinding his groin against
Kazuha’s ass in fluid motions for the sake of further adding emotion to the dance as if there wasn’t
enough already. If they were together, Heizou would appreciate this action, but they are not so he
is forced to go home with the ghost of a tingly feeling on him for the rest of the day.

“Heizou, keep up you’re falling behind,” Ms. Eula barks, one arm crossed under her cleavage
while she rests her other elbow on top of said arm. She continues watching them dance, but her
eyes remain in Heizou, so that means he’s obviously doing something wrong. It’s not before long
when he gets his answer. She pauses the music, “Heizou, what’s up, why are you distracted?” she
asks, catching Heizou red handed.

He releases his hold on Kazuha’s hand from their routine and he huffs, grabbing the collar of his
shirt and pulling it off his skin. “Just a little hot in here Teach,” he lies, but she just nods, telling
him she’ll turn on the fans before they start back up again. And she does exactly that and they
continue on dancing.

This time around he can feel the way her eyes track him, but he keeps his focus and it earns him the
sweet, sweet, reward of her eyes leaving him. It’s a small victory, but still a victory. Thus, he puts
his focus back on Kazuha as it carries over to the part where Kazuha and Venti switch partners.

Now with Venti in his hold, he is able to focus completely. Dancing with Venti is completely
different from dancing with Kazuha. Venti moves fluidly— not that Kazuha doesn’t— but Venti
moves in a way where even if you aren’t attracted to him, you don’t want to stop dancing with him.
The way he moves and shifts his body is so flowy it makes Heizou relax and just enjoy having fun
dancing, regardless if the song is quite sultry. It’s not often he gets to dance with Venti, but when
he does it’s always fun.

They switch their partners back again and Heizou watches the way Venti’s smile turns into a smirk
when he returns to Xiao. When Heizou watched their performance from afar once, he could see the
way the braided haired man’s movements would be more seductive when he was in Xiao’s arms.
Their poor lead guitarist is being put through torture because of it. Heizou chuckles to himself.
What a tease.

“What are you laughing about?” Kazuha asks as they dance. Heizou blinks at him as they part,
fingertips being the only things that keep them connected before they rejoin each other again.

“Just laughing over the fact that Venti is such a tease,” he says and Kazuha’s eyes darken and
Heizou swears his smile drops, but he can’t see because the dance leads Kazuha to be turned away
from him. All the redhead knows is when the guitarist is facing him once more, his smile is present
and his eyes are shining. Lately such abnormalities have been happening with his crush and he
doesn’t know what to make of it. He tried to brush it off as him imagining things, but he sure as
hell isn’t imagining anything anymore.

After running the dance a couple times with Ms. Eula nitpicking a few parts, they move on to their
next songs. Thankfully the rest aren’t seggustive and instead just upbeat and preppy, but Heizou’s
mind is still elsewhere and that ‘elsewhere’ is Kazuha, but it’s whatever. He’ll have time to process
it later when he goes to do his research on Scaramouche.

Once break time hits, all of them are a panting sweaty mess with them all sprawled out on the
floor, fans in blast. Ms. Eula calls in their manager and driver who walk over to their bags and pick
up each of their water bottles that were beside them. Jean and Scaramouche hand off their water
bottles and receive breathless ‘thank you’s’ in return and once they’re all done resting they get
right back to practice.

They spend the rest of practice in a more lazy, mellow state than when they first initially started.
Half because they’re all tired and half because that’s just what they normally do. Even if Ms. Eula
is a rather harsh and unforgiving instructor, she does understand the importance of rest and to not
overexert oneself. Of course if that is.. anyone but her. It’s a thing she’s working on courtesy of
Amber.

They wrap up practice with all of them physically drained and more tired than ever, barely able to
hold their water bottles to their lips. Ms. Eula informs them that the next rehearsal will be a dress
rehearsal which causes them all to groan. Listen, dancing is fun, especially when you know what
you’re doing, but dancing in restricting and stuffy clothing for the purpose of sex appeal? Not fun.
Annoying, in fact, but it does earn them more money, not that they care. Each of them cares more
about their fans than anything else in this business. Especially Venti. Venti’s favorite part is seeing
his fans happy. Another gold star for him, honestly.

“Ready to go?” Jean asks, standing over them with her hands on her hips and a small smile on her
lips. All of them look up at her with their water bottle in their mouth before they reluctantly peel
themselves from the floor once more. Heizou goes over to his bag in a sluggish manner and tosses
it over his shoulder before heading out with the rest of them to the van. As they do so, they bid
their farewells to Ms. Eula.

Once back in the van, all of them smell horrible and so they blast the air conditioning and turn on
some soft music to calm their senses. “How was your first day?” Heizou asks Scaramouche over
his shoulder as he keeps the cap of his water bottle in his mouth. If he’s going to research him, he
might as well also try and talk to him in real life otherwise all the research he’s about to do and
then use will be for naught.
Their manager looks at him in surprise before clearing his throat and looking around awkwardly.
“It wasn’t too bad I suppose. Wasn’t hard or anything if that’s what you’re wondering,” he says,
scratching his cheek. They all huff out laughs of their own causing the man to become increasingly
more confused. Alongside that feeling is now worry.

“You will be needed for more than this on a regular basis and it can get pretty hectic sometimes,”
Jean speaks up from her place in the driver’s seat, “things such as managing all their individual
schedules and booking more interviews and TV appearances are also required,” she continues. At
this, Scaramouche tenses and looks desperately at his employers who wave him off. They’re trying
to reassure him that if he just listens to Jean it will be fine, but he’s not buying it so far.

“Not to mention having to appoint jobs to people under you as well. Don’t forget you have
authority only second to their record label. Technically, it could be said that since you are from
their record label, you share the same authority,” Jean explains, eyes still on the road as she drives.
This only furthers his worries and he finds himself falling back in his seat in defeat, letting his
hands come over his eyes. “That being said, I’ll drive them all home first before returning you
home to yours,” she says, and he nods. He knows she’s able to see it by the way she usually
glances back in her rear view mirror when addressing those in the car.

“Don’t take it to heart, Kuni, she just means to give you forewarning. Not only that, but it gets
easier to operate and function through and around it once you’re used to it,” Kazuha reassures,
fanning himself with his hand as he leans his head back against his seat. The redhead takes note of
the nickname he uses even though he is fully capable of pronouncing ‘Kunikuzushi’ and it stirs
things inside of him. Nevertheless, Heizou peaks at him, watching the sweat trickle down the
man’s face and neck, mouth slightly ajar and his eyes closed in exhaustion.

Pretty. He thinks.

On the rest of the way home everyone is more quiet now, just trying to relax after such an intense
workout. Xiao and Kazuha said they are going to make food after their showers, but Venti offered
to take one with Xiao to be “quicker’.. they all know dinner will be late. Even so, they all just
laugh it off as they head home.

“Bye, Kunikuzushi, Jean,” Xiao says, taking Venti’s hand as he hops out of the van. Venti waves
at each of them before he skips away with Xiao, heading up before the rest of them in order to get
down to.. business . Heizou just hopes they won’t be loud enough to be heard from his own
shower. To be fair, though, the redhead will be surprised if they last long considering how
exhausting practice was. Kudos to them if they do.
“See you,” Kazuha waves, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He pulls his hair
from underneath the strap as he adjusts said strap on his shoulder. The white haired man yawns as
he waits for Heizou to get out last.

“See ya, guys,” Heizou says, hopping out and grabbing his bag as well. His eyes land on
Scaramouche from the back seat and it seems this catches their manager by surprise as his back
straightens and he gives a tiny awkward wave. Heizou just scoffs out a laugh, shaking his head
with a smile before he brings two fingers to his head in a mock salute and flicks them away to say
goodbye.

“Ready?” Kazuha asks from behind him. Heizou nods, sliding the van door shut and walking in
line with Kazuha back up to the building. The smell of his own body odor is starting to drive him
crazy and he visibly cringes when he gets a whiff of himself causing Kazuha to laugh. “It’s not
your fault practice is intense,” he reminds him with a gentle smile when he presses the button for
the elevator.

“I know, but I will never enjoy smelling bad. I smell good! Smelling bad is like an insult to my
name,” Heizou whines, stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for their floor. Kazuha
follows suit, standing next to him as they watch the doors shut.

“Yeah, you do smell pretty nice,” he comments offhandedly and Heizou freezes. He tries his best
not to let his mind run wild over the fact that Kazuha thinks he smells good. He’s not trying to read
too into this and get his hopes up, but he can’t help himself..

“Oohh, look here! You think I smell good, Zuzu ?” Heizou smirks, using a name he only brings out
in order to tease Kazuha. The white haired man smirks back, side eyeing him from his place next
to Heizou. This causes the redhead to falter and his eyes to widen in surprise, but it’s gone all too
quickly when Kazuha moves his gaze back to the elevator doors.

“A little too good if you ask me,” he murmurs right as the elevator doors chime, releasing them
from their confined space. Kazuha takes the first stride out and into their penthouse, heading
straight to his room and shutting the door behind him.

Heizou is still in shock from what just happened as he watches the little sign with Kazuha’s name
on it bounce softly against the wood of his door. Venti made them for everyone with their own
little designs. He gave Kazuha maple leaves and wind twisted around a samurai sword— a katana.
In fact, Heizou stands for so long just staring that the elevator doors almost close him in again, but
he juts out a hand to stop them quickly before they do.
Mind now racing a mile a minute, he walks past his friends’ bedrooms and heads to his own. He
tosses his bag to the side and locks his door, stripping himself from all his sticky clothing as he
snatches his loungewear from his bag and heads to the bathroom. He unties his hair and rests his
hands against the cool marble of his sink, staring back at his own reflection as he thinks.

There’s so way that wasn’t Kazuha flirting back with him. Was it? He dished out a compliment and
when Heizou challenged it with underlying suggestive intent.. Kazuha stood his ground. That’s
gotta mean something, right? Something? Anything? Maybe he’s grasping at straws here, but he
for sure knows that there was at least a little something there.

Pushing off from the sink and running a hand through his hair, Heizou hops in the shower, taking it
quickly because he can, in fact, hear Venti and Xiao from his own shower like he had hoped he
couldn’t. Once he’s dried and redressed, he takes his laptop from its charging place and crawls into
bed, setting it on his lap as he pops on his reading glasses. He doesn’t use them often considering
how he hates the way they look on him, but they can help prevent getting a headache when reading
stuff on a screen.

Now— time to get to the bottom of this! He types in Scaramouche’s name only to find that
‘Scaramouche’ is not the same Scaramouche he’s talking about. He’s not some.. circus dude..? Or
is he a servant? A bard? A jester? Heizou is confusing himself with all these fancy old people
words, so he tries again but searches ‘Kunikuzushi’ on all platforms. And he finds..! Nothing. This
guy doesn’t have any social media or online presence at all.

Now thoroughly stumped, Heizou attempts searching different platforms, old ones and super new
ones. Maybe he just has a social media that Heizou himself doesn’t have. Though, what he finds is
not what he expects. Instead of finding any social media or anything of the sort, he finds an article
about a boy named Kunikuzushi and that looks unmistakably like Scaramouche.

Intrigued, Heizou clicks the link and his eyes are blown wide. It’s an article about the guy’s
attempted suicide. The redhead pauses, head spinning as he tries to work his brain around why the
media would even upload such an article about a personal event. But as he reads, he begins to
regret ever searching and digging for more.

A young man by the name of Kunikuzushi was discovered by a young boy outside his home. The
boy says Kunikuzushi was seen attempting to jump from a two story house with tears in his eyes.
He says he looked very sad, like ‘someone had taken out his heart’. Kunikuzushi would not discuss
more with reporters, but it is speculated that his home life is the cause for this and the reason he
has been driven to this point. Medical professionals rushed to the scene when they got the call from
the boy’s mother— who he told— and retrieved Kunikuzushi from the roof of his own home.

They have let reporters in on the fact that the young man is now recovering professional help for
 mental health to prevent occurrences like this in the future. Attached below are a few images of
Kunikuzushi taken by bystanders who witnessed the incident first hand.

Heizou shakes as he scrolls down, looking at the pictures of how dull Scaramouche’s eyes are.
They’re puffy and red from supposedly all his crying and cuts upon cuts can be seen littering his
wrists. Some old scars are mixed in with the gushing red of the fresh wounds and he’s not smiling.
He reacts violently to being touched by the medical professionals as seen in blurry photos of him
fighting back against them so as to not be taken away. It is so bad that they have to restrain him,
but it says below the pictures that that only caused him to relapse and lash out even more.

After he reaches the bottom of the page, the image of Scaramouche’s depressed appearance locked
in his brain, he closes his laptop. He lets the darkness of his room engulf him as his mind runs for a
different reason now, completely lost on what to do next.

How is he supposed to look Scaramouche in the eye tomorrow? How is he supposed to act like he
didn’t see anything when he saw way more than he ever wanted to? He could have stopped
scrolling. He should have stopped scrolling. That was Scaramouche’s private information that
some invasive nut job reporter decided to put on the internet and Heizou was the invasive nut job
that decided to read it.

He feels like shit.

What is he supposed to do now..?

Chapter End Notes

Don’t worry about the mythical beings thing; that’s irrelevant to the story and is only
there because I didn’t want to have to take away Tighnari’s ears and tail in later
chapters. His ears n tail are a big part of who he is so I didn’t wanna take that away
from him. Other than that, see you next week,

Mika.

P.S. Tmr is my birthday, so go ahead and do me a favor by simply enjoying the rest of
your day.
 Proof That You Survived
Chapter Summary

Heizou has two talks. One with Xiao and one with Scaramouche.

Chapter Notes

Hello, welcome back to chapter four. TW for attempted suicide and self harm. Enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

A week goes by with Heizou dancing around Scaramouche like any tiny word said to him will
make him shatter into glass. After finding out what he did, Heizou doesn’t know how to look Scara
in the eye anymore without feeling guilty. That’s only one of two reasons he’s avoiding him,
though. The second is because it’s become more and more apparent that Scara and Kazuha are
clearly flirting. At practice, in the van, even at home— those two are always together and they’re
always laughing and smiling, sitting closer than needed.

That used to be where Heizou was.

Heizou used to be the one sitting too close. Heizou used to be the one laughing and smiling at
practice, in the van, and at home with Kazuha. He used to be the one Kazuha showed his plants to.
But lately, Kazuha has exchanged Heizou for Scara and it hurts.

He knows he could just walk up to them and slot himself right in their little group, but he feels
uncomfortable at the idea because of the knowledge he knows about Kunikuzushi now. There’s no
way the others can’t tell that he’s avoiding them, but he can’t help it; he doesn’t know what else to
do. And he doesn’t know how to think or feel.

His emotions are colliding at a complete ninety degree angle with each side being insanely strong
which leaves him at an impasse. On one hand, he wants to feel for Kunikuzushi and try to
understand him on some level, but on the other hand, his jealousy is clouding his vision. It’s
making him hesitate in reaching out to Scara to tell him what he knows. Why should he have to feel
for someone who is taking his best friend— his four year long crush— away from him? It makes
no sense.
And maybe he’s being childish, but he has feelings too and Kuni just happens to be stepping and
trampling and dancing all over them without his knowledge. Even right now Heizou watches as
Scara and Kazuha chat away with each other at a table on the terrace while Xiao and Heizou are
cooking lunch.

With a sad gaze, he watches as Kazuha whispers something in Scara’s ear that makes his eyes
widen before he laughs. Heizou feels a pang in his heart as his breath hitches, a lump forming in
his throat. That should be me. He thinks, his chin resting in his hand as he continues watching them
from his place leaning over the counter.

Xiao shoves him to the side firmly, but gently, grabbing a pan from the cupboard that was blocked
by Heizou’s legs. “Any more staring and your eyes will dry out. If you love him so much, just tell
him so. Your jealousy is radiating off you in waves and tainting the room with a depressing
atmosphere,” their lead guitarist says, placing the pan on the stove and turning it on, before turning
around to look at Heizou. He crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows, clearly expecting a response
out of the drummer.

The redhead glares at him, looking him over before looking back at Scaramouche and Kazuha.
“Shut up, you would never understand how I feel because your best friend never replaced you with
someone else,” he says before he feels the need to obviously lie, “and I don’t like him like that, I
just miss him by my side all the time. Before Kunikuzushi showed up I was always the one he hung
out with,” he finishes. Thinking about the way he said that makes him sound insanely childish
which makes him feel even more guilty than he already is.

Heizou watches as the pair lean over the edge of the terrace and point at things below them while
seemingly engaging in a calm conversation. His heart aches with longing and his nails dig into the
skin on his cheek. “Then why don’t you go tell him how you feel. He’s Kazuha; I’m sure he’ll
understand and apologize and you all can be friends,” Xiao says, turning around to add ingredients
to the bowl. He also hands some things to Heizou for him to chop up both because if he’s here he’s
going to help and the guitarist wants to provide him with a distraction so he stops staring at the two
of them.

“It’s not that easy, Xiao,” he sighs, grabbing a knife after he washes his hands so he can begin
chopping up the vegetables. Heizou has considered using cooking as a means for distracting
himself from many things, but he finds that it’s not as easy as when Xiao is around. This isn’t even
his job, Kazuha is supposed to be the one here cooking with Xiao, not him.

“What’s stopping you from just going up to him and telling him that you feel left out?” he asks and
Heizou tenses at his words. The way he phrased that makes it seem like Heizou’s feelings are
childish. Feeling ‘left out’ is kid stuff, he should be grown enough to understand relationships
change and develop over time even if it’s not in the way he wants or expects them to. He should be
able to accept that fact as well and suck it up and move on, but he can’t.
When Heizou doesn’t reply, hands having stopped chopping up the ingredients, Xiao turns around
to look at his back. It takes a moment before Heizou speaks, but when he does it’s barely above a
whisper. “If it wasn’t that easy for you to tell Venti you loved him then what makes you think that
it’s any easier for me to admit I’m feeling lonely without him around?” he asks, staring pointedly
down at the knife in his hands. His mind runs through the images of the cuts he saw last night on
Scaramouche’s arms and he shuts his eyes tightly, willing them to go away.

Even though those two things are completely different, the point Heizou is trying to make is: it’s
never easy to admit to anyone how you feel when you’re afraid of the outcome, no matter what the
subject at hand may be. So, the two sit in silence for a moment before Xiao turns back around and
begins cooking once more, adding spices to the mix in the pan.

“I’m just saying that the longer you drag it out, the harder it’s going to be,” Xiao concludes,
leaving no room for further conversation. When the guitarist uses that tone of voice it always
makes whoever he’s talking to immediately understand that he doesn’t want to continue conversing
any longer. It’s annoying sometimes, but right now Heizou appreciates it because he doesn’t want
to talk about this any more either. So, the two continue like that in solemness, cooking alongside
each other while the silence consumes them both. Not a single time during the rest of the time they
spend cooking, does Heizou take a glance outside to the terrace again.

His relationship with Xiao is definitely the most unusual among the rest of them. The two are
friends, of course, but they’re the kind of friends you go to when you have no one else left. It’s not
necessarily a bad thing because neither of them feel the need to change it, but sometimes it’s
because of their lack of a connection that things like this happen. Where they find the other’s
presence more awkward than usual or they don’t understand how the other is feeling. The two of
them, funnily enough, are a lot more similar than either of them realize and maybe that is why it’s
always difficult to hear the other’s opinion on a touchy matter. Even so, whatever their relationship
may be, as long as it doesn’t disrupt the peace— which it doesn’t— then there is no need to be
worried.

A click of a bedroom door grabs both of the men’s attention as they look over to see Venti emerge
from Xiao and his shared room. He walks over to Xiao by the stove to give him a kiss on the cheek
which the guitarist returns before giving a small wave to Heizou. “Where’s Kazuha? Isn’t he your
cooking buddy?” Venti asks, his song book in hand which is stuffed full of different ideas and a
bunch of random pieces of paper Venti has collected over time.

Xiao nods his head over to the terrace without looking away from the food and the singer follows
his gaze to see Kazuha and Heizou now playing chess together on the table out there. The way
Kazuha looks at Scaramouche with the most love-filled eyes Heizou has ever seen makes his heart
hurt even more and his grip on the knife slips, cutting his finger by accident.
He hisses in pain, dropping the knife before popping his finger in his mouth. Venti is by his side in
an instant and Xiao turns around to look at him in concern. “Are you okay?” the singer asks,
pulling Heizou’s hand from his mouth in order to see the cut on his finger. When it’s removed from
his mouth, blood spills over in waves and coats even Venti’s finger, causing him to sigh. “Let’s get
you a band aid; looks like the cut is a lot deeper than previously expected,” he finishes, leading
Heizou to the medical cabinet and pulling out a band aid and alcohol wipes.

Heizou glares at the wipes in Venti’s hands which causes the singer to laugh. “It’s not my fault you
cut yourself, okay? We need to make sure it’s not gonna get infected before I put a band aid on it,”
he says, shoving Heizou’s finger back towards his face, “lick the blood off I need the area less
messy than this,” he says and Heizou obliges. With a quick suck of his own finger, the blood is
gone and Venti cringes at the gross action.

“Hey, you told me to do it, it’s not my fault,” Heizou says, already feeling his mood brighten now
that Venti is around. The singer rolls his eyes and takes Heizou’s finger back from him and—
without warning— he swipes the alcohol wipe over the deep cut. “ Fuck, Venti, ow! Stop that
hurts!” he hisses, trying to pull his hand away, but Venti’s grip is a lot stronger than it looks as it
keeps his hand firmly in place. The braided haired boy takes a band aid and places it over the
wound, patting it for good measure.

“There, all done,” Venti chirps, throwing away the alcohol wipe and the band aid wrapper before
putting both away in the cabinet. Xiao snorts at the glare Heizou sends Venti’s way, cradling his
finger in his other hand. The singer just smiles and waves him off, before going over to Xiao and
wrapping his arms around his torso. “Is the food almost done?” he asks and Xiao nods, taking
some of the unbloodied vegetables and tossing them into the frying pan. Venti and Heizou watch as
Xiao finishes up the rest of dinner, taking in the scent of the food as they do so.

Even without Kazuha, Xiao is a pretty decent cook. Heizou doesn’t know when or why the
guitarist started cooking, but his food is always so damn good. He’d be willing to eat anything
Xiao puts in front of him as long as it doesn’t smell of poison. With that thought in mind, the three
glance towards the terrace, watching as Scaramouche and Kazuha reenter the establishment.

“There’s no way I should have lost, I honestly don’t know how you did it,” Kunikuzushi laughs,
his smile and eyes soft as he regards Kazuha. With that information, that must mean Kazuha beat
him in their little game of chess, which is something that has never happened before. Heizou can
already feel the dark emotions swirling up inside him again. He makes a point to stare at the
ground, gripping the finger that was just wounded tightly in an absent mind.

The two of them over the week or so they’ve known each other have started playing chess together
regularly with Scaramouche easily beating him each time. It wasn’t until now that Kazuha finally
beat Scaramouche and the darker haired man doesn’t seem to mind it at all. In fact, he seems to be
singing his praises as the atmosphere around those two seems way too lovey dovey and soft for
Heizou’s liking.

“It’s pretty easy now that I know you better,” Kazuha smirks, taunting Scaramouche with the way
he looks at him. This causes the man to blush slightly and look away, clearing his throat as he
approaches the rest of the group. Kazuha follows suit standing by the counter, eyes instantly falling
to Heizou’s back before looking away with an unreadable expression on his face. “So what’s for
dinner?” he asks, brushing a hair behind his ear.

“Fish and salad. Fish made by me and Salad made by Heizou,” Xiao comments, taking the fish
from the stove and dishing it out in proportioned sizes. Heizou watches him do this, noticing how
he gives the best part of the fish to Heizou. It makes the smallest of smiles appear on his lips and
gives him the strength to turn around and actually face the rest of the crowd.

Small gestures like this are Xiao's way of silently showing where he stands in certain situations and
it seems that he seems to understand Heizou’s feelings now. He’s grateful for the gesture
considering how he was feeling like complete shit before, he can at least enjoy some damn good
food now. So, he grabs the plate placed in front of him, being careful of his finger before he makes
himself a salad and sits down at his spot on the counter.

Some days they all eat together and some days only one of them is gone. Other days, none of them
eat together; today happens to be one of those days where they’ve all decided to eat together. Thus,
the rest of them grab their food after saying their thanks to Heizou and Xiao before taking a seat. At
first all of them just eat in silence, enjoying the food that was neatly prepared for them before
Kazuha speaks up.

“What happened to your finger?” he asks, causing Heizou to pause mid chew as he looks over at
the man with wide eyes. He didn’t expect Kazuha to address him at all, seeing as lately, more often
than not he prefers to engage in conversation with Scaramouche rather than him. With this in mind,
Heizou hesitantly swallows his food, looking down at his plate while he attempts to get more salad
between his chopsticks, but fails.

Clearing his throat, Heizou speaks, “I just cut my finger by accident, nothing too bad,” he says,
bringing the food to his lips once he finally squires it. Kazuha hums, not feeling the need to ask any
further questions and dinner continues now in a more awkward than comfortable silence.
Understanding this, Heizou rushes his meal as fast as he can without feeling like he will be
discovered before cleaning up first and washing his dishes and the cooking utensils he and Xiao
used to make the food.

As he does this, he thinks over how he can stop being so antsy around the two of them because
now he even knows he’s being blatantly obvious. Though, before he can get too far in the thought
process, Kazuha says the last thing he wants to hear. “Do you guys want to watch a movie?” he
asks, and everybody knows it’s an unspoken rule to always attend movies with the group, you’re
only exempt if you aren’t awake when asked or physically incapable of attending. There is one
more way to not attend movie night, but it’s hard to achieve and that is if the majority says they
don’t want to watch a movie.

Of course, Scaramouche speaks first, “sure, which movie are we watching?” he asks, standing up
and taking his dish to Heizou. Trying to be nice, the redhead offers to wash it for him, but
Kunikuzushi politely declines and reminds him of his hurt finger. Heizou just nods and instead
dries off the dishes before putting them away and letting Scaramouche do his own.

“Depends on what the others want to watch. Heizou is normally the one to pick them out,” Kazuha
says, putting another bite of fish in his mouth. At this moment Heizou finds himself cursing his
best friend’s existence for the first time in a very long time at having all the attention turned to him.
The pressure is weighing down on him more than usual and he slowly turns around, resting his
back against the counter. Surprisingly, Scaramouche doesn’t leave his side after putting his dishes
away, instead he stays right in his place next to Heizou as he waits for his reply.

Eyes now all on him, Heizou displays an awkward smile before he snaps out of it and racks his
brain for a movie that they could all enjoy seeing as he won’t be getting out of this one. “Do you
like horror?” he addresses Kunikuzushi, a hand under his chin as he thinks. Scaramouche hums,
looking up at the ceiling before nodding.

“Yeah, I’d say I do,” he says, watching as Heizou begins to think once more. Venti is already
glaring at Heizou from where he stands considering he doesn’t really like horror movies, but he sits
through them because it’s movie time with the gang. It’s because one time they all went to a
haunted house together and Venti got so scared he ended up throwing up outside the house. They
all felt so bad that they bought him gifts to make up for it. Venti still has those gifts and he
cherishes each and every one of them.

“Have you ever seen Scream ?” he asks, blinking over at Scaramouche curiously and Scaramouche
nods. Tutting, Heizou snaps his fingers with a small ‘drat! ’ before thinking of some more movies.
Laughing lightly, Scaramouche shakes his head at Heizou’s way too serious thought process over
horror movies.

“Just because I’ve seen it once doesn’t mean I won’t watch it again,” he says, crossing his arms
with a smirk towards Heizou. The redhead just nods at that, moving out of the way as the others
bring their plates to come wash their dishes. Heizou is definitely more relaxed than before but he
can’t help being skeptical of why Kazuha suggested watching a movie when the drummer is
clearly uncomfortable with the idea. Alas, he ends up going to sit down as well.

Once everyone is seated, Heizou in the middle with Kazuha on his left and Scara next to Kazuha.
Xiao is to his right with Venti’s legs swung over his lap as the man practically sits on his lap with
how cuddled close he is to their lead guitarist. All of them cuddle up under their blankets as the
lights dim and the movie begins.

Not much is said during the movie other that the ocasial ‘fuck you’ from Venti who jumps
whenever something espically scary comes on. He’s completely fine seeing gory things but creepy
settings..? Hell no. Venti is the type to be speed running through a haunted house if he was ever
taken to one, though, each time Venti does jump, Xiao chuckles softly with a smile dancing on a
lips. He places a soft kiss to Venti’s hair and runs a hand down his head to comfort him.

Kazuha on the other hand doesn’t so much as wince. He’s the type who would rather not hear the
sounds of bones snapping, so every time he does he grimaces. Other than that, he’s pretty okay
when it comes to horror, much to Heizou’s dismay because he wants to kiss and cuddle Kazuha
like Xiao does Venti. Hmph, unfair.

Heizou would guess by the way Scaramouche seemed nonchalant before watching the movie that
he doesn’t mind horror all that much and he’s right. Kuni doesn’t seem to be bothered by any
aspect of the movie just as Heizou isn’t which could be nice as well because then they could watch
horror movies together and laugh at how idiotic the characters are. It would be a nice pass time.

Wait.. movies with Scara?? What a weird thing to be thinking. Actually, now that he’s paying
attention there seems to be a lot more space between him and Kazuha than normal and a lot less
space between Kazuha and Scaramouche. In fact, the two are practically cuddling. Scaramouche’s
arm is thrown over the back of the couch behind Kazuha while his other arm rests over the arm of
said couch. Kazuha doesn’t even seem to mind this as he folds his knees across the couch towards
Scara’s direction, subsequently leaning into him more.

Noticing this causes Heizou’s jealousy to skyrocket and focus all his attention into pouting for the
whole rest of the movie. Through all the gore and lore, Heizou remains stubborn, a frown on his
face and eyes glaring at the TV. This is like a test of his patience as he controls his emotions in
front of all his friends so as to not lash out and strangle Scaramouche where he sits.

By the end of the movie, Xiao is rubbing Venti’s arm who is recovering from the spooky
atmosphere while Scaramouche and Heizou chat together about how good the movie was and
thinking they should watch the rest of them. Heizou is strictly silent, keeping to himself before he
stubbornly gets off the couch and uses the excuse of getting ready for practice as his escape.

He doesn’t even know why Scaramouche is here! He’s supposed to be their manager not their
friend-anger! When Kazuha invited him to stay that one time Heizou thought it was going to be a
one time deal, but no! It’s an everyday deal now. Everyday he has to watch them talk together.
Everyday he has to watch them laugh together. And every day he has to watch them flirt together!
Because no matter how obvious it is, apparently it’s clearly not enough even after shoving it in all
of their faces pretty much. Oh, it makes his blood boil.

And here Heizou is, thinking that maybe if he fesses up to Scaramouche about what he found out
that they could have a heart to heart and talk for a while. Maybe they could come to a truce and
have an actual friendship— past the fact that they fucked. It would work out and it would be all
sunshines and rainbows and they’d have a cool and very sexy new manager. But no! Of course it
can’t be like that because the two of them keep messing it all up— ruining Heizou’s resolve and
making him give up on even attempting to converse with Scaramouche at all. In fact, this whole
situation has driven a wedge between even him and Kazuha! It’s ridiculous and it’s getting on his
nerves.

Heizou spends the rest of their break making sure he has everything packed for their tour in a
couple days because he likes to have time to remember items he may have forgotten to pack. He
adds spare toothbrushes and other cosmetic items as well as some simple things such as a spare
charger and some extra socks because who doesn’t need more socks? Once he’s sure everything is
ready to go, he grabs his costume from the rack and changes into it so he won’t have to once they
get to the studio.

They started dress rehearsals a few days ago and so far they’ve been going smoothly, but the
clothes are still unbearable and he has to wear his hair all fancy like. The make up artists also have
to drench his face in sweat proof makeup which he hates because they have to redraw his twin
moles. His fans all agree his eyes are the best part of his because of those moles and he feels fake
having to have them drawn back on.

When he is all set to go, he chooses to lounge back in his bed until it’s time to actually leave, which
happens to be an hour from now. So, with time to kill, he decides to scroll through social media and
check the latest news about him and his bandmates.

At first not much more than the usual pops up, but then he keeps scrolling to get down to the more
juicer comments.

@heizoustoebeans • can we start a thread of whose dick is the largest here?! I say one vote
towards xiao

Heizou scoffs, offended they didn’t choose him, but he keeps reading anyways.

@ventiisloveventiislife • no way! xiao’s the shortest of the group he has to have the smallest
That makes Heizou audibly laugh, using a hand to cover his mouth so he isn’t being too loud
before he remembers his reading glasses and slips them onto his face. He continues scrolling.

@xiaosvanguard • guys that’s so stereotypical! just because he’s the smallest doesn’t mean he
can’t be packing! my vote goes to the king himself, Heizou

Now that has the redhead cackling. They had him in the first half and their community
simultaneously picking on Xiao is such a funny sight to see. It’s all in good fun anyways and Xiao
doesn’t even check his socials either way. Even if he did, sometimes the less you know, the better.
Heizou is sure Xiao would flip his shit if he knew that their fan base thought his dick was small.

The person who originally asked the question ended up just making a poll and all the votes flooded
in concluding that Heizou is definitely the one who they think has the largest dick. Kazuha comes
in close second followed by Venti and lastly Xiao. It’s funny how they think a pillow princess such
as Venti happens to have a larger cock than his gruffy aloof boyfriend.

Shrugging it off, Heizou continues to scroll, admiring any fanart he finds and making sure to save
the ones he likes to his camera roll. Instead of having pictures of him and his friends as his
background, he has drawings of him and his friends as his background. His lock screen has them
all with their arms around each other, smiling down at the focal point of the illustration. Lights
flash from behind them and cheers could be seen through the text on the image. His home screen
has just him and Kazuha standing next to each other with big smiles and peace signs made with
their fingers. He thinks both pieces of art are very cute.

After a while of scrolling, his jealousy and anger has flooded to the back of his mind as he
peacefully enjoys the rest of his break. Though, when he checks the time to see it’s almost time to
go, he heads down to the van first— as always— and gets situated. “Hello, Ms. Jean, how are
you?” he asks, making sure his outfit isn’t getting too messed up with the way he’s sitting. Jean
smiles at him through the rear view mirror before looking down at her nails.

“I just took Klee to get our nails done and she wanted to match sets so she has a red and white
version of my blue and white nails,” she says, reaching. A hand back to show Heizou carefully.
Heizou takes her hand gently in his, running his fingers over her nails as he admires them. They
have a cute floral design with some stripes and dots hinted here and there. It gives a nice,
refreshing summer/spring feel.

“Oh, they’re so pretty!” he smiles, letting her hand go as he finishes admiring them. Heizou knows
that Ms. Jean was left with the child of one of her friends. He has no idea the specifics behind how
she exactly ended up with Klee other than that her friend is just extremely busy. But if her friend
was extremely busy to begin with, then why did she even decide to have a kid? Heizou will never
understand that about some people.

“Thank you, Klee loves her nails too,” she smiles, starting up the van when she sees the others
come down the elevator and begin walking towards the van. Heizou then leans back in his seat, his
friendly demeanor now diminished when he has to face Scaramouche and Kazuha once again. In
routine, they all file into the van, greeting Jean as they go, before she pulls out of the parking
garage and makes their way towards the studio.

Following that same routine they arrive at the studio and get to stretching while waiting for Ms.
Eula. Once she arrives they all file into line and heed to her orders for the next few hours. It’s clear
to not only himself but his friends and Ms. Eula that his moves are sluggish and his heart isn’t into
it and it’s making him even more frustrated than he already was. It’s bad enough he has to deal
with Scaramouche and Kazuha word fucking on the daily, but Ms. Eula’s relentless nitpicking is
not something he can handle right now.

So after being called out time and time again during rehearsal, Heizou is finally kicked from the
room and sent to go take a break elsewhere while the others continue. It’s not a surprise to anybody
there that this happens. So, breezing past Scaramouche and Jean who watch him with concern, he
speed walks down the hall agitatedly and stops at the vending machine in order to grab a snack; but
even waiting patiently for it to drop pisses him off. And if that wasn’t bad enough when he leans
down to grab his snack and stands back up, he is met with the face of the one person he did not
want to see right now. Scaramouche.

“Hey,” he says flatly, eyes unamused as he watches Scaramouche lean against the vending
machine, arms folded and one ankle crossed over his other. Heizou doesn’t even know why he
bothered to show up if he isn’t going to talk to him because Scaramouche waits a whole two
seconds too long before responding and it’s thinning Heizou’s patience even more.

“Is something wrong? Did I do something to piss you off?” Scaramouche asks, looking Heizou
dead in the eye. The redhead stares at him incredulously, trying not to crush the small bag of chips
in his hand. He has to remember that Scaramouche nor anybody else knows about his crush on
Kazuha and he would like to keep it that way. So, instead of telling the truth, he lies.

“Nothing’s wrong and you haven’t done anything to upset me. I just don’t feel good,” he lies,
brushing past Scaramouche who swings an arm out and places his hand firmly against Heizou’s
chest. The purple haired man pushes Heizou back to his original place before he moves to block
his way back to the practice room. His arms refold as he gives the redhead a deadpan stare.

“If you don’t feel good you shouldn’t be practicing nor eating junk food,” he says, snatching the
small bag of chips from Heizou’s hand. He shoos the drummer out of his way and slots money into
the machine before pressing two buttons. A water drops from the vending machine and
Scaramouche crouches down to pick it up before turning around and handing it over to Heizou.
“As your manager it’s my job to take care of you and if you’re not feeling it, you need to tell me,”
he concludes.

Heizou takes the water from him with a glare towards his chips before opening the water bottle and
downing a few big gulps of it. Because he was being so sluggish they were made to perform certain
parts over and over again until they— more so Heizou— got them right. This has caused him to
currently be quite exhausted. “Thanks,” he says after drinking the water and capping it, “but,
seriously, I’m fine, just not in the mood for practice today,” he half lies, blowing his bangs from
his face. Scaramouche looks at him skeptically, clearly not believing a word coming from Heizou’s
mouth since the beginning of this conversation.

“So fine that you’ve been continuously holding the rest of the group back for over a week now?”
Scaramouche challenges, an eyebrow raised as he eyes Heizou. The redhead seethes, reigning in his
frustration with the shorter man before he strangles him for real. How can words so easily get
under one’s skin and make them want to do harsh things because of it?

“Whatever, Scara, we don’t need to talk about this right now,” he says, brushing past Scaramouche
and this time he lets him go. Why their manager is deciding to play nice all of a sudden, he doesn’t
know. But Heizou makes it a full three strides before he feels totally done with today and
everything he has to offer already.

“Call me, Kunikuzushi— Kuni even— anything, but Scara. It’s not a name I let people I’m close to
call me,” he says. Heizou doesn’t turn around to get a good look on the shorter’s face, but he does
turn his head just slightly so he can easily hear and be better heard when he speaks next.

“You think we’re close?” he almost laughs. Scaramouche is silent for a moment and that moment
almost lasts too long seeing as he scoffs and begins to track back down the hall to the practice
room. He doesn’t get very far once more before Scaramouche is speaking for the last time during
this conversation.

“I would like us to be,” he admits softly, but with a guard to his voice and Heizou wants to laugh.
He wants to laugh so hard because if only Scaramouche knew that he was just a one night stand—
a replacement for the very man he was just cuddling with during that movie. If only Scaramouche
knew that if he would have had an opportunity to hold Kazuha that night instead of Scaramouche
he would have taken it and not looked back. If only Scaramouche knew that to Heizou, he is
nothing but that pretty fuck he had in the nightclub.

“Whatever, Kuni . If you wanna play manager so badly, get back to work and do your job instead
of trying to infiltrate my personal life and attempt to be friends with me,” he snaps, voice nothing
over just a bit raised. He knows that what he said is harsh— has always known what he says when
he’s angry can be and is very harsh, but at the moment he doesn’t care. He probably will later, but
for now he doesn’t care. So, without another word from Kunikuzushi, he takes his leave and heads
back to the practice room.

The rest of practice Heizou tries his best to feel numb instead of angry so that way he can actually
focus on dancing. It works better than he expected and the rest of practice goes smoothly, but one
can tell that the atmosphere has been tense ever since Heizou reentered the room. So, they finish up
the day and head home, the car is eerily quiet except for the soft music playing from the stereo
Jean turned on and the van feels suffocating.

No one tries to break the silence, not even Venti, clearly sensing that if it were to break it would
only cause more problems. Heizou thanks them all for that because he seriously does not want to
talk right now. And when they get home, he’s the first to exit the van and head up the elevator
alone like he has been doing a lot as of recently. Once he reaches their penthouse, he heads for his
room, fully intending not to be bothered again as he undresses and hops in the shower.

He takes a long bath instead of a shower, actually, and it’s something he doesn’t really enjoy, but
knows will relax his state of being, so he does it anyway. He feels his body relax in the soapy,
warm water as he lets his eyes flutter closed. He doesn’t think of anything, instead he clears his
mind and lets his thoughts run blank, thriving off the silence that engulfs him. It’s a comfort
instead of a discomfort for once and he is enjoying it very much.

Once he deems himself more relaxed, he cleans himself up and empties the tub before heading
back to bed in a new set of comfortable clothes. He pops his reading glasses on— just golden,
wired, circle ones— before laying on his side numbly and scrolling through his feed again as he
did earlier that day. For a while he just continues like that, reading the latest knees and checking up
on his socials for Kuki. Until he stumbles across a story someone had posted about suicide and it
all comes flooding back to him.

The guilt weighs heavy on his heart and he shuts off his phone, slamming it down on the bed
before running his hands up his face— under his glasses of course— with a big groan. He still
hasn’t figured out what he is supposed to do with that information and it’s been over a week.
Keeping this secret has been killing him because even though he is very good at keeping secrets for
people, knowing one he wasn’t even supposed to know about is eating him alive.

A knock sounds at his door— not Kazuha’s. “Come in, he says, still rubbing his eyes. The intruder
opens the door and closes it softly before walking over to the edge of Heizou’s bed like a kid who
has come to confess to their mom that they threw up in the middle of the night. Peeking and eye
open, he dies inside, regretting ever letting the person who knocked in because in the glow of his
bedside lamp, Kunikuzushi can be seen standing there. It seems as if he is gauging Heizou’s
reaction before he speaks.
When he doesn’t, Kuni takes that as his cue to open up. “Can we talk?” he asks and Heizou almost
wants to say no immediately, but the sincerity in Scaramouche’s voice makes him soften with a
sigh. He sits up in bed and gestures to the end of it to let Scara know he’s welcome to take a seat. “I
meant what I said earlier about wanting us to be friends,” he continues and Heizou swallows
thickly, “I know it’s weird to want to be friends with a one night stand, but I figured since we had
good chemistry while fucking that we would probably have good chemistry as friends too?” he
says as more of a question than a statement. Heizou listens carefully, waiting for him to say more,
but he doesn’t.

Signing, Heizou speaks, “look, I can’t keep acting like I know nothing anymore,” he says, letting
his eyes fall from Scaramouche’s face to the wall on his left, “I saw an article about a younger man
attempting to commit.. suicide off his two story home. The guy looked exactly like you— there’s
no mistaking it, that was you,” he fesses up, afraid of the reaction he is going to get. When Heizou
doesn’t get an outraged reaction, his eyes slide back over to Scaramouche and his breath hitches.

The man before him is not who he was two seconds ago. His eyes are cold now, devoid of any
emotion and a smile— no, not even a frown, is present on his face. He doesn’t even look like he’s
breathing, let alone moving anything at all. This concerns Heizou, but before he goes to speak,
Scaramouche moves. He slides the sleeves of his shirt up his arms and holds a wrist out for Heizou
to see. The redhead’s eyes widen at the numerous amount of cuts and old scars he sees there, some
even protruding from his skin.

“Growing up I didn’t have a good family life. My mother raised me on her own— ‘raised’,” he
says, using finger quotes for the word ‘raised’, “home never felt like home. She was able to
seemingly care for anyone who wasn’t me. Her own child. I have a younger sister, you know. As
soon as my mother had her it was like I never existed. She neglected me and never paid any
attention to me. It hurt seeing my sister get the mother I always wished I had. Because I was young
then I didn’t have access to drugs or alcohol so I took up cutting as my means of coping. Whenever
times got rough I’d grab a knife and get to work,” he explains, running two fingers down the
expanse of his forearm. Heizou watches the movement carefully, listening closely to what is being
said to him so he doesn’t offend the man before him. It’s clearly a very touchy subject.

“That day when I was going to jump was the day I had found out why my mother had my sister.
She was my replacement. Her own words, not mine,” he says solemnly, digging his nails into the
skin of his arm, “I had no friends growing up either and any I did make came and went like the
breeze. None of them bothered to stay with me, deeming my mental illness too much for them to
bare which is fair, I guess, we were only kids. But as I got older, cutting became too much of a
hassle to clean up and hide, so I switched to alcohol and drugs. I’d spend my nights drinking away
after work and hitting up parties to catch some free shit from the people drunk off their asses there.
Eventually that turned into using sex as a coping mechanism too.” Heizou tenses at that,
remembering the night that they shared together. It’s deeply disturbing to know that you are
indirectly and unknowingly helping someone hurt themself and it makes Heizou sick.
“If you were just using me to cope, then why would you ever tell me that,” he says, voice barely
above a whisper. Scaramouche is silent for a moment, blinking slowly down at all his scars while
he processes what to say next. Heizou watches him worry his bottom lip, lashes fluttering gently
against his cheek.

“I figured since we’re all there to relieve some stress somehow, that mentioning my reason behind
why I was there wouldn’t be a problem,” he admits, rolling his sleeves down and picking at the
nail polish on his nails. Heizou looks at Scaramouche like he’s lost his mind and to be quite honest,
he pretty much has. What is he even still doing here?! Wasn’t Ms. Jean supposed to take him
home?

“There are other ways to cope, Kuni, you don’t need to give yourself away in order to feel better,”
he pleads desperately with the other. Scaramouche just nods his head, eyes blank and expression
stone cold. He didn’t go into very much detail about what else his mother may have done to cause
such a wreckage in his life, but he assumes it was more than just his mother who caused him to
become this way.

“I tried therapy,” he whispers, clasping his hands tightly in his lap, “I tried, but I couldn’t stand the
idea that they are getting paid to listen to my sob story only to slap me on some medication and call
it a day. The medication does help, if I’m going to be honest, but my therapist told me that it’s both
parts the therapy and the medication that do the trick. Don’t get me wrong, my therapist is
wonderful, but old habits die hard,” he concludes, running his nails against each other anxiously.
Heizou just lets this new information process for a moment, studying the man who refuses to look
him in the eye any longer.

It’s so sudden, the way this whole conversation started, but it’s his fault any of it had to happen in
the first place. If he owes Scaramouche anything at all, it’s to sit here and listen to whatever he has
and wants to say about the whole thing. Not once does he blame or criticize Kuni for his choices
anymore because now he understands that because of his lack of a comfort crowd, he didn’t know
what else to do. So, doing what he has grown to know works best when dealing with people who
are hurt, he crawls his way over to Kunikuzushi and brings his head down to his chest, holding him
there in a (hopefully) comforting embrace. It’s definitely out of character the way he scoops him up
in his arms, but Heizou is not one to stand idly while someone is upset.

He doesn’t say anything, just pays close mind to the way Scaramouche tenses before relaxing in his
hold, his breathing picks up but Heizou doesn’t feel any tears fall. The redhead runs his hands
through Scaramouche’s hair, aiding him to relax the same way he would help Kuki back when
they were kids. Despite her not being a crybaby now, she sure was one when they were younger.
He smiles at the fond memory, beginning to slightly rock Scaramouche back and forth in his arms.

He doesn’t let go for a long while, not wanting to pull away and give Scaramouche the idea that he
is just leading him on to feel safe and secure in his arms. Because to be honest, before
 Scaramouche and Kazuha decided to flirt with each other, he wanted to attempt to be friends with
Scara too. He seemed like a chill guy before, during, and after they fucked and when they met
again when he became their manager that just solidified that fact. He just needs to get over his
feelings of jealousy first.

When Scaramouche finally pulls away, he bows his head to Heizou in thanks, but the redhead
swiftly grabs his shoulders and draws his attention. He just shakes his head with a small smile,
giving one last pat and squeeze to his shoulder. “It’s late, why don’t you just sleep in the guest
room for tonight,” Heizou suggests to which Scaramouche nods. Stealing some of his own blankets
and pillows, Heizou makes his way to the guest bedroom with Scaramouche and helps him make
the bed.

It feels weird helping someone who is causing him so much pain, but the drummer feels that if he
were to just let Scaramouche be that it would be unjust of him. He reacts badly when his emotions
are heightened, but when it comes to other people Heizou would like to think he knows at least the
basics. If his small, kind gesture can be a sort of peace offering to the man, then this all works out
perfectly.

Their manager thanks him before he snuggles into bed. Heizou, of course, just waves him off and
reminds him, “by the way, there’s no reason to be ashamed of and hide your scars. Your scars are
proof that you survived,” Heizou comments gently, before shutting the door and heading back to
his own room. Once in the safety of it, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding before
flopping face first onto his bed. His glasses he forgot were on his face dig into his skin and he
whines at his idiocy.

Maybe he should have fessed up way sooner. It feels nice to finally get that off his chest, but now
he feels more conflicted than ever before.

Chapter End Notes

A rollercoaster of a chapter if you ask me. Remember to stay safe and don’t let your
emotions build to the point of no return. Your life has meaning and value, remember
that. See you next week,

Mika.
 Bound for a Shit Show
Chapter Summary

The arrival in Sumeru leads to so much more.

Chapter Notes

Hello! Week five! I have a Twitter now because I thought some people might want
live updates on the story and such. It’s @MikaelasMayhem!

I’m not really used to using Twitter so I apologize if I mess some things up sometimes
or make mistakes, but this also makes me nervous so if I can’t handle it I won’t
hesitate to do what’s best for me and delete it. Thank you all so much for the support
and please enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Waking up the next morning brings Heizou to a realization. With the talk he had last night with
Scara, he feels a little less awkward about going up to both Kazuha and him when they’re together,
so with that in mind, he decides he’s going to try his best to integrate himself within their group.
He finds that sulking and moping over it got him nowhere and maybe Xiao’s words did sting him a
little and thus he makes his decision. From now on he will try his best to be friendly instead,
maybe he can be friends with both of them without having it be weird.

Since it’s the day they leave for their tour, they have all of today off before their flight later that
evening, so he’s going to try to coax Scara into playing video games with him and Kazuha. The
two always used to play games together and it shouldn’t do much harm to invite Scaramouche on
over. And since he’s already here, he might as well just join them.

With a newfound determination, Heizou takes a deep breath before knocking on Kazuha’s door.
“Hey, can I come in?” he asks, holding his breath as he waits for his friend’s reply. When it
doesn’t come, he grows a bit concerned, a frown appearing on his face. Knocking again, he warns
him, “I’m gonna open the door so if you’re naked that’s not my fault,” he jokes, a mental image of
Kazuha rushing to grab a blanket to cover his naked body flashing in his mind. His porcelain skin
and beautiful crimson eyes all wrapped up in a soft blanket like a present waiting for Heizou to
open.. whoops. That’s a bit too sexy of a daydream to be having right now.

Shaking that thought away, Heizou pushes the door open gently to see that Kazuha is chilling
calmly on his bed, with a leg propped up, back against the headrest of his bed, and earbuds in his
ears. When the white haired man notices his door opening, he glances up from his phone and takes
out one earbud. “Heizou,” he smiles, “what’s up?” Heizou keeps a hand on the door handle as he
swallows nervously, silently hyping himself up to just spit it out and ask him. When they’re alone
it’s never normally awkward. Heizou and him only get awkward with each other when
Scaramouche is around, so why is he feeling nervous?

“I was.. wondering if you wanted to play some games with me? Maybe we could invite Kuni too; I
don’t think Xiao and Venti are even awake yet,” he asks, shifting in his place by the door. He
watches as Kazuha processes this information, glancing down at his phone before looking back up
at Heizou. The redhead has no idea what that means but that only makes him grow even more
nervous as he waits for his reply.

“Sure, I’ll meet you guys out there in a sec,” he decides with a smile. This makes Heizou’s heart
leap into his chest with the relief that he has one part of his mission complete. So, he gives Kazuha
a thumbs up and a nod before shutting his door again and going across the hall to the spare
bedroom.

Coming up to the door, Heizou takes a moment before exhaling heavily and knocking on said door.
“Kuni. I wanted to know if you wanna play games with Kazuha and I,” he says and nearly jumps
out of his skin when the reply he’s looking for comes from behind him.

“Sure,” Kunikuzushi says and Heizou nearly has a heart attack. He turns around quickly, pressing
his back against the door and placing a hand over his heart. When he sees it’s just Scaramouche, he
lets his head fall back against the door and he closes his eyes.

“Fuck you, I hate you. You scared the shit out of me,” Heizou breathes, punching Scaramouche on
the shoulder firmly, but playfully. This causes Scaramouche to raise an eyebrow at him and raise a
fist, causing Heizou to look at him quizzically. Luckily— or maybe not luckily— he gets his
answer quickly when Scaramouche brings that fist right against Heizou’s shoulder like he had done
to him just moments before, but the dude hits hard.

“ Fuck!, ” he groans, holding his shoulder as he glares over at Kuni, “what the hell was that for?”
Scaramouche looks at him funny before crossing his arms and looking away with a slight.. Is that a
blush? Is he blushing? Why is he blushing?!

“One, you hit me so I hit you back. Two, that’s for last night for touching me without my
permission. Ask next time,” he explains, but he doesn’t seem like he’s mad about it. More like
uncomfortable with the fact that Heizou hugged him in such a raw state of mind. Maybe he got a
little too swept up in the moment, Heizou hasn’t met someone before that doesn’t really like hugs
besides Xiao. He kinda forgot those people existed since he and Kazuha are always so touchy as is
Venti. But even Xiao likes hugs sometimes! They group hug after every concert and Xiao doesn’t
seem bothered by those! Ah whatever, apologizing is what’s best and what’s right to do in this
situation. So he does.

“Oh, right, sorry. It just felt right,” he admits, blinking at the way Scaramouche’s blush seems to
grow before he schools his expression and turns away. The redhead grows confused at the action,
but doesn’t have much time to think about it because he hears Kazuha’s bedroom door open and
out walks the man himself.

“Kuni, good morning. Will you be joining us?” he asks, voice as gentle as the breeze. It makes
Heizou’s heart melt as he drops the hand from his sore shoulder and makes his way over to him
with Kunikuzushi following close behind. So far so good, he hasn’t been feeling jealous. A little
nervous, yes, but not jealous.

“I will; what are we playing by the way? And we have a flight to catch so make sure your things
are packed and ready before we even sit down to play this,” he parents, looking at both Kazuha and
Heizou in question. Heizou smiles and gives him a thumbs up while Kazuha nods his head. The
both of them are used to traveling for international concerts, conventions, and meet and greets, so
they’ve already got the routine down. And by now it’s not weird for Scara to be here this early in
the morning, so Heizou isn’t surprised that Kazuha doesn’t question anything. “Right then, let’s
play,” he concludes, leading the way to the living room.

“We’re gonna play Smash Bros to answer your question,” Heizou replies, as they walk into the
living room. He snatches the consoles from underneath the TV and hands one to each of them as
they sit down and leave a space for Heizou in the middle. He feels slightly flattered at the action as
he lets his heart soak in the serotonin before he starts up the game on his own Switch before taking
a seat.

Heizou stretches the blanket out across their laps as they all get situated and he finds his knees
brushing both of his companions’. His heart fills with mirth at the fact that he has successfully
executed his plan to no longer be jealous— to shove that emotion down and try his best to be
friends instead. Logically, he shouldn’t have any right to be jealous considering Scaramouche
doesn’t know about his crush, so he uses that as his reminder to stay focused.

“I call dibs on whoever’s the best,” Scaramouche says, adjusting the blanket around himself and
turning on the Switch in his hands. Both Heizou and Kazuha laugh at this as they do the same, as
Kazuha turns his console on as well and joins Heizou before Scara even has a chance to open the
game.

“The best character is always up for debate, but it’s not like we’re gonna tell you who we think is
the best,” Heizou replies, a smirk on his lips as he side eyes Scara from where he sits. The shorter
glares at him in return as he taps his fingers against the back of the game irritatingly.

“What if I pull the manager card on you?” he challenges, crossing his arms as Heizou takes the
console from his lap and joins the game for him. Turns out he doesn’t play that many video games,
rather he just watches the game play. The redhead guess Smash Bros isn’t one he really took a
liking to enough to actually continue watching it, so playing him in game is gonna be very fun and
easy.

“You can’t do that because we’re off right now. You’re technically not on the clock until before
we leave for the flight to Sumeru,” Kazuha smiles with that heavenly voice of his. Heizou can
never get enough of how calming Kazuha speaks. The way his voice flows over you in gentle
ocean waves that even in the most difficult of times it’s hard not to fall prey to the effect of
Kazuha’s soothing voice. Heizou swears he just happens to be blessed by celestia with a voice as
proof.

Scaramouche scoffs, taking his Switch back from Heizou and looking down at his screen to see
them both ready and waiting. Heizou and Kazuha have already picked out their characters and are
patiently waiting for Kuni to pick out his as well. Both watch the smaller as he does this with
matching mischievous smiles, huffing whenever he picks a remotely trash character.

It continues like this for a minute or two until Scaramouche picks who he wants and readies up and
they start the game. Heizou starts the game off strong as always by immediately knocking
Scaramouche off the edge and Heizou and Kazuha try to hold back their laugh, they really do, but
it doesn’t work. Heizou begins laughing so hard he has to put his game down and cover his mouth
because he’s coughing so much. At this, Kazuha laughs even harder that he starts crying, wiping
tears from his eyes now that he’s laughing at both Scaramouche and Heizou.

Scara, on the other hand, pouts at first but can’t seem to keep frowning as the two continue
laughing. So, he ends up laughing along with them and trying to plead that that wasn’t fair and they
should restart. “Uhm, excuse me! That wasn’t even fair! Neither of you told me the controls for
one, and for two he basically spawn killed me!” he argues, throwing his hands down at the game in
emphasis. Heizou and Kazuha laugh even more with Heizou attempting to clear his name as they
do so.

“I did not!” a wheeze, “I just moved so quickly you didn’t even have a chance to react,” he reasons
smugly. This has Scaramouche glaring again as he folds his arms over his chest. Heizou’s smile
turns more into a smirk as he maintains eye contact with the shorter one as if this is a test for
dominance. Scaramouche doesn’t falter, though, instead he matches his smirk as he tilts his head.

The two continue this staring contest until Heizou jumps when Kazuha slaps his hands over
Heizou’s eyes, causing him to lose. He immediately pushes Kazuha’s hands off his eyes as he goes
to turn around and berate the man for making him lose only to have his face shoved into Kazuha’s
chest. “Yes, Kazuha, let’s go!” Scaramouche cheers as he leans over to give Kazuha a high five
causing Heizou to be squished in between them. His heart races from being pressed in between his
crush and his one night stand, so he freezes as he waits for Kazuha to move back but he doesn’t.

Instead, as if to tease Heizou, he leans even more into him, pressing Heizou’s back against Kuni’s
lap, completely sandwiching him. Now he’s sure he can’t breathe and his heart is racing even
faster than before, so he does what he thinks will get him out of this situation and grabs Kazuha
around the waist. He squeezes the man tightly, successfully knocking the wind out of him as he
flies off of Heizou and lands back down in his original spot on the couch. The redhead takes a
second to breath, hand resting over his fastly beating heart before he feels fingers pinch both of his
cheeks harshly.

“Owww!! Let go— archons, you guys are so mean,” Heizou whines, pulling Scaramouche’s hands
from his face and sitting up properly. He rubs his abused face gently as he glares at Scaramouche.
“It’s not my fault I fell in your lap! Kazuha crushed me; blame him!” he protests, throwing an arm
back at Kazuha in emphasis. The guitarist only giggles getting back under the blanket and
preparing for his one on one fight with Heizou.

In this moment Heizou realizes how easy it was to just ask to hang out with them both rather than
pout over it and now he feels silly for even thinking that way at all. Slowly, he lets his frown melt
into a smile as he adjusts the blanket over him again and picks up his Switch . Maybe he really was
worrying for nothing. All that time he spent mulling over the situation, he could have used to
embrace a new opportunity with Scaramouche where they could all be friends. Maybe if his
jealousy hadn’t blinded him, this all could have worked out a lot sooner.

With that in mind, he looks down at his screen and is ready to face off against Kazuha. So he
instructs Scara to count them down and when he reaches Zero, both of them move immediately.
The two best friends fight and clash against each other, knocking the other from one platform to
another as they push each other closer and closer to the edge. Scara is leaning into his space,
watching Heizou’s screen when he could be watching his own, but he probably doesn’t know that
so Heizou doesn’t mind.

Kazuha is a tough fight considering he and Heizou play together regularly, so he knows how
Heizou plays. This gives the redhead the extra challenge as he fights back against him. “What do I
get if I win,” Kazuha tries to distract, clearly sensing the fact that he’s losing. Heizou bites his lip
in contemplation, going through things Kazuha may want in his mind. When he finds that he can’t
focus on the game and do this at the same time, he tells Scara to choose for them both, not just
Kazuha.

Kuni hums, tapping his chin in thought before a mischievous glint appears in his eyes and he
smirks. “Why don’t we go with an old classic and say the winner gets to ask/dare anything of the
loser,” he says. Heizou sucks in a breath, his mind running a mile a minute with things that he may
want from Kazuha, but he comes up blank. Only one thing shines clear in the mess of his mind and
it’s something he can’t ask of Kazuha: he wants a kiss.

While Heizou is clearly distracted, Kazuha uses this to his advantage and he stops holding back.
“Okay,” he says with a smile and immediately K.O.’s Heizou. The both of them are left
flabbergasted at the display and the redhead stares down at his screen, blinking like he doesn’t
know what he just witnessed. Of course he understands he just lost, but how?! How did he lose?!
There goes his kiss.. not that he was gonna ask for it anyways or anything.

“All right, what do you want?” Heizou sighs, running his hands through his hair. Kazuha hums as
he thinks for a moment. The drummer eyes their second guitarist wearily as he seemingly seems to
be coming up with the worst possible thing imaginable to ask of him. This causes the redhead to
run through possible things in his mind that Kazuha might ask. Do his laundry for a week? Buy
him food? Uhmmm, maybe buy him a cat? He likes cats.

“I don’t know what I want so I’ll think about it for a bit. I’ll let you know when I have an answer,
though,” he smiles, cracking his fingers absentmindedly. Heizou just nods, stretching out his legs
and arms from where he is on the couch. “When do we leave, by the way?” he asks, Scaramouche.
Their manager checks the time and sees it’s 10:59AM. The lot of them usually wake up at 6AM,
but Xiao has trouble sleeping and Venti sleeps way too much, so they’re always the last or first
ones awake. And by ‘they’ he means Xiao.

“The plane leaves at 4:00PM, so we’ve got like five-ish hours. Why? Anything you need to do?”
Scaramouche questions, shutting off his Switch and bringing it back over to where Heizou
originally got it from. The pair on the couch follow him as they do the same, with Heizou folding
up the blanket they were using on the couch afterwards. They all decided a while ago to leave
some blankets and pillows on the couch so they all didn’t have to keep bringing out the ones from
their respective rooms.

“Other than eat, not really,” Heizou replies, stretching after he finishes folding. Man, the practices
keep getting more and more intense and it’s causing him to ache more than usual. “Anything you
need, Zuzu ?” Heizou smirks over at him. Kazuha rolls his eyes as the name as always as he crosses
his arms. He sends an unheated glare Heizou’s way before taking a glance over at Scaramouche
who has an eyebrow raised in question.

“It’s a nickname he came up with back around when we had first met. He uses it to tease me often
and when he wants something,” Kazuha sighs, shaking his head. Heizou laughs, going over to their
second guitarist and slinging an arm around his shoulders. The action feels weird performed in
front of Scaramouche, but Heizou tries his best to let that feeling subside.
“Ah, so you figured me out, huh? Who knew you would have noticed so late in the game, not the
mention the fact you never called me out sooner?” Heizou smirks, looking over at Kazuha from
within his hold. Kazuha just huffs, shaking his head again. It’s fun to mess with Kazuha gently like
this. Over the past week or so he missed it even though he’d still get it; it was only when they were
alone that he could feel totally free. Scaramouche kinda knocked that option out of the park and
forced them to only mess around when in private, but hopefully not anymore.

“I figured you out long ago. I just didn’t say anything because I thought it was cute to let you think
I didn’t know exactly what you were trying to do,” Kazuha smirks and Heizou freezes, brain short
circuiting at this new information. Did Kazuha just call him cute..? Did his crush of four years just
call him cute?! What planet are they on because it sure as hell isn’t the one he’s living on. The
Kazuha he knows would never bless him with such words.. or would he? And did he just say he’s
know all about his little gimmick this whole time?!

“Man Alive..,” Heizou laughs nervously, removing his arm from around Kazuha in embarrassment.
It’s kind of— no definitely embarrassing that Kazuha knew what Heizou was trying to do this
whole time and just let him do it because he thought it was cute to watch. Something in Heizou
churns with desire at the thought, though, because that means Kazuha has been watching him and
learning his habits in a closer manner than he had first initially thought.

With that being said, they all grab a snack to eat and chill out for the remainder of the time they
have left before their flight to Sumeru. The three of them while waiting end up just sitting together
on the couch and playing on their respective phones as they wait. Heizou finds the mundanity of
the situation to be very relaxing for not only his mind, but his body as well. Somewhere along the
way Scaramouche morphed more into a friend than a manager, but he still does his job well— very
well actually. He’s made it a point to keep them on schedule even if hiccups occur in it. Not only
that but he has gained the ability to wake up Venti and have the man actually listen to him.

If Heizou knows anything about Venti it’s not to wake him up. Their lead singer really needs his
beauty sleep and he gets super grumpy when it’s disrupted. One time when Heizou woke him up in
the van to ask what food he wanted from a restaurant, Venti nearly killed him with the glare he shot
his way. The guy’s like a whore for sleep and will pass out whenever and wherever as long as he’s
comfortable. Xiao is the only one who has gotten even remotely good at waking him up without
getting murdered by Venti’s looks, but that doesn’t count because he gets boyfriend leeway.
Scaramouche on the other hand, somehow has worked his magic on Venti and now Venti wakes up
and instantly snaps into action when Scaramouche is the one to wake him. When asked by Heizou
on how he did it, Scara just shrugs and says something about their lead singer being afraid to lose
his favorite blanket privileges. That must mean he threatened to make Xiao sleep in another room.

At some point in waiting, Kunikuzushi takes his leave to go grab his things from his place since he
spent the night last night. This leaves Kazuha and Heizou alone for the time being. “Kazuhaaaa,”
Heizou sing songs and Kazuha looks over at Heizou from where he’s watering his plants on the
terrace. They’re both currently outside on the small balcony of their penthouse with Heizou sitting
at the round table and Kazuha watering his plants. The guitarist has a cute green apron on with his
hair tied back in a low ponytail, bangs loose around his face, watering can in hand.

“What is it?” he asks, pausing in place where he was previously watering the plant in front of him.
Heizou takes a second to admire how beautiful Kazuha is even when he’s dressed so simply. His
eyes are a beautiful ruby hue and his hair is snow white with only the one streak of crimson to
break it up. It’s almost as if one singular maple leaf made haste from the southern winds up to the
northern cold climate to lay rest upon the snowy mountaintops of old. It makes Kazuha seem
otherworldly.

“Have you come up with an idea of what you want from me?” Heizou questions, resting his chin in
his palm. Kazuha hums, letting his eyes slide from Heizou back down to his plants as he continues
watering them. He thinks for a moment, moving from one plant to another before he sets the
watering can down and leans his side against the edge of the terrace. His gaze lands upon Heizou
making the man’s breath hitch for just a second.

“No, not yet. Why; want to be punished that badly for losing?” Kazuha smirks, folding his arms
over his chest. Heizou’s eyes darken at the remark and it takes everything within his control not to
jump Kazuha right here right now on this terrace and make him eat his words. Or even have him
show Heizou just what he means by ‘punished’ for losing. His head is spinning with ideas, but he
keeps himself under control because he does not want to be discovered like this. “Okay, okay, I get
it. No need to look like you’re about to pop a blood vessel trying not to strangle me,” he laughs,
coming to sit on a chair next to Heizou. The redhead harrumphs at the notion and stubbornly looks
away from him. Half to keep himself from actually jumping him and half from pettiness.

“I wasn’t gonna strangle you. I was just curious,” he plays it off, turning back to face Kazuha who
is leaned back in his chair. He watches as the white haired man takes his cup off the table, sipping
from it before holding it in his hands instead of setting it back on the table.

They sit like this for a bit, just letting the comfortable silence consume them as they listen to the
busy streets below them. Sirens of all different varieties can be heard all around them as well as the
honking of horns and the yelling of people. They’re lucky to live so far up and have the sounds
diluted by the weight of the atmosphere lest they wish to never sleep a wink in their life. Heizou
doesn’t understand people who dream their whole lives of living in a big city. It’s trashy here.
People are rude and no one picks up their garbage. Random homeless people sometimes fuck on
the trains and spit on you when you walk past. Heizou can guarantee that close to nobody wipes
their ass in this goddamn city because it can smell horrid sometimes, especially in the summer
when it smells of hot garbage and burning gasoline. It’s the worst; he just doesn’t get it. And this is
coming from someone who lives in a more luxurious part of the neighborhood, y’know?

Letting his mind run while on all sorts of topics, Heizou relaxes in the comfortable presence of his
best friend as he shuts his eyes. He takes a rest for a bit, focusing on his primal senses as tries to
relax even more. He doesn’t let it show as best as he can, but touring always makes him
considerably nervous and their flight is now two hours from now. They’ll be leaving for the airport
as soon as Kuni gets back, though, so they don’t have to deal with airport traffic. Even though
they’ll be flying private, it still sucks having to get through all the people and they’d rather not be
douches and show up later than their take off time just because they’re considerably wealthy. It
doesn’t take much to have basic human decency, no matter the lifestyle/situation.

Their band originates out of Mondstadt because Venti used to be a soloist who found Xiao and
eventually Kazuha and Heizou. Because Venti was the first of them all, they all decided to be
based out of Mond. This meant packing up all his things and moving to Mondstadt. for the first
couple days it was weird to be awake from home and to think he’d be away from Inazuma for as
long as he has this job.. it’s frightening to say the least. Though, since he had Kazuh around who is
of the same culture as him, it made it a lot easier to adjust to the new environment because he still
had at least some familiarity.

As for Xiao, Heizou remembers him saying how his move to Mond wasn’t that much of a shock
because he had been dating Venti previously before he even joined the band. Joining Venti on the
stage and in making money was sort of like a bonus to just getting to move in with his boyfriend.
He says he used to visit Venti a lot and vice versa, so Xiao was already pretty used to Mondstadt
by the time he arrived for his permanent stay. Heizou isn’t sure about Scaramouche, though.
Maybe he’ll ask later. Speaking of Scaramouche, he seems to have arrived back from his place with
his things.

Upon seeing his arrival, both Kazuha and Heizou stand from their place at the table and make their
way inside to help out their manager. “Why didn’t you call us for help? These seem heavy,”
Kazuha asks gently, taking a suitcase from Scaramouche. Heizou was going to ask the same thing,
but his best friend beat him to it, so he just shrugs it off and takes a suitcase from Scaramouche as
well.

“I had it under control; there was no need to call,” he explains like it’s a perfectly normal response.
Heizou and Kazuha throw each other a glance before Heizou shrugs and they turn their attention to
Venti and Xiao’s bedroom door when Xiao walks out of it. He looks dressed and ready for the
flight, earbuds in and hair as fluffy and voluptuous as it always is. From reading their fans'
comments on social media, Xiao’s hair seems to be one of their favorite things about him, if not
their favorite. To be honest, Heizou can understand why. The guy’s got some nice luscious locks
sprouting from his head and the redhead can admire him for that.

“Hey guys, Venti and I are ready when you are,” Xiao says, taking an earbud out so he can hear
their replies. Scaramouche just instructs him that they’ll leave in fifteen just to make sure
everything is ready before Ms. Jean arrives. She should be bringing Ms. Sucrose with her too, so
the van will be quite lively. Everyone in their group cherishes Ms. Sucrose and Ms. Jean deeply for
all their hard work, especially because the ladies never seem to give themselves enough credit for
how much they do for the team. It truly baffles Heizou how they can think their job too little to be
praiseworthy.
After everyone has checked their things and is ready to go, they grab their stuff and get moving.
The elevator ride down is pretty cramped to be honest, but it’s what they make due with five guys
and a bunch of suitcases and bags. “Are you excited, Kuni?” Venti asks, tucking a hair behind his
ear. Scaramouche pockets his phone which he was looking at before turning to Venti and nodding.

“I’ve been around a few nations here and there, but it never hurts to revisit them. I haven’t left
Mond in a long while actually,” he replies, heading out of the elevator first when it comes to a stop
in the parking garage. It’s going to be pretty cramped in the van with all their shit regardless of the
trunk and Heizou hated small spaces oh so much. It’ll be al lright, though, because once they get in
the jet he’ll have enough space to walk even let alone sit down.

“Oh? How come?” their lead singer asks, opening the door to the van and letting everyone get in
before him, seeing as him and Xiao sit second to the front of the van. “Hello Ms. Sucrose, Ms.
Jean!” he greets, getting in before Xiao and sitting down. Xiao closes the sliding door and huffs as
he takes a seat, seemingly already ready to be out of the van even though he just got in it.

Scaramouche let’s their greetings ring out before he replies. “My mother and I used to travel a lot
because my sperm bank of a father was really shitty to her. It’s gotten better, though, she’s got a
wife now,” he retells calmly and Heizou can’t help but tense at that. How can he say such words so
casually without getting sad over how hard life was for him? It’s kind of concerning, but who is
Heizou to judge? He does the same thing.

“Oh, sorry to hear. I’m happy she’s got a lovely wife now, though! Women are the best,” Venti
smiles turning to face Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose. Ms. Jean just shakes her head with a gentle smile
as she starts up the engine of the car while a hint of a blush can be seen spreading across Ms.
Sucrose’s cheeks. Ms. Sucrose adjusts her glasses in an attempt to hide such a fact, but nothing
escapes Venti’s eyes.

“Right,” is all Scaramouche says which causes Kazuha to throw Heizou a side-eyed look of
concern. Not knowing if he’s allowed to let Heizou in on Scaramouche’s past, he just shrugs in an
attempt to play it off like he knows nothing. Maybe this is for the better anyways, things could get
complicated again if Kazuha thought Heizou was the one leaning more towards Scaramouche now.
Now that he thinks about it, he’s reminded of when he saw Kazuha crying to Scaramouche before
Heizou even saw him cry. It stings, but Heizou masks the pain with a smile as he stares out the
window, waiting to arrive at the airport.

When they eventually do arrive at the airport, multiple people recognize them immediately, but the
airport security are there quickly to push them aside. They all put on professional smiles as they
wave to their fans, apologizing for the fact that they can’t stay and take pictures. This is a
normality in Heizou’s world, but not Scara’s, so he chances a glance at the shorter only to discover
exactly what he has suspected him to find. He looks uncomfortable and out of place.

“If you want we can have you walk in alone next time so they don’t associate you with us,” Heizou
suggests. Scaramouche just shakes his head, slipping on sunglasses instead as he adjusts the
backpack around his shoulders. Heizou is the one to give Kazuha a look this time and all the white
haired man does is shrug. Heizou gives him a deadpan stare for copying exactly what he had done
previously in the van, but his frown doesn’t last when Kazuha smiles, making him smile as well.

“It’s probably too late anyways,” Xiao offers, taking the ticket from the woman at the desk, “the
fans have already taken multiple pictures of us and since they didn’t know we got a new manager
this will definitely blow up over night. Sorry, Kunikuzushi, we probably should have warned you,”
Xiao apologizes sincerely, turning to face him. He bows his head slightly, but when Scaramouche
shakes his head he lifts it once more.

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” he lies, sugarcoating it, “yeah, I’d rather not have any online
presence at all, but it’s not like they know my name or anything. I don’t have people outside my
family who can put a name to my face,” he explains, but then he thinks for a moment and a frown
appears on his lips. It’s clear that Scaramouche’s glare is now hard and intense even though he’s
wearing sunglasses as he speaks next. “Well, there is one person. You guys know him; Childe?
Like Childe Tartaglia? Yeah, he and I used to go to the same school. I was like five grades above
his shitface yet he still came to bother me any chance he got. Like an annoying younger brother I
never asked for,” he shudders at the thought, while the rest of the group is stunned. So far
Scaramouche has kept his dirty speech out of conversation when it comes to them, but considering
the night he spent with the guy, Heizou knows he must be working hella hard not to speak so
vulgarly.

Heizou knew that Scaramouche not being shocked when Xiao had previously mentioned Childe
was just because how could he be when he’s in a car full of pop stars. But now he’s starting to
think the reason he wasn’t shocked was because he knows the guy! Like knows him knows him.
“You know Childe? Why didn’t you say anything before when Xiao mentioned him?” Venti asks,
about to sling and arm through Xiao’s but realizing they’re in public. Heizou cringes at the action
because ouch that must suck— actually he knows it sucks because he wants to be touchy with
Kazuha all the time, but he can’t.

“Didn’t think it was important,” he shrugs, heading off after Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose who are
chatting together as they walk them to their private boarding area. Xiao, Venti, Kazuha, and
Heizou wave their goodbyes to their excited fans before they follow Scaramouche and the girls.
‘Didn’t think it was important’? Guess that means Scaramouche really isn’t one to share anything
about himself unless the topic allows it, but to be fair the topic did allow it last time he just chose
not to say anything. Heizou wonders what he can do to get him to break down a few of his walls.

Letting that thought simmer, Heizou and the rest of them board their plane. The interior looks more
expensive than Heizou’s kidney and to be fair it probably is and the leather seats speak for
themselves. The jet staff are all ready and waiting to greet them, dressed in matching professional
outfits that the redhead finds very hot. Maybe he can daydream about Kazuha dominating him in
one of those suits. That’d be a much more pleasant train of thought than trying to detangle the
words of their new manager.

When his thoughts didn’t back over the said manager, the suits follow through and Heizou now has
an image of Scaramouche in the women’s version of the uniforms. Something about his petit frame
makes him look very sexy in feminine clothing, maybe he’ll add him in heels in his daydream. And
then Kazuha reenters his mind and now suddenly he has two hot guys in uniforms in front of him
read to please and be please and Heizou doesn’t know what to do. He’s one a plane so he really
cannot pop one here. Being in a bathroom on a plane for too long is suspicious, even more so than
if it were a regular bathroom.

Sighing, he schools his thoughts before tucking away his luggage and taking a seat on one of the
couches. It doesn’t help that Scaramouche and Kazuha both slide in across from him as well. Fuck.
Heizou thinks biting his bottom lip when Scaramouche finally rids himself of his sunglasses,
hanging them off the collar of his shirt. The two of them are so beautiful that Heizou cannot. Wait.
The two of them? Wasn’t Kazuha his crush? His only crush?

“Yes he is,” Heizou mumbles to himself, staring pointedly down at a chip in the wooden table.
Scaramouche and Kazuha glance at each other before they look back at Heizou. The redhead
doesn’t notice their questioning looks until one of them speaks up to announce them.

“What’d you say?” Kazuha asks, “you mumbled it, we didn’t hear you,” he explains, taking a drink
from the tray the flight attendant has when she stops at their table. Heizou takes one with a quiet
‘thank you’ as well as Kunikuzushi with a small nod of his head. Heizou uses the excuse that he’s
taking a drink of his drink to not respond right away as he curses himself out in his head for saying
that out loud.

Swallowing thickly, he replies, “I said I’m tired,” he lies. Heizou watches as both of their eyes
narrow and he has never felt more pinned down in his life. It’s kind of erotic not gonna lie.. but he
won’t focus on that right now.

“Then sleep,” Scara helpfully suggests. Heizou rolls his eyes and moves to get up. The two of his
companions watch him do this as he downs the last of his drink and hands the glass back to the
flight attendant. He’s not actually that tired, but a little nap never hurt anyone.

“Fine, I will,” he replies, sticking his tongue out at Scaramouche who just gives him a deadpan
stare. It makes both Kazuha and Heizou giggle before he saunters away to take a nap. He supposes
if he just sleeps through the flight, they’ll arrive in Sumeru faster. Thus, Heizou sits back and
relaxes, letting the sight of the white fluffy clouds lull him to sleep. The last thing on his smile is
the beautiful smiles of both his manager and his best friend.

———

“Heizouuu,” a voice sing songs, but Heizou doesn’t stir. Are they already in Sumeru? Did he
accidentally sleep instead of just taking a nap? Damn the flight from Mond to Sumeru is a lot
shorter than he remembers.

“Move, let me try,” a second voice chimes in and suddenly Heizou can feel the presence of
someone right next to his ear. “HEIZOU!” The same voice yells, startling the redhead from his
slumber. Heizou sits up in an unceremonious way, a hand over his heart and eyes blown wide. He
presses his back against the side of the jet to keep himself as far away from the loud noise as
possible.

When his eyes finally focus and his brain loses it’s fog from sleepiness, he can register the faces of
all of his friends. Scaramouche can be seen giggling in front of him while Xiao adorns a matching
smirk. Kazuha looks worried, but just a tiny bit amused whereas Venti looks completely
flabbergasted. “Kuni! You shouldn’t wake up people like that!” Venti scolds, crossing his arms in
emphasis. This just makes Scaramouche laugh even more, a hand coming over his mouth to mask
his smile.

“Yeah, Kuni, you shouldn’t wake up people like that,” Kazuha jokes, poking fun at Scaramouche
because he’s being reprimanded by Venti. That just earns him a glare from both Scara and Venti,
causing the man to giggle. When Heizou sees that they aren’t in an apparent impending doom, he
heaves a heavy sigh, and stretches.

“Man alive! Do you people ever get tired of scaring me any chance you get?” Heizou asks, rubbing
his eyes from where he’s seated on the chair/bed still. “And are we in Sumeru? How long did I
sleep?” he questions, shooing his friends back so he has space to stand up. One quick glance
around the cabin of the jet answers all his questions. Everyone’s luggage is already out of storage
and the flight attendants are all patiently waiting for them to exit the plane. Looks like they have
arrived in Sumeru after all.

“It’s not our fault you’re so jumpy! It makes scaring you fun,” Kazuha teases, a small smile on his
lips. Well when he smiles like that.. who is Heizou to be mad? So, he just sighs dramatically and
wraps an arm around Kazuha’s neck, he digs his knuckles into the guitarist’s hair and rubs them
back and forth. “Ah, Heizou stop!” Kazuha pleads, trying to pull out of Heizou’s grasp, but this just
makes the redhead evil giggle as he speeds up the pace. Heizou makes sure Kazuha’s hair is
thoroughly messed up before he finally let’s him go.
When Kazuha stands back up again, his hair is a rat's nest of loose strands sticking up all over the
place creating a mess upon his head. This makes everyone— including Xiao— laugh at how
ridiculous Kazuha looks. He looks like a complete mess and he adorns a frown upon his lips as he
stands there dejectedly. Venti, while giggling, attempts to help Kazuha straighten out his hair
again.

Heizou watches as their lead singer takes Kazuha by the shoulders and guides him to sit down so
Venti can brush through his hair. It doesn’t take that long for Kazuha’s hair to be straightened out
again and of course, Venti sneaks in a little braid. He lets it blend into Kazuha’s ponytail as a sort
of ode to himself for detangling the mess Heizou made. It makes the redhead smile at how
beautiful he looks, Venti too. Both of them are beautiful, but he only sees Venti in a platonic light
for obvious reasons. It’s not a bad thing to call your friend pretty is it? He doesn’t think so at least.

“Now that that’s taken care of, let’s go. We have to be checked in to the hotel by 1AM at the latest.
It’s currently 12:32AM,” Scaramouche instructs, popping on his sunglasses in case of fans and
following Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose out the door. The group all nod as they grab their things and
say their goodbyes to the flight staff before exiting the aircraft and making their way into and
through the airport. Not many fans are here this time, probably because of how late in the night it
is, but Heizou still finds their dedication to seeing them a little overwhelming. To camp at an
airport just for them? Jeez. He still appreciates and loves all their fans, though.

Once they’re all situated in the limo that greets them at the door, they head off towards the Hotel
and check in. Normally there would be three rooms in total. One for Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose,
another for Xiao and Venti, and a third of Heizou and Kazuha, but now they have Scaramouche. “I
didn’t see any reason to spend more money than necessary, so I invited Kuni to room with us. That
okay, Heizou?” Kazuha asks and the redhead can feel his jealousy start to overcome him again but
he quickly shuts it down as best as he can before nodding. He doesn’t trust his voice not to betray
him and show how he really feels about the arrangement. “Right then, let’s head up,” the white
haired man concludes.

When they all get their keycards, they take them and head up to their respective rooms. The girls
heading off to their own and the couple of lovebirds making their way to their own as well. That
just leaves the three of them alone on their way to their hotel room as well. All of the rooms are on
the same floor, though, just to make it easier on them all. Their hotel room is just as spacious and
luxurious as any hotel that Heizou is used to, with a stone bathroom floor and a rainfall shower
head. The shower is made of glass, except for the stone pillars acting as support beams for said
glass. There’s a porcelain bathtub and the mirror is spotless over the skin. The windows in the
room give a perfect view of just how beautiful Sumeru City is at night. And the two beds for them
are neatly made and ready to be slept in.

Two beds. Not three.

“Hey, is there a third bed on the way or?” Heizou asks, feeling nervous. In this arrangement, who
gets to sleep with Kazuha because the redhead sure as hell hopes it’s him. Or if he is going to be
forced to sleep with Scaramouche and Kazuha gets the bed alone, honestly that would be the best
solution for his peace of mind.

“No there isn’t. I offered to get a third one in here, but Kazuha said it would be no problem if the
two of you just slept in the same bed. He said you guys are used to such things,” Scaramouche
explains, setting his things down and sitting on the edge of his own bed. And while this is true, that
doesn’t make Heizou any less nervous and a tad bit excited. It’s been a while since they were
instructed to sleep in the same bed. Sometimes on tours and meet and greets they have to make do
with cramped living spaces since the events are so big it’s hard to get hotel space. One time all of
them even had to room in the same room. There were only two beds and a couch which meant the
girls were in one while Heizou, Kazuha, Xiao, and Venti would switch off who gets to sleep on the
second bed every night in pairs. It’s rough sometimes, so this wouldn’t be the first. Obviously the
women asked if they could also be in the rotation, but all of them declined saying that they
shouldn’t.

“Oh, okay, that’s..,” a heavy exhale of nerves,” that’s fine,” Heizou says as if he is convincing
himself that it’s fine more so than anybody else. Since that settles that, he gets to putting his things
away and settling down as well. Once everyone is ready for bed, they all crawl into bed and shut
off the lights. Before they sleep, Scaramouche tells them that there is a mandatory welcoming
party at a place not far from the hotel to celebrate their arrival in Sumeru. Both of the men
announce that they acknowledge this, voicing their awareness, before settling in.

Heizou, for his own peace of mind, sleep facing opposite of Kazuha. If he sleeps facing him, his
mind is going to run all night long about how excited he is to get to be this close to Kazuha again.
Though he is still running laps in his mind right now, they aren’t nearly as fast as they would be
had he turned around. So, with Kazuha being the last thing on his mind, he forces himself to fall
asleep once more. It’s hard considering he just slept and is completely aware of the man behind
him, but he does it.

———

Upon waking up, Heizou can feel that his blanket has gotten a lot heavier than he remembers, so
slowly coming from unconsciousness, the redhead blinks himself awake. When his eyes adjust to
the new light in the room, he takes a moment to take in his surroundings. Scaramouche is still
sound asleep in his bed, cuddling part of the blanket in his arms, while Kazuha is asleep peacefully
on Heizou’s arm. A blush creeps its way onto the redhead’s cheeks as he looks at the sleeping man
attached to his arm. His hair is messy again and his lashes are long and dark, laying gently against
his cheeks. Kazuha’s mouth is slightly ajar as he breathes softly and that seems to remind Heizou
of the small detail he forgot when they fell asleep.
While Kazuha may be more laid back when conscious, in his sleep he tends to be quite the cuddler.
He will cuddly everything and anything no matter what it is. One time Heizou came into his room
to wake him up for breakfast and found the guy cuddling his sweatshirt that he had somehow taken
off himself in his sleep and used as a cuddle buddy. Thankfully he still had his shirt on underneath
that sweatshirt. Heizou thinks he might have fainted had he seen Kazuha half naked in such a cute
state.

Deciding not to wake the man, Heizou grabs his phone from his nightstand and scrolls through his
socials to read more updates about himself and their group. He’s curious to see what his fans think
of Scaramouche and it gives him something to do to pass the time. It’s only natural he woke up
first considering he was the one who slept on the flight here. It’d be rude to wake up his
companions when they haven’t even got half the sleep he has.

@kazuhascocksleeve • *attached image* GUYS WHO IS THIS?! ARE THEY ADDING A NEW
MEMBER IN THEIR GROUP?? WITHOUT TELLING US??

@heizousgentlebeauty • IDK BUT HES SO PRETTY!! he seems really mysterious and its kind of
sexy..<3

@ventisdelciatehands • i dont think hes a new member but i still have no idea who he is ms jean
and ms sucrose are still with them so it doesnt make any sense theres no new spots to fill

@kazuhascocksleeve • maybe theyll tell us at one of their after concert question thingies

@heizousgentlebeauty • the q&a?

@kazuhascocksleeve • YEAH!

@ventisdelicatehands • i dont know if theyre doing that anymore

@kazuhascocksleeve • lets hope they are!

Heizou pauses for a moment as he thinks back on it. He actually doesn’t know if they’re doing the
Q&A anymore either, but he knows they are supposed to announce Scaramouche as their new
manager. He doesn’t know how, though, so he just shrugs it off and continues scrolling as he lets
the minutes tick by.

During this time he reads multiple good comments about Scaramouche’s appearance and
seemingly can’t find anything negatively said about the guy. Heizou supposes that’s a good thing
though, it means their fans are willing to accept a new member into their crew, not that they had
any choice in the matter anyway. All good feedback. Most of the rest of the commotion is about
how they just arrived in Sumeru and new fans sharing their sneak peek images of all of them
exiting the airport and getting into the limousine to head to the hotel. It’s crazy how fast
information gets around nowadays.

Within a short while, Kazuha awakens from his slumber, lifting his head from Heizou with a yawn.
The beautiful man rubs his eyes before pushing himself up with his arm, leaning his weight on it as
he looks down at their closeness. “Oh, did I cuddle you in my sleep? I’m sorry,” he yawns, Heizou
just waves him off and takes the opportunity to get up and finally go to the bathroom. He’s been
holding it in ever since he woke up in favor of not waking up his two friends. Unlike the shower,
the toilet is actually hidden away in a nook of the bathroom and can not be seen through the hazey
glass of the aforementioned bathroom.

After washing his hands and fixing up his appearance in the bathroom, Heizou heads back into the
main room to find Kazuha sitting up in bed, checking the time on his phone. “Wanna get
breakfast?” Kazuha whispers, and Kazuha nods, before pointing over to Kunikuzushi in question.
“Don’t wake him, we can bring him up some food. He should get as much sleep as he can since
he’s gonna get real busy real fast,” Heizou reasons, sliding into his slippers and grabbing the hotel
room key. Kazuha nods in understanding before pocketing his phone in his pajama pants and
following Heizou out the door.

Their hair is absent from their normal ponytails, laying loosely over their shoulders. Like this,
Kazuha looks unkempt if his hair isn’t styled to look better when it’s down. Heizou’s hair naturally
always looks messy no matter if it’s up or down, so his hair remains relatively the same. Aside
from that, Heizou likes to wear shorts and tank tops to bed while Kazuha likes to wear loose
pajama pants and a t-shirt. The redhead can’t help but think of how fitting that is for him.

The two make their way down to the cafeteria in comfortable silence, grabbing a plate for
themselves and taking a seat at one of the tables. They figure they should eat down here first to
spare them the trouble of having to carry all three of their meals all the way back up to their hotel
room. “How did you sleep?” Heizou asks Kazuha, taking a bite of his cereal. It’s the smallest thing
he could have chosen to eat first out of the very delicious breakfast before him. He got some
breakfast sausages, eggs, pancakes, and cereal, a typical breakfast that anyone can enjoy.

Kazuha hums around his own spoon full of cereal, chewing it before swallowing so he doesn’t
choke. “I slept well. Your arm provided a nice thing to cuddle,” Kazuha teases and Heizou scoffs,
trying so hard to act nonchalant when he’s actually screaming on the inside. “You could have
woken me and told me to move, I would have understood,” the white haired man offers, stabbing
some eggs with a fork. Kazuha has the same thing he did except his cereal choice is different.

“Nah, it wasn’t that big of a deal and I didn’t want to wake you up for as long as possible. Both you
and Kuni should get lots of rest, touring is such a hassle,” Heizou smiles, taking a sip of his orange
juice. He uses the half-excuse of wanting them to sleep well to mask the fact that he also didn’t
want to disturb Kazuha so he could cuddle him for as long as possible. Can you blame him,
though? The man is stunning and he looks even more beautiful when he’s asleep. To have that
kind of person laying rest against your skin makes the flesh burn with a passionate fire. ..Or maybe
Heizou is just in love, who knows.

Kazuha just hums in acknowledgment as they enjoy the rest of their meal, chatting idly as they
wake up together. They talk about the excitement and hype over their tour as well as how sucky it
is to have to perform in uniform. Not only that, but they talk about their duet together with both of
them expressing their nervousness for such an event. Of, course they both reassure each other that
everything will be fine and it will all work out flawlessly. Lastly, they speak about Heizou’s
research on what their fans think of Scaramouche and with that reminder, they finish up the rest of
their meal and hand over their dishes and silverware. With their combined efforts, they grab
Scaramouche some breakfast to eat and carry it back up to their hotel room.

When they reenter, Scaramouche is still sleeping soundly, but he appears to have buried himself
under the blankets whereas he was cuddling them before. Kazuha and Heizou laugh at this lightly
before attempting to wake him up. “Oi, Kuni, we got breakfast for you,” Heizou says, making sure
he doesn’t touch the man. He doesn’t want to get punched again like he did last time for touching
him without his permission.

With little resistance, their manager wakes from his slumber to stretch out in the bed, before
peeking at his two companions over the covers. He blinks away the sleep as he yawns, sitting up in
bed while rubbing his eyes. “Oh, thanks,” he says, taking the plates and bowl offered to him on a
tray Heizou and Kazuha were offered by the staff. The two smile at him as he enjoys his breakfast,
happy they could help him out. “What time is it? The party is at 6PM,” Scaramouche asks around a
mouthful of cereal. Heizou checks the time to see it is currently twelve o’clock exactly which gives
them a good amount of time to finish eating and settling in before they have to get ready to go.

“It’s noon,” he replies, handing Kazuha’s phone back to him. He had handed it to Kazuha so he
could see the time instead of just saying it out loud. For what reason? Heizou doesn’t know, but it’s
not that big of a deal. Scaramouche just nods, continuing to eat, so Kazuha and Heizou take that as
their opportunity to go bug the rest of their crew. So, with a quick word to Scaramouche about
where they’re going, they head off to their friends’ rooms to greet them.

The first room they stop at is Ms. Sucrose and Ms. Jean’s, knocking on the door, they announce
who they are before they hear shuffling and Ms. Sucrose is gently opening the door. She greets
them with a shy smile as she ushers them inside. “Good morning you two, is Kunikuzushi not with
you?” she asks, wrapping her arms around herself like she usually does. Heizou doesn’t know
exactly why she does it, but it seems like a habit of hers if he has to take a guess.

“We gave him breakfast so he’s eating right now,” Kazuha explains, “we just wanted to come say
good morning and let you guys know we’re awake. I assume Kuni told you about the party at six?”
he questions. Ms. Sucrose nods, motioning over to Ms. Jean who is already deciding what outfits
she should wear out with them. It appears that that is what they were doing before they arrived.
Heizou admires women for how pretty their clothes are. It’s unfair that only they get to wear such
sexy, hot, pretty shit and easily look stunning in them each time. Or maybe Heizou is just bias
because Ms. Sucrose and Ms. Jean are his friends.

“Oh, I see,” she says, adjusting her glasses. Her hair is loose from its normal ponytail and instead
falling loosely over her shoulders just as Heizou and Kazuha’s is. “I’m sure he appreciates that,”
she smiles and the two of them nod, turning their heads in the direction of Ms. Jean who comes to
greet them now that she knows that they’re here.

“Good morning, Heizou, Kazuha,” she smiles, giving them a small wave, “how are you two this
morning?” she asks, placing a hand on her hip as she looks them over. Heizou doesn’t feel bad
under her gaze, though, more like as if a mother is looking over her children to make sure they’re
all healthy and good. Even though all of them are adults, Ms. Jean is definitely the most respectable
of them, Ms. Sucrose following suit.

“Good, we woke up and headed down to the breakfast area to get food and then brought some up
for Kuni as well, so he’s eating right now,” Heizou explains this time. He wonders how many more
times he’ll have to explain that Scaramouche is acting like a little hamster right now and chowing
down on some food they brought him.

“How, sweet, I’m sure he appreciates it,” she responds and oh how similar the two of Ms. Jean and
Ms. Sucrose are. They even have adopted the same speech! It makes Heizou smile knowing that all
their staff are pretty close with each other. In his opinion it’s better they remain close like family
than distant just like business partners. It brings more flavor to each day and makes work less
stuffy and suffocating at times.

So, after a few more shared words with the two women, Heizou and Kazuha head off to go greet
the last two on their stop. Xiao and Venti. Once they arrive at the door, they knock and wait
patiently, Xiao is of course the one to open it. “Morning,” he greets, opening the door wider for
them to step into. Unlike the other rooms, this one only has one bed for the two of them. It
wouldn’t make much sense to get two beds just for them to only sleep in one.
“Morning,” they both reply in unison. “We’re here to let you know we’re awake and to remind you
of the party at six,” Heizou informs, picking a piece of lint from his clothes. He should probably
change his laundry detergent or something if he keeps getting lint on his clothes. He honestly
doesn’t know how they get there. It’s an even harder mystery to solve than the ones in Mysteries at
Mansions !

Xiao nods, folding his arms over his chest. “Right, Venti is still asleep as always, but I was about
to run down and grab breakfast for us both,” he explains. The two hum in understanding before
offering to help Xiao carry up the trays, but he declines saying it’s just him and Venti, so it’s not
that big of a deal. The two shrug it off and now with their task complete, they say adios and head
out the door back to their own room.

When they return, Scaramouche is already done eating and getting ready to start the day. “What’s
up shorty, already picking out your clothes?” Heizou teases, sitting down on his and Kazuha’s bed
to watch Scara pick certain pieces of clothes and put them with other sets of clothes. It seems that
despite Scaramouche’s off putting demeanor he actually cares about his clothes. It’s kind of cute,
to be honest.

“Call me shorty again and I won’t hesitate to remove your name from the concert listings,” he
threatens, not even looking up from where he is staring at different outfits on the bed. He takes a
step back and folds one arm over his abdomen, resting his other elbow on that arm as he holds his
chin with his fingers in thought. Kazuha comes up behind him smoothly and looks over his
shoulder at all the outfits. He seems to ponder his decision before going up and adjusting a few
things. When he does this, Scaramouche’s eyes alight with understanding as he nods. “Good
choice,” he praises Kazuha.

“Thank you, I thought the accessories matched this outfit’s vibe more than that one’s,” he explains
and Scaramouche nods in agreement choosing the newly adjusted outfit to wear over the other one.
He takes it in his hands and stores away the rest of his clothes before going to change in the
bathroom. When told that neither man minds him changing out here, he brushes them off and
changes in the bathroom anyway. Heizou can take a guess as to why that is and say it may be
because of his scars, but he doesn’t want to put it onto paper until he knows it’s true.

Seeing as their manager is already getting ready, the two of them spend some time picking through
their clothes and choosing an outfit too and by the time they are done just choosing outfits, it’s
already two in the afternoon. They must have chatted with their friends for longer than he
suspected, seeing as they took so long to return and pick out some clothes. They then wait patiently
for their makeup artists to arrive before they all get pampered and read for the party. Scaramouche
is offered some light make up which he declines at first, but with some coaxing from the makeup
artists, he relents.

“Damn, you look good,” Heizou compliments Scaramouche who glares at him in return, but
Heizou can see a faint blush peeking out from under the makeup that he’s wearing. He turns to
Kazuha who is checking himself out in the mirror and Heizou whistles. “You look stunning,
Kazuha,” he smiles and the white haired man lets out a breathy embarrassed laugh. It’s always nice
to make his friends feel themselves. They’re all so pretty it almost makes Heizou jealous.

“You look fine yourself, Heizou,” Kazuha grins, folding his arms as he sits down in the bed.
Heizou rolls his eyes as he waves him off from his place resting against the dresser. He’s pretty
okay at giving compliments but receiving them is a whole different story. Especially when it’s
coming from Kazuha. A compliment from your crush just hits different, you know?

If we’re all ready then we should get going, it doesn’t take that long to get there, but I’d like to be
there early if we can,” Scaramouche says, adjusting the watch on his wrist. The two of them nod as
they grab their phones and pocket them, following after Scaramouche on the way out the door.
They all rendezvous in the downstairs lobby with Heizou dishing out even more compliments to
Xiao Venti, Sucrose, and Jean before heading out the the limo and heading off to the party.

As Scaramouche said, it doesn’t take long to get there, but what Heizou didn’t expect is that it’s a
whole ass venue . The place they rented is this beautiful mansion-like building with water
fountains in the front and nicely trimmed hedges along the driveway. Flowers can be seen in full
bloom all around them and a quick glance behind the house as they come up the drive shows signs
of party decorations. Now, Heizou has been to many parties, but one like this? No. Not ever. It’s so
fucking cool!

His eyes sparkle as he peers out the window at the party staff who come to greet them. All of them
are dressed in nicely tailored suits with white gloves and a pretty colored flower sticking out from
their pocket. They bow as the group leaves the limo, greeting them so formally Heizou could
mistake even himself for royalty. And once the group is all recouped in front of the vehicle they
just exited, a fine looking gentleman with long white hair greets them. “Hello, pleased to make
your acquaintance. I am Cyno and I will be the head security and safety manager. If you feel
endangered in any way, please inform one of the people you see before you or relay the message
directly to me. With that said, we humbly welcome you inside, members of 4NEMO,” he says,
expression solemn despite his kind words. If Heizou didn’t feel like royalty before, he sure does
now.

They all accept his offer with gratitude before making their way inside the building. The inside
looks even more grand than the outside with decorative expensive looking art pieces on all walls.
This room seems to be a ball room of some sort with the beautifully, humongous, crystal
chandelier hanging above their heads. This isn’t where the party is, though, no not at all. It’s out in
the backyard that the gentleman with the white hair— Cyno, he said— is leading them to.

Heizou can hear the sounds of a physically in person band playing outside which means he loves it
here already. A bunch of strangers he doesn’t know but can very well assume are famous as well
are here. From the way everyone is so expensively dressed and looking like they could be models
regardless of their profession, Heizou can’t help but feel slightly intimidated. He brushes the
feeling off, though, and instead keeps following Cyno to where they will be seated for the night.
It’s not a restaurant, just a place to lay claim to to sit down and have a nice chat. There are
waitresses and waiters walking around, though, holding trays of different snacks and drinks.

“This is where you may rest your items and yourselves. I’m sure since you arrived not even
twenty-four hours ago that you are in much need of some relaxation,” he guesses, watching as
everyone takes their seats, “I’ll be floating around the area as will my men, please contact us
should anything happen where you may need our assistance.” And with that, he leaves swiftly, his
frosty white hair flowing beautifully over his shoulders.

“What a welcoming party, aye?” Venti asks, nudging Heizou’s side with his elbow. Heizou nods,
not looking at him as he scans the area. The band is playing some smooth jazz which the redhead
enjoys only on special days, but the atmosphere and the music make him feel expensive in a way
that’s flattering. It makes him feel like he’s straight out of one of those old-timey TV shows or
movies and Heizou is living for it. Any chance to go back to a time where people still used horses
and buggies to get around would definitely be taken by him.

“Have you ever been to something like this before, Kuni?” Ms. Jean asks, as she crosses her legs
properly. Even in an atmosphere where she doesn’t need to be so professional, she still remains as
dutiful as ever. It’s amazing how dedicated to her job she is even when she’s technically not even
on the clock. I’m fact, they don’t really need Ms. Jean here at all, she’s just their driver now, but
she’s become too big a part of the team to leave her behind. She does and has done so much for
them, she deserves it. She even tried to refuse, but all of them insisted she come, even Sucrose.

“I haven’t,” he replies, folding his arms across his chest, “a huge fancy party like this is a first for
me. This sort of thing doesn’t really suit my interests.” At that, Heizou chances a glance at
Scaramouche silently wondering if the reason he doesn’t enjoy these sort of formal parties so much
is because he rather prefers the atmosphere of a club. Considering that that’s how Heizou met the
guy, he wouldn’t say his guess is too far fetched.

When Kuni catches his gaze, the redhead immediately looks away, causing a confused frown to
appear on their manager's face. Maybe Heizou can ask about it later, but for now he’s feeling like a
couple drinks would do just the trick to let the guy’s guard down and if there is one person who
can get anybody to drink, it’s Venti. So, with his plan in motion, Heizou calls over a waiter with
the intent to get Scaramouche shit faced drunk. Once their manager is drunk, Heizou actually has a
chance at coaxing answers from the guy and while his plan is a little sleazy.. The red head’s
curiosity knows no bounds and will be an annoying thorn in his side until it’s quenched.

“Ooh! Wine!! Gimme gimme,” Venti says excitedly, leaning over Xiao to grab himself a glass
from the waitress’ tray. He grabs one for Xiao too, handing it to him, but Heizou has never actually
seen the guy drink. Maybe he just does it very rarely? Heizou has no idea. Regardless, the drummer
grabs a glass of a stronger kind of alcohol, handing one to Kazuha as well as Scaramouche. He
doesn’t forget one for himself either and the women already have theirs.

“It’s been a while since we all last sat down to have a drink together,” Kazuha smiles, bringing the
glass to his lips and taking a generous sip. If anyone can like drinking more if not the same amount
as Venti, it’s Kazuha. He doesn’t look the type, but he actually really enjoys his fine wines and
alcohols and often drinks himself drunk alongside Venti. Heizou remembers the time when he was
younger when Kazuha snuck into the kitchen to get a midnight snack and happened to chance upon
an unmarked beverage being saved for later. Thinking it was harmless, he took it and drank it all.
He ended up getting drunk and passing out right there on the floor. His younger self seems to have
been a lightweight and while he has built up somewhat more of a stronger tolerance, it’s not that
much different than before.

“It has been, tell me, why do we not do it more often?” Heizou asks, and both Venti and Kazuha
roll their eyes, obviously feeling the teasing coming on. “Oh, as I recall it, we can’t drink out very
often lest we wish our public image to be ruined by two obnoxiously drunk men who both happen
to be very touchy-feely when they’re drunk,” Heizou smirks. A faint blush can be seen spreading
across both Venti and Kazuha’s cheeks as they simultaneously hide their embarrassment behind a
sip from their glass. Heizou scoffs out a laugh, taking a sip of his own as well.

“Oh? Touchy-feely? Has it gotten you into trouble before?” Scaramouche inquires, resting a hand
around the base of his glass. What a wonderful question for him to ask. Heizou will never pass up a
chance to embarrass his roommates and this time is now better than ever. Seeing as he, himself,
can handle his alcohol relatively well, he tends to remember most things, but before he gets a
chance to reply, Sucrose does it for him instead.

“There was one time we all went out for drinks to celebrate coming back home and Venti and
Kazuha got so drunk they kept mistaking other people for us. Kazuha even went up to one of the
waitress staff and starting asking her about making a sexual song they can sing, thinking she was
me,” Sucrose reveals and Heizou bursts out laughing, covering his mouth and placing a hand over
his stomach to help calm him down. Kazuha attempts to hide his shame as he places an elbow on
the table and hides his face in his hand. Scaramouche just glanced over at him with a slightly
amused smirk, Xiao and Ms. Jean adorning similar ones.

“There was a time where Venti got so shitfaced drunk he almost kissed someone else thinking they
were me. When he found out later he wouldn’t stop crying and apologizing to me, but I found it
quite funny because he undid his tie and tied our wrists together to prevent him from doing it again
the rest of that night,” Xiao shares, nudging Venti gently with his elbow, a small endearing smile
on his lips. Venti groans, leaning into Xiao with remorse and agony, clearly remembering all those
emotions like it happened yesterday.
“Xiaooo! I’m sorry I’ll never do it again I swear! I felt so bad I was so scared you weren’t gonna
forgive me so I vowed to quit drinking so heavily, I couldn’t stop crying cuz I was scared you were
gonna leave me,” Venti sniffles, looking up at Xiao from his place on his shoulder and through his
lashes with puppy dog eyes. The guitarist's smile just turns into a small toothy one, as he leans his
cheek against the top of Venti’s head closing his eyes to reassure him that he’s right here and
would never do that without talking to a sober Venti first. The two have a long history together,
one that’s irreplaceable and it’s incredible to Heizou just how strong their bond is for seemingly
two drastically different people. It’s really endearing.

“Right, I know that,” Xiao states gently, looking right back down into Venti’s emerald green eyes.
The two give each other loving looks before Xiao continues speaking, “after that he vowed to stop
drinking so heavily and he has improved significantly. It wasn’t just me who was worried about his
relationship with alcohol. Everyone here contributed to helping Venti get through his addiction and
now he’s got a pretty healthy relationship with it. Doesn’t make him any less vulnerable to getting
drunk, though,” the guitarist huffs, a laugh escaping his lips as he places a kiss atop Venti’s nose.
The singer just scrunches up his face and removes his chin from Xiao’s shoulder in order to pout
into his glass. See? A bond stronger than a thousand winds.

A soft smile graces Heizou’s lips as he watches the two, but he can’t help but feel a tiny pang of
jealousy. He wishes he could look at somebody the way those two look at each other. So, letting
his gaze fall away from them, he glances back over at the men before him only to find
Scaramouche already observing him. Realizing he is being watched so closely brings an
embarrassed blush to Heizou’s cheeks, so he tries to cover it up by testing the waters. “You got
any drunk stories you can share with the class, Kuni?” Scaramouche hums, letting his index finger
slide around the rim of his glass as he thinks. It takes him a moment to either decide or find a story
to tell, but once he does, he is letting his cheek lay full rest into his palm as he speaks.

“There was one time I was drinking back in my apartment and I accidentally drank myself silly. I
ordered a body pillow of a chicken wing because for some archon forsaken reason, during my
drunken state I thought it was the most hilarious shit I’d have ever seen. When it arrived a few days
later I didn’t even know what it was and assumed it was some kind of prank. Thinking this, I called
up Childe and cursed him out for sending me a fucking chicken wing body pillow, the guy laughed
right in my ear and explained to me that he did nothing of the sort. I told him I didn’t believe him
because no one else knows my address except his shitface and I wouldn’t have ordered it. The
fucker than used Zhongli as his alibi and they just oh, so pleasantly, decided to tell me their
activities that has went down that prior evening. I was completely repulsed I hung up the phone
and came to terms with the fact that I had drunkenly ordered a chicken wing body pillow,”
Scaramouche shares, taking a drink of his alcoholic beverage. He lets the story simmer in the
minds of his companions for a moment before he says one last thing. “I still have it, by the way.
Just in case you were wondering,” and that causes everyone at the table to break out into a fit of
laughter, even Scaramouche himself.

It’s kind of funny how such a stubborn and edgy guy can do such wack shit when he’s drunk,
speaking of which Heizou seems to be making progress in that department. So, with his
determination growing, he continues with his plan, never leaving Scaramouche’s hand void of a
drink even if that means getting himself drunk as well. This is a crime isn’t it? Probably, but if it’s
what gets Scaramouche to spill the beans about his life more easily, then Heizou is willing to do it.
But then, he takes a moment to think about why he’s even doing this at all and suddenly it dawns
on him.

Why is he trying so hard to get to know more about Scaramouche? Isn’t his ultimate goal Kazuha?
No, it is, it still definitely is, but the redhead thinks he’s discovering feelings he didn’t previously
have time to process. On the plane and back at the apartment too. Has his jealousy enlarged and
now his jealousy of the way Kazuha spends time with Scara too? But why? He doesn’t like
Scaramouche like that! He likes Kazuha and Kazuha only.

..But does he really? Shit. He doesn’t know!

So, with these confusing thoughts running around his drunken mind, he excuses himself from the
table, claiming to go grab a snack or something. He doesn’t do a very good job of keeping himself
subtle, so the strange and curious looks he gets in return are to be expected, but he doesn’t care.
Not right now at least. He’s too duped up on alcohol to care about being more rational right now,
so he finds his way to a quiet hallway and takes a seat. He lets his arms rest lazily over his knees as
he hands his head and closes his eyes, processing and thinking through his emotions. But the more
he thinks about it the more confusing they become.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see you back here,” a deep voice sounds, tapping of shoes making their way
to where Heizou is seated. “Is something the matter? Has someone spiked your drink? Just tell me
who and I will take care of them swiftly,” Cyno promises, stopping in his tracks right before
Heizou’s feet. The redhead just shakes his head, opening his eyes to blink in an unfocused manner
at the floor. The silence between them stretches on as Heizou doesn’t give the gentleman a proper
answer as to why he’s sitting solemnly on the marble floor at their welcoming party. It’s probably
suffocating to Cyno for a different reason than to Heizou.

“No.. no I’m just..,” Heizou takes a deep breath, exhaling heavily as he continues, “is it possible to
be in love with two people at the same time?” he asks, afraid of the answer. Heizou has heard of
things like threesomes where it’s just a hot sexy fling— a one and done type of deal, but a serious
relationship? A relationship that actually works between three people? One that doesn’t break apart
and acts just as a regular healthy relationship aside from the extra number? No, not ever has he
heard of such a thing. And having a crush on two people.. isn’t that selfish? And wouldn’t it be
more selfish to ask the two of those people who may not even like each other to be in a relationship
with him because he likes them both?

“I’m not sure, but I would think so. I’m not really.. good at emotional things. I apologize. The best
I can offer you is that I’m sure that if you’re feeling it, then you definitely aren’t the first person to
experience it. Nothing nowadays is ever a completely new experience,” Cyno replies, looking
down at Heizou who decides to look back up at him. Cyno is a very handsome person, with his
beautiful snowy locks and red eyes that remind him of.. Kazuha. But his aloof personality and
serious tone that reminds him of Scaramouche solidify his thought process and for once since this
whole ordeal began, he can be sure of something.

He definitely has a crush on both Kazuha and Scaramouche.

How is that possible? He has no idea, but he knows it’s real, he can feel it. “I think I have a crush
on my best friend and my manager. And I’m pretty sure my jealousy has turned into a more
wounded longing to have them both,” Heizou reasons, staring right back into Cyno’s crimson eyes.
The man nods, crossing his arms as he shifts his weight to one foot. He seems to be pondering
something as he lets his eyes drift all over Heizou’s appearance. When he seems to have made up
his mind, he makes a small sound that Heizou has no idea the meaning behind.

“Then why don’t you just come out and say it?” Cyno asks and the redhead can feel his whole
body sag as he slides down the wall almost to a complete lying position on the floor. He already
had this talk with Xiao once and he’s not too fond of having it again with a stranger he just met,
especially while he isn’t sober.

“It’s not that easy! I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a relationship before or had a crush on
someone, but it’s hard! And now I have to deal with it times two!” Heizou whines, folding his arms
over his chest as he pouts up at Cyno. The man stares down at him, clearly trying to fight back an
amused smile and keep things professional between them, but Heizou is not about to let that fly.
“What? What’s so funny?” he asks, glaring up at the gentleman before him now. Cyno doesn’t
reply immediately, he just stares, seemingly pondering whether or not he should, but he seems to
come to a conclusion rather quickly as he speaks.

“I’m married.”

“You’re what?”

“I’m married,” Cyno repeats, “and I have children,” and Heizou’s jaw just drops because what?!
This stern looking guy who looks like he has a stick up his ass 24/7 has a wife and kids?! No way,
Heizou refuses to believe it. Already seeming to sense the questions arising from Heizou, Cyno
answers them before he gets a chance to even ask. “I have a husband, not a wife. I have four
children and we’re planning for another one. My only daughter is adopted, but we would like to
give her a younger sister if we could. The three other children are my three triplets, all boys. I love
my family very much,” Cyno replies, slipping the glove off his left hand to show Heizou his
wedding band. The redhead hawks at the sight and it surprises him immensely because Cyno
doesn’t look any much older than himself! And he has a husband and kids! Jesus, is Cyno playing
the game too fast or is Heizou just slow?!
“How fucking old are you?!” Heizou questions, not realizing how rude he is sounding right about
now. Cyno doesn’t seem to mind the comment much, though, as he just slips his glove back on
after adjusting the ring around his finger. Heizou watches the action within his drunken state and
finds himself beginning to lose a grip on his patience.

“Twenty-seven,” Cyno replies and Heizou must admit he is slightly shocked. He expected the guy
to be closer to his age; around his early twenties at the very least. He is pleasantly surprised by this
answer for some reason, so he accepts it with a nod of his head as he processes that information.
When a noise can be heard coming from down the hallway, Cyno takes that as his cue to leave.
“I’m still on duty, I hope everything works out for you,” he states genuinely, turning on his heel to
leave. Heizou calls out after him, though, grabbing him by the ankle.

“Do you.. mind if I get your number? I know you said you don’t give good advice, but I still liked
talking to you,” Heizou admits, finding a new friend in a very unexpected place. Cyno ponders the
idea for a moment before he nods his head and leans down, unpocketing his phone and handing it
to Heizou. The redhead silently cheers inside his head as he takes the phone from his hand. The
gentleman’s lock screen and home screen are both pictures of him and his family. His locks screen
is of him and who Heizou presumes to be his husband, with beautiful sleek black hair with a hint of
neon green. His eyes are a hazel color and his skin looks as if it’s glowing. Their faces are pressed
together, cheek to cheek, as they smile up at the cameras.

The redhead fawns over the image, telling Cyno how cute of a photo that is and the gentleman
thanks him with an embarrassed scratch to his cheek. Meanwhile, the man’s home screen is of his
four children, their daughter with pretty green hair seems to be around the age of a teenager
whereas the silky white hair of that of their sons’ ages who seem to be around a toddler’s age. A
very cute and welcoming family indeed. What surprises him, though, are the animalistic ears on
top of their sons’ heads and Heizou realizes that they are that rare mythical species. When Cyno
realizes he knows this, he makes Heizou swear to secrecy which he does so easily and willingly.
He didn’t know Cyno was one of them! That’s so cool!

Once the redhead is done admiring the man’s family, he enters in his phone number and shoots
himself a text. Before he hands the phone back he makes sure to label himself as: ‘Heizou, that red
haired drummer’ in Cyno’s contact list so he wouldn’t forget who Heizou is. The guy only laughed
lightly and said he doesn’t think he would forget who he is since he made such a big impression,
but sticks with it anyways. When everything is settled between them, the redhead thanks him
before he scutters off back to work.

Remembering that he has an appearance to keep up, Heizou drags himself up from the floor only to
be faced with Scaramouche walking towards him. Surprised is the most mellow work Heizou can
use to describe his feelings when he sees him, but he pushes it down and puts on a smile. “Hey,
what’s up—“ he tries, but he’s cut off by Scaramouche walking up to him and forcing his back
against the wall. More confused than ever, Heizou registers that the shorter of them seems to be
 upset over something and whatever it is clearly had to do with Heizou.

“For what reason were you trying to get me drunk back there?” Kuni asks, ripping off the band aid.
Heizou guesses he wasn’t as stable with his plan as he thought he was. He should have known.
Scaramouche is a regular at clubs as he had previously stated after all. Sighing, Heizou’s shoulders
sag as he thinks about a less damaging (to himself, he doesn’t wanna get punched more than he has
to) way of going about this.

With a lack of a better excuse, Heizou just spits out the first thing he thinks of. One he will really,
really regret later.. or maybe he won’t..? “I wanted you to relax so you wouldn’t kill me when I
asked to fuck,” he spills, letting a smirk grace his lips to better play off his ruse. This seems to take
Scaramouche completely by surprise as his eyes widen and his mouth hangs slightly ajar. His
balance even faulted and that’s when Heizou thinks he’s made a grave mistake. .. Thinks.

“Then why didn’t you just say so?” Scaramouche smirks, getting all up in Heizou’s space. The
shorter uses his hands to cup Heizou’s cheeks, bringing his hands down to connect their lips in a
heated, open-mouthed kiss. Their tongues collide and Heizou can’t help but close his eyes, a small
moan leaving his lips at the contact. He lets his hands fall around Scaramouche’s thin waist, in too
deep to back out now. Pulling away, Scaramouche places a finger to Heizou’s open lips, looking
down at how they glisten with their intermingled saliva before he speaks. “I’ll go back and tell the
other’s you’ve gotten too drunk and that’s why you’ve been away for so long. When I get back,
let’s get a private hotel room and take care of this, ” he smirks, finally looking up at Heizou
through his lashes in the most seductive way ever as he grabs a hold of the drummer’s hard on.
Heizou sucks in a sharp inhale as he feels the pressure around his cock, but all too soon it’s gone
like the wind.

The redhead watches in a frazzled state as Scaramouche turns and walks back in the direction of
their table. Not knowing what else to do, Heizou just stands there, bewildered at what he’s gotten
himself into and thinking about how he’s going to untangle this entire mess later. But those are
thoughts for post sex, sober Heizou. Right now, he’s got a sexy slut of a man ready to spread his
legs for him as soon as they leave and Heizou could not be any more excited. How did he go from
being willing to slay the man over his jealousy to sleeping with him again after a couple talks,
some games, and some drinks? It’s so interesting how human emotions work.

Chapter End Notes

This chapter has the most words by far of any chapter previously uploaded and I hope
it was good! Thank you so much and I’ll see you next week,

Mika.
 His Name in Questions
Chapter Summary

They fuck again! And some other stuff happens too, I suppose.

Chapter Notes

Y’all are eating this fic up for REALLL. Thank you so much and please do enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Come on, let’s go,” Scaramouche commands, yanking Heizou by his arm eagerly as he drags him
from the building. The redhead doesn’t protest as he’s led by the shorter all the way out to the limo
waiting for them. Scaramouche all but shoves Heizou into the back seat, climbing in after him and
slamming the door shut.

His manager makes haste with telling the driver where to go— quite rudely by the way— before
shutting the little window and making his way back over to Heizou. He climbs on top of him,
situating each knee on either side of Heizou’s waist as he grinds down on the man. Heizou lets out
a low moan, letting his hands fall to wrap around Scara’s thin waist as Scaramouche grips his chin
roughly. His manager forces his face upwards roughly in order to connect their lips in a messy and
rough kiss. Their tongues intertwine as Scaramouche keeps persistently grinding down on Heizou.
He can feel the way his dick is hard against his ass and it only turns him on even more.

Heizou’s hands roam all over Scara’s body, sliding up underneath his shirt to press against his bare
skin. The pads of his fingers leave a fiery trail along his manager’s body as grinds a little too hard,
causing an intense spike of pleasure to surge through his own body, jolting him forward. Heizou
welcomes the closeness with ease, pulling him in closer with one hand as the other slips into the
waistband of his pants. The redhead kisses along his manager’s neck, leaving hickies in his wake
as he prods his finger against Scaramouche’s hole. Remembering that they don’t have lube, he
retracts his hand and brings his fingers to his mouth, making sure he has Scara’s attention before he
seductively sucks on them.

Scaramouche’s eyes narrow at this, watching the action closely with a hot fueled desire and a need
for sedation. So, in order to keep himself from pouncing, he slides his hands up Heizou’s shirt and
back down, before gripping his waist band and pulling. “If you don’t start fucking me with your
fingers right fucking now, I swear on my whole career you will never hear the end of it,” he
threatens, a til to his head as his gaze remains locked with Heizou’s. The redhead’s eyes darken as
he removes his fingers from his mouth. A smirk appears there as he slips his fingers back into
Scaramouche’s waistband, sending a shudder down the man’s spine. Heizou watches every little
reaction.

“Yes, princess,” Heizou replies in that sultry tone of voice of his. A deep blush appears on Scara’s
face as he glares down at the man below his ass, but it doesn’t last long before he’s biting his lip to
hold back a moan as Heizou’s fingers finally slip into his ass. They should probably be wearing
seatbelts, but both of them could honestly care less as Heizou starts finger-fucking Scaramouche.
The shorter of them pants heavily, closing his eyes to concentrate on the pleasure as Heizou makes
quick work of his neck again, his freehand holding his chin out of the way. “You’re so fucking
sexy..,” he murmurs, causing Scara’s heart to skip a beat. This just makes Heizou let out a breathy
laugh as he nibbles on his neck, intending to leave a mark.

“Don’t.. ngh .. say shit you don’t mean,” Scaramouche pants, gripping Heizou’s shoulders tightly
as he begins rocking back and forth on his partner’s fingers. Heizou scoffs, biting extra hard at the
remark before adding another finger. Scaramouche whines, biting his lip as he lets his head fall
back in pleasure. Heizou watches the action from where his chin rests atop his shoulder and he
doesn’t think he’s seen anything more arousing than that. Something churns deep within him and
he decides he definitely needs this man underneath him stat once they get to the hotel. So, with that
in mind, he adds a third finger and fucks him even harder.

His manager inhales sharply, pausing where he was grinding down on Heizou’s fingers before
letting out a heavy exhale which piques Heizou’s interest. “Did you just.. almost come..?” he asks,
a tilt to his head. Scaramouche doesn’t answer immediately, his head hung in ashamed
embarrassment which Heizou finds way too cute for such a situation. Scaramouche lets himself
come back down to Teyvat before he begins grinding down on him once more, loving the feel of
Heizou’s fingers in his ass. Once they’ve started up another steady rhythm, he replies.

“It’s been a while. I haven’t been with anyone else since you,” Scaramouche replies, his voice
strained from the pleasure he’s feeling. The sentence makes Heizou’s heart flutter, his eyes
growing wide as he ducks his head to try and meet Scara’s gaze, but the brat turns away, hiding his
face from Heizou’s view, though a small blush can be seen coating his cheeks. Heizou smirks at
the revelation before using his free hand to grab Scaramouche’s chin, yanking his face forwards
towards him so they can look each other in the eye. Once he’s sure he has Scaramouche’s
attention, he presses his fingers deep into his prostate, causing the man to whine , hunching over in
pleasure.

Scaramouche’s head falls to lay rest against Heizou’s shoulder which puts the redhead’s mouth
right next to his ear. “Me either. I haven’t been with anyone else since you,” he replies and he feels
his pride swell at the way Scaramouche’s hole clenches around his fingers when he reveals such
information. With a smirk gracing his lips, he kisses Scaramouche’s ear before continuing down to
his neck and shoulder, moving his fingers to keep him stretched. His manager doesn’t protest such
things and instead begins to move with him as well, shifting his ass in a way to make Heizou’s
fingers hit his prostate each time.
As they continue their finger fucking, a knock sounds at the small window inside the limousine
and a deep voice calls out for them, letting them know they’ve arrived. With much haste, the two
of them climb out of the vehicle and head inside the building, purchasing a room for them before
rushing up to the elevator. Heizou never thought he’d be spending his second night back in Sumeru
with a hot guy in his lap, but whatever gets the job done he supposes.

When the elevator chimes, they both file in, not even waiting for the doors to shut before they’re
already on each other again. Heizou hoists Scaramouche up from underneath his knees, and pins
his back to the wall, kissing him passionately as the elevator begins to move. Scara runs his hands
through the redhead’s messy locks and pulls, yanking his head back so he can lick and kiss at his
neck too. “No marks,” Heizou warns, “we have a convert to perform at tomorrow,” he laughs
breathlessly. Scaramouche clearly doesn’t like that answer as Heizou can feel the way his legs
tighten around his waist in annoyance. The redhead just finds the action cute though as he closes
his eyes to enjoy the feeling of Scaramouche kissing and licking his neck. He even tilts his head to
the side to give him better access and boy does Scaramouche take it.

Heizou can tell his manager is trying to hold himself back from leaving a mark and it’s so fucking
hot with the way his breath fans against his skin. It sends shudders down Heizou’s spine as he
thrusts up against Scaramouche’s ass from his position against the wall. The shorter groans, the
moan loud and clear in Heizou’s ear which sends an immense amount of pleasure to his groin. And
suddenly the elevator doors chime and Heizou drops Scaramouche back down to his feet. The
shorter one again leads them to their destination, fumbling with the keycard in his haste and
cursing under his breath as he does so. Heizou finds it funny, laughing lightly as his hand comes to
snake around his waist, groping his ass before his clothed cock.

Scaramouche’s knees buckle at the action, causing him to drop the key which Heizou catches and
unlocks the door swiftly with on his first try. His manager glares back at him and all Heizou can do
is smirk, his eyes glimmering with mischief before he’s yanked inside the hotel room and
immediately put to work. Scaramouche is already back on him, kissing him roughly as Heizou
discards his jacket, tossing it somewhere on the floor before resting his hands on Scaramouche’s
waist. He lets his hands slide into the waistband of his pants before cupping and squeezing Scara’s
ass lustfully. The shorter moans into their kiss, tilting his head to deepen it as they stumble over to
the bed.

They tumble backwards into the plush mattress which gives Heizou the cue to immediately strip
himself of his clothes. He leans back, letting Scaramouche drink in the entire sight of him while he
slowly and seductively peels his shirt from his skin. His chest is bare and evidence of his extensive
work out routine is present anywhere one looks and his manager is drinking it all in.
Scaramouche’s eyes trail from the top of Heizou’s pants, to his abdomen, to his chest, and
eventually to his face. The redhead wears an amused smirk, one that is mirrored as Scaramouche
sits up from his place on the bed and lays on his stomach in front of Heizou.
The action initially surprises Heizou before he realizes what the shorter is trying to do. So, to make
things easier, he leans his weight back just so slightly, giving him easier access to his cock from his
position. Scaramouche wastes no time in unbuttoning Heizou’s pants and belt, yanking them down
his legs along with the guy’s underwear. His hard on springs free from its confides and Heizou
hisses at the feeling of the air of his bare skin. His manager takes in the sight of it, seemingly
pondering something before kitten licking the tip. Heizou sucks in a sharp breath, a hand flying
into Scaramouche’s hair. He brushes away his bangs, revealing half of his partner’s face as he
looks up at Heizou before wrapping his hands around the base of his cock and stroking.

The redhead winces at the pleasured feeling, never letting his fully eyes close so he can enjoy the
full view of Scaramouche’s face so close to his dick. His manager refocuses his attention on his
partner’s cock, only putting the tip of it in his mouth as he uses his hands for the rest. Scaramouche
swirls his tongue around the tip as he hums, letting the vibrations do the work. This causes Heizou
to moan, biting his lip to restrain himself as the fingers in Scara’s hair tighten their grip. The
shorter takes his time working Heizou up, never letting his dick go too far into his mouth and
letting his hands do the work, but Heizou can’t take it anymore.

Losing his patience, Heizou murmurs a swift apology before using the hand in Scara’s hair to his
advantage and shoving his cock down the man’s throat. The shorter gags, his eyes watering as the
fingers around the drummer’s cock tighten, sending a surge of pain straight through Heizou. The
man winces, blinking down at Scaramouche who is glaring heatedly up at him, mouth full of his
length with lips glistening with precum. Heizou just smirks, letting his hand guide Scaramouche
around his hard on. He starts off showing his partner a good steady rhythm, but eventually his
manager begins moving on his own, deepthroating as much of him as he can while using his hands
to cover the rest.

Heizou can’t stand the sight of something so erotic, it’s driving him insane, so he leans forward
and lets his fingers slide back into Scaramouche’s ass. The shorter, moans, sending vibrations
down Heizou’s length and stirring a very heated arousal within him as the redhead fingers his ass.
But he quickly loses focus when he can feel himself coming to a climax. “Kuni. Kuni, stop— I’m
gonna..!” he warns, but Scaramouche doesn’t stop, in fact, he speeds up, bobbing his head and
moaning around the tip to further intensify the pleasure. Without further warning, Heizou shoots
his load down Scaramouche’s throat, his breath hitching as his face scrunches up in pleasure.
Neither of them move for a moment before they pull apart and Scaramouche pops off his length.

Heizou scans his face for any signs of anger despite having been warned, but he finds none and
instead finds a smirk and a mouth full of something. That something being his own cum.
Scaramouche let’s his jaw fall slack as Heizou’s cum drips from his mouth in waves, falling
seductively down his chin and dripping onto the bed. Heizou’s eyes darken as Scaramouche
maintains eye contact with him, bringing his finger to his tongue and pulling away to watch the
string of cum that follows. This is when Heizou’s resolve snaps and he pounces, shoving Scara
down onto the bed roughly and immediately stripping him of his pants and undergarments.

He yanks down both of those items and tosses them to the side, shoving Scaramouche’s shirt up his
stomach and holding it there as he grabs lube and a condom from the bedside table. He lets the
lube drip down Scaramouche’s groin and to his ass before capping it and sliding his fingers back in
to make sure he’s properly prepared. When Heizou hears the corresponding moan leave his
manager’s lips, he pulls his fingers out and unfurls the condom around his cock. He wastes no time
in giving a warning as he places the tip near the entrance and eases his way in. The way
Scaramouche’s body tenses and melts with the action sends waves of arousal right to Heizou’s
cock and if it wasn’t hard before it sure as hell is now.

Heizou feels the way Scaramouche’s legs wrap around his waist, pulling him towards him in order
to get his length to reach as deep as it can go. So, leaning forward, Heizou reconnects their lips,
sliding a hand in Scaramouche’s own as he fucks him slowly to start. His manager whines into the
kiss, his hole tightening around Heizou when his fingers wrap around his firmly. Both of them tilt
their heads to further deepen the kiss, their lips making lewd noises in the empty space of the hotel
room as the redhead grinds down on him. After letting Scaramouche adjust to his length, Heizou
begins moving, moving his hips in a way that edges his partner on with each thrust.

Kuni mewls against Heizou’s lips, letting his free hand wrap around his back, his nails gently
grazing the flesh there. The redhead lets his own free hand fall to Scara’s dick, stroking him to get
him stimulated quickly. His mouth tastes of Heizou’s own seed as well as alcohol which serves as
a reminder of what kind of situation this really is. Both of them are drunk off their asses, sneaking
away from their friends and feigning illness just so they can go off and fuck. What a fucked up but
insanely hot scenario. It seems like it’s straight out of the movies.

With that in mind, Heizou quickens the pace of his cock in Scaramouche’s ass, switching from a
slow fuck to a relentless pace, leaving no in between. Kuni whines, his head thrown back after
having broken from the kiss to do so and Heizou takes the opportunity to mark him up even more,
kissing and licking his neck, seemingly trying to leave no place there uncovered before moving
down to his chest. Scaramouche moans loudly, nails now definitely scratching and leaving marks
along Heizou’s shoulder and he intends to wear them proudly. Those will surely be covered by his
clothes so there is no need to worry.

Heizou’s hand around Kuni’s cock becomes damp from the precum, feeling it drip from his tip in
globs as his other hand remains firmly pining Scara’s own down to the mattress. This position
seems oddly romantic, but neither man protests this and instead just continues on with their
mission. “Ahhngh..! Fuck, Heizou, archons, you’re so good— you feel so good— I’m gonna..!”
Scaramouche

rambles incoherently, his legs wrapping tightly around Heizou’s waist as his back arches off the
bed. Heizou hums, a smirk gracing his lips as he kisses and licks at his nipples, keeping his hand at
a steady pace around his cock. “I’m coming..! I’m coming..!” He practically screams and soon after
his length explodes, releasing waves and waves of beautiful white liquid, but that doesn’t stop
Heizou. Instead, he switches their position.

They spend some time causally locking lips before the redhead releases Scaramouche from his
hold, giving him a grace period while he hops off the bed to grab his belt. Heizou swipes the item
from the floor and cracks it like a whip, making his partner jump as he looks up from his exposed
position on the bed. Scaramouche looks at him skeptically, a hint of fear in his eyes, but Heizou
doesn’t mind because he’s not about to do what he thinks. Instead, he forcefully grabs Scara’s
wrists and pushes down his sleeves, binding them together with his belt so as to make it so he can’t
wiggle his way out of its hold. “Is this okay?” he asks, looking Scaramouche in the eyes so he can’t
lie. His manager looks him over before nodding, causing Heizou to smile. He leans down to peck
his partner’s lips before asking one more question. “Mind if I slap your ass a couple times?” he
smirks as a blush appears across Scara’s cheeks.

The shorter glares at him before rolling his eyes and giving his consent. “I’m not a virgin, you
know. You don’t have to be gentle,” he murmurs, flicking his eyes away shyly, though still, his
gaze is heated. Heizou’s eyebrows raise, pondering this new information for a moment before they
darken with lust and a smirk appears on his lips once more.

“Are you giving me permission to be rough?”

“Go for it,” Scaramouche consents, letting his eyes fall back on Heizou. The redhead bites his lip
before sprinting into action, flipping Scaramouche over and presenting his ass to the sky. When he
attempts to protest, Heizou shoves his face down in a pillow, leaning his body weight on top of
him to keep him down. He whispers in his ear, reminding him of how he consented to this before
pulling off and lining himself back up again. He makes Scaramouche spread his legs further apart
to allow himself some room before he thrusts back in, starting an unforgiving pace.

He uses gravity to his advantage as he uses all his weight to absolutely pound Scaramouche down
into the mattress. His manager moans loudly, the sounds muffled by his face in the pillow as
Heizou presses down between his shoulder blades, keeping his back arched and ass in the air.
Without warning, he lands a heavy slap to Scaramouche’s ass, making the man jolt forward and his
hole clench around him tightly. Heizou thrives off the way Kuni’s body reacts so honestly to him
despite the man being quite the secret holder and it’s making him go mad.

Another slap lands on Scaramouche’s ass followed by a squeeze of his ass cheeks before Heizou is
leaning down, kissing between his shoulder blades and down the length of his back. Scaramouche
is constantly moaning into the pillow, hands gripping the sheets tightly from where they can reach
and seeing the man in such a vulnerable state is such a turn on. “You’re such a dirty little thing
aren’t you, princess ? Getting hard from being bound while I slap your ass repeatedly.. I can’t
believe I let others have you before me,” he laughs breathlessly against his skin as Scaramouche
clenches tightly around him. Heizou continues pounding into him, not letting up on a single thrust
so as to not break the arousal surrounding them.

“Don’t.. nnggh..! Don’t say shit you don’t mean, Heizou! Hah..fuck.!!” Kuni moans, his eyes
rolling into the back of his head at the intense amount of pleasure. Heizou shook off such words
before, but now that they’ve been said twice he can’t help but take them into account. ‘Don’t say
shit you don’t mean’? But he means it. He means every word he says. Feeling a sort of irritation
for his feelings not being understood, he slaps Scaramouche’s ass again, listening to the way the
sound rings out in the room.

He can see a small glisten of a pleasured tear roll down Scaramouche’s face at the contact and that
only drives him to do even better. Leaning up and away from Kuni, Heizou uses both his hands to
grip his waist and slam into his ass repeatedly. Scara’s moans sutter and get stuck in his throat as
he buries his face deep within the pillows, his hands gripping the sheets unforgivingly. Looking
down at him, Heizou runs a hand through his hair, admiring the marks he has left in Scara’s skin.

Feeling himself grow closer, Heizou closes his eyes and focuses on his own pleasure, working in
and out of Scaramouche, though, still hitting his prostate each time. His climax approaches quickly,
engulfing him in hot waves of pleasure as he grits his teeth and slams back into Scaramouche one
final time, tossing the man’s body forward with the force. Heizou comes, dick buried deep inside
Kuni’s ass as he lets out a low groan of pleasure. His eyes flutter open to see a trembling
Scaramouche whose dick is still painfully hard. With this in mind, he leans forward, kissing
between his shoulders as he wraps a hand around his cock.

He begins stroking Scaramouche to another climax of his own, the shorter letting out small mewls
and grunts as he subconsciously rocks back and forth on Heizou’s softening cock. The
overstimulation causes the redhead to bite his lip, controlling himself as he focuses on
Scaramouche. His manager whines as his climax approaches, his back arching even more and his
ass pushing back into Heizou as it clenches around him tightly. Once again, the drummer feels the
warmth of Scara’s cum in his hand as he brings said hand back to admire his load. He spreads his
fingers to watch the liquid string from one to another before watching it fall upon where they are
joined. Kunikuzushi shivers at this, attempting to raise himself up so he can turn around, but losing
all strength in his bound arms.

Seeing this, Heizou chuckles to himself and pulls out, flipping him on his side before tossing a leg
over his shoulder. “One more round?” he asks, leaning forward to brush Scaramouche’s bangs
from his face. The shorter nods breathlessly, leaning into the touch subconsciously. It appears that
if you get Scara too fucked out he becomes less closed off and more compliant. Heizou wonders if
it works the same with any other emotion. Brushing that question aside, Heizou goes to grab
another condom after discarding this used one, but before the redhead can begin unwrapping it,
Scara grabs at his wrist around his leg and looks him in the eyes through his lashes. “Hm?” he
hums in question.

“You don’t need to use a condom, I trust you won’t give me some fucking STI and I’m clean,” he
explains, panting breathlessly as his hole twitches in anticipation. When Heizou’s eyebrows raise in
surprise and he pauses a moment before answering, Scaramouche’s confident facade dissolves and
Heizou can’t have that. So, he leans down and flicks his forehead causing the man to glare at him
to which Heizou laughs.
“You better not regret this,” he smirks, tossing the condom aside and grabbing the bottle of lube.
The fact that he doesn’t even feel the need to question Scara on this proves his trust in him and that
makes the shorter’s heart flutter. Heizou uncaps the lube before pouring a generous amount on his
own cock as well as Scara’s hole. The man shudders, hole clenching as he closes his eyes in the
pleasure. It’s amazing how telling someone’s body can be despite the words leaving their mouth;
Scaramouche has always been one of those cases.

”Then don’t give me a reason to regret it,” he fires back, smirking up at his partner. Heizou
matches his sass with a smirk of his own as he shoves himself back inside of Scaramouche. His
manager moans, his head falling back on the pillow as he lets out a heavy breath. Heizou chuckles,
starting up slow because of the over stimulation. Small and delicate moans leave Scaramouche’s
lips as he does so and Heizou takes this time to admire the man underneath him.

He presses his fingers against Scaramouche’s thigh, as he kisses the flesh, licking and sucking it so
as to leave a mark. His eyes look over at his manager, hooded with lust to watch the way the man
bites his lip at the sexy action. Seeing the way he enjoys this, Heizou rolls his hips against his ass
as he continues marking up Kuni’s left thigh. The shorter man spreads his legs even further, a silent
plea for him to move faster, so Heizou does. He adjusts his grip on his thigh as he straddles his
other one, spreading his legs so he can reach as deep as possible in Scaramouche’s ass. The way
his skin makes direct contact with Kuni’s insides is driving him insane. He can feel every little
inch inside of his partner and feel every little twitch and clench around his cock. It’s telling in a
way he never understood before seeing as he’s never done it raw. Kunikuzushi is his first; there’s
no telling what those wackos at the club are carrying and to think, to him, Scara used to be one of
said wackos.

With these thoughts on his mind, Heizou picks up the pace and begins switching between rolling
his hips against Scara’s ass to thrusting in hard and deep. He feels the way his own precum slides
against Kuni’s insides alongside the lube as if they were meant to be. And from the way
Scaramouche is back to moaning and whining under him, Heizou thinks it’s safe to say he’s found
his prostate once more. With that information, he continues hitting that spot over and over again,
not once touching Scaramouche’s cock. “You think you can come untouched for me, princess ?”
he smirks, offering a challenge to his partner. Scaramouche glares up at him, his bangs sticking to
his forehead with sweat, so Heizou leans down to brush them away for him.

“What’s with.. mmn.. what’s with the name?” he pants out a question, causing Heizou to tilt his
head. To be honest, even Heizou doesn’t know why he enjoys pet names so much, but ‘princess’
seems like the perfect one for Scaramouche. Even with all of this said, that didn’t answer his
question, so Heizou slams into him roughly with a slap to his ass in emphasis. Kunikuzushi groans,
biting his lip from the pleasure as he closes his eyes

“Dunno, it’s just fitting. You act like such a stuck up brat you might as well be a snobby noble,
don’tcha think so, princess ?” Heizou smirks, loving the way a blush coats Scara’s cheeks
alongside a glare, but he can’t do anything in this position. His hands are tied and his legs are
spread, perfect for Heizou to use to his advantage. “I could call you something else like: ‘your
majesty’ or ‘your highness’ or ‘sire’,” Heizou offers, adjusting his grip on Kunikuzushi as he
continues his pace. That last one drives a snort of amusement from Scaramouche which causes
Heizou to laugh too. He also thought that was a funny one.

“Whatever you need to keep your dick hard,” Scaramouche retorts, but Heizou gets him back for
his sass with a thrust directly to his prostate. The shorter groans, resting his forehead against his
bound wrists from the pleasure. Heizou smirks in triumph before continuing on with his job. He
rocks back and forth from Scara as he watches the way his dick slides in and out of him when he
does so. Precum can be seen lining the rim of Scaramouche’s hole and it’s so sexy to know he’s
claiming his ass like this. He never thought that when he first met Kuni he would ever see him
again and now here he is with the man’s legs spread wide for him on a hotel mattress. Fuck, this is
so hot. He is so hot.

Heizou brings Scara’s leg down to kiss the side of his foot before continuing up his leg to kiss as
far as he can reach. His pace is relentless and Kuni now has his face buried in his bound hands
from the amount of pleasure he’s experiencing. They’re both panting, faces flushed with lust and
hair a mess. Their lips are swollen from all the kissing and the reminder makes Heizou want to
lean down to kiss him some more, but he can’t let himself lest he want to fold Scaramouche in half.
You got to be pretty flexible to fuck in this position and to lean forward, even more so and no
offense to Scara, but Heizou doesn’t think he’s that flexible.

Kunikuzushi is moaning loudly now, the sounds of their skin colliding and their pleasured breaths
filling the room. Heizou looks down to watch where their bodies collide again. Cum and lube now
strings from Heizou’s groin to Scara’s ass each time he pulls out only to slam back in. When he hits
Scara’s prostate he can feel the way the man clenches around him, so he takes a hand and runs his
finger nails gently across the skin of his thigh. He lets them glide up and down Kuni’s inner thigh,
taking note of the way it makes him shudder before he speeds up the pace, noticing the way he’s
clenching tighter around him.

Kunikuzushi’s head falls back in the pillow heavily, back arching forward as he clenches around
Heizou. His moans are impossibly loud now, the overstimulation definitely driving him over the
edge alongside the skin to skin contact from the lack of a condom. Scaramouche can feel the way
Heizou’s cum seeps from his ass around Heizou‘s cock as it drips down onto the sheets. And even
though his eyes are closed in the intense pleasure, the mental image drives him over the edge as his
toes curl and his body spasms, his cock shooting lines of cum from the tip as he opens his mouth in
a silent scream of pleasure. His eyes are blown impossibly wide as he shudders, whining when
Heizou continues thrusting in and out of him to reach his own climax once again.

“Holy fuck, that was hot. So fucking hot, princess . Nnghn .. shit I’m gonna..!” Heizou rambles,
feeling himself coming to his own climax from the combination of such a wonderful show put on
by Scara and the overstimulation of how many times they’ve done it. He groans, thrusting deep
inside of Scaramouche before he thrusts in one final time, burying himself deep within his manager
before releasing his load, coating his insides with snow. The exhaustion catches up to him quickly
as Heizou lets Scara’s leg drop from his shoulder as he leans down to kiss next to his eye before
locking lips. They moan against each other’s lips, panting heavily from the workout and the room
smells like sex— they smell like sex.

Though not yet entirely sober, Heizou fumbles to untie Scaramouche who shakes out his
previously bound wrists before feeling up Heizou’s chest. The redhead lets his hands slide up his
manager’s chest before pushing up his shirt so he can lean down to kiss and lick at Scaramouche’s
nipples for good measure as the man runs his fingers through Heizou’s sweaty hair. He only does it
once before being repulsed but the amount of sweat and making a face which makes Heizou laugh.
What did he expect? Did he expect the redhead not to be sweaty after that intense workout? Cute,
but untrue.

“I’m showering first, loser” Scaramouche claims, voice devoid of its normal bark and bite since
he’s clearly out of energy. Heizou just scoffs, biting one of his buds a little too harshly, causing his
manager to wince and smack the back of his head. Now it’s the redhead’s turn to wince as he pulls
away to rub the back of his head, pouting down at Scaramouche.

“Ouchie,” he whines and Kunikuzushi just rolls his eyes, whimpering when Heizou moves to pull
out of him. Helping him sit up, Heizou watches as his own cum drips out of Scaramouche’s ass,
dripping down onto the sheets in an erotic way that can only be described by perverts. He bites his
lip when Kuni shudders from the motion before he stands up, using Heizou as leverage. “I can
carry you,” he offers and Scaramouche glares, “..just sayin’..” Heizou laughs, instead just helping
him walk to the bathroom, this time he doesn’t ask whether Scaramouche wants his help or not to
clean himself out. He doesn’t give the man the option to say no as he gets to work right away.

He sets him down on the side of the tub and spreads his legs. Gently, he digs his fingers into
Kuni’s ass, scooping out his own cum and wiping it from his fingers. Heizou takes his time in
doing this to assure Scara that he won’t be finding any residue gifts from Heizou for the next few
days. The thought makes him giggle to himself and when Scaramouche asks him what’s so funny
he just shrugs and smirks. The responding quizzical look he receives in return makes him laugh
even more.

Once they finish cleaning out his ass, Scaramouche kicks him from the bathroom even though
Heizou said it’d be easier to shower together. A princess he tells you! But he just shrugs it off and
waits his turn. When it is his turn, he takes a moment to look in the mirror seeing a few faint
hickies left by Scaramouche— that brat. Heizou sighs before hopping in and doing the same as his
manager presumably did before exiting the bathroom and coming to sit on the bed with said
manager.

Not thinking, Heizou plants himself right next to Kuni on the bed. Their shoulders touch and
Heizou adjusts himself so his head can rest on Scara’s shoulder as he lets his hands rest idly in his
lap. Surprisingly, Scaramouche doesn’t punch him for being touched without forewarning, but
Heizou wouldn’t realize this until much later. And as they let the silence consume them, Heizou
finally has time to process everything that just happened.

He had sex with Kunikuzushi— his manager — again. Again! And they did it raw even!

Even though he acknowledges this fact, Heizou doesn’t seem to mind or care, let alone regret his
decision. Sure it was just something he said spur of the moment to get Kuni off his scent, but it got
him an amazing night with his manager even if they’re both drunk. And it’s because they’re drunk
that Heizou speaks without thinking. “Hey Kuni, can I tell you something?” he asks and the silence
that follows is taken as a ‘yes’, so he continues speaking, “I’m in love with Kazuha,” he spills,
surprising even himself. So, in an attempt to try and make the situation better, he rambles. “Ever
since I met him four years ago I’ve been in love with him. His everything, his eyes, his hair, and
his entire personality is just.. golden. I can’t get enough of that guy, but I can never tell him how I
feel. If I do and he rejects me.. I know people say it can work out after that, but knowing myself
I’ll be too heartbroken to even face the guy. Everything little he does from then on without me will
feel like a stab to the gut. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but it just felt right— like I could
trust you not to out me. You’re the only person I’ve told, so thank you for listening even though I
kind of forced you to,” he finishes, reaching over to attempt to grab one of Scara’s hands that are
resting in his own lap.

When his fingers meet Kuni’s hand, he can feel the way the other is extremely tense and it makes
him frown. Did he go overboard? Did he say too much? Did he read the atmosphere wrong and
Kunikuzushi still doesn’t think they’re as close as Heizou previously thought? Please someone
give him a sign and tell him what he did wrong! “It’s fine. I won’t tell anybody,” Scaramouche
replies, voice monotone and somewhat.. solemn? In hearing this, Heizou lifts his head from Scara’s
shoulder to look him in the eyes, but the man is stubbornly turned away from him. He even goes
the extra mile and gets off the bed, making sure he has all his items before heading for the door.
“Let’s go before the other’s get back and start questioning things,” he murmurs. Heizou swiftly
obliges and gets off the bed as well, swiping his coat from the floor as he does so. He offers it to
Kuni and for the first time since before they showered, Heizou gets a good look at his face.

He doesn’t look happy, in fact, he looks utterly defeated. Did Heizou really do that bad in bed or
perhaps it was something he said? Maybe he was too forward and mistook the strength of their
friendship? Fuck, is he going to lose Kuni as a friend over this? But why would he when it has
nothing to do with him? All he did was tell a friend about his crush on his best friend. There
shouldn’t be any problem. What is he not getting?! “..Here you can use it to cover the hickies,” he
says, handing his jacket to Scaramouche, “the collar is pretty long so it should cover most of
them,” he finishes. Scara’s eyes leave Heizou’s to flick down to the jacket being offered to him and
to the redhead’s delight he takes it without a word, slipping it over his shoulders and zippering it all
the way up. The jacket practically drowns Scara which means it works as intended as they exit the
hotel room together and head for the main lobby.

Heizou wants to do something— apologize, beg him to tell him what’s wrong, ask to make up for it
somehow— but he can’t do any of that if he doesn’t know what he did wrong. The thing is, he
doesn’t see any problem with anything they did. Scaramouche consented to everything that went
down, so Heizou just enjoyed it as did Scara, but how come he’s acting like this now? Was he
already upset before Heizou sat down next to him and he just didn’t notice? That has to be it
because what else could it be?! Maybe the post sex feelings caught up to him and he realized how
hard they actually went and he just doesn’t feel good? Yes! That has to be it.

“I can rub your lower back for you when we get back to the hotel. We went pretty hard, so if you’re
hurting just let me know,” Heizou smiles, making a massaging motion with his hands to prove his
point. Scaramouche doesn’t bite, though, he just nods solemnly, looking straight ahead as they
head out the lobby to catch a cab. This is when Heizou notices that aside from a slight limp,
Scaramouche is walking just fine. Ugh, if he would have noticed that sooner he wouldn’t have
wasted his breath on asking such a dumb question, but at least the thought was there, right?

This is driving Heizou insane with anxiety. Scaramouche is uncharacteristically quiet and when he
offered the only solution he had to the problem, he was rejected. Now the redhead sees how dire
the situation is and he has no time to play around any longer, so once they hail a cab and climb
their way into the back he fishes out his phone. He opens the text he received from Cyno’s phone
from himself a few hours prior and messages it in a panicked haste.

——————-

[Me] I’m gonna be straight with you because I have no time to waste; I fucked my manager and
everything seemed perfectly fine until the end and I don’t know what I did wrong. I offered the only
solution to the problem I could think of and was rejected and now I’m panicking because I don’t
wanna lose a friend over something I could possibly fix.

Sent 22:35

—————————

Cyno’s reply doesn’t come right away, but Heizou is really hoping on his relationship experience
that he can help him out. He would have texted Kuki, but she’s back in Inazuma and wouldn’t be
able to respond to him right away. Not to mention she doesn’t know much about love either. The
both of them really only have flings here and there with different partners, never a serious
relationship.

——————-
[Cyno, Married Guy] So that’s where you guys went. I overheard your friends speaking of how
worried they were about you both.

[Me] I’ll reassure them later, just help me now!

[Cyno, Married Guy] Were you really that bad in bed?

Seen 22:36

—————————

Heizou blushes, hiding his face in his hand as he drags it down his face in embarrassment. He
chances a glance at Kunikuzushi who is staring out the window. He hasn’t said a word to Heizou
since they left and his body language is more than telling of how he feels. If he did something
wrong, Scaramouche is the type of person to tell it right to his face, so what makes it different
now?!

——————-

[Me] You’re not helping! I did perfectly fine and he consented to everything we did and he didn’t
complain once! That’s why I’m so confused!

[Cyno, Married Guy] Well, did you say something to him afterwards? One time Tighnari and I had
just done it and I decided to make a joke and he did not appreciate it. I was sentenced to sleep on
the couch.

Seen 22:37

—————————

Heizou holds back a laugh at the mental image of the man he saw in those photos angrily sending
Cyno to sleep on the couch. It plays out like a little scene in his head and he finds the mundanity of
it settles his nerves just the tiniest of bits.

——————-
[Me] I did tell him I had a crush on someone. One of my bandmates. I told him how I’ve been in
love with Kazuha for four years because I thought I could trust him with my secret. I thought we
grew closer than before and that I could confide in him as a friend.

[Cyno, Married Guy] Didn’t you say you had a crush on your manager as well?

[Me] Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?

[Cyno, Married Guy] Has your manager ever told you how he feels about you? Has he ever told
you how he feels about this situation?

Seen 22:39

—————————

That makes Heizou stop and think because no. No he hasn’t. And Heizou is the asshole that never
even thought to ask. But at the same time, in his eyes, why is there a need to ask when
Scaramouche consented to it all? If he wasn’t going to like the outcome then why would he even
say yes? There’s no way their manager wouldn’t say no if he didn’t want to do something. It’s just
not in his nature, so Heizou tells him this.

——————-

[Cyno, Married Guy] Ask anyway, you may never know. The chances are he could possibly be
worried about losing you as a friend over something like this as well.

Seen 22:42

—————————

Heizou stares down at his phone screen, biting his lip as he ponders what to do next. How is he
supposed to bring this situation to his attention? When will they have time other than now? But
they’re in the back of a cab and if Heizou knows anything about Scaramouche it’s that he really
enjoys his privacy, so talking about it here is a big nono. That only leaves the small grace period
they have before they enter the hotel room to ask him about it. Luckily for him, they arrive right as
that thought comes into being and they both make their way out of the vehicle. Heizou pays
without any protest let alone a spare glance in his direction from Scaramouche, which hurts, he
must admit.

Following the man inside, they head up the elevator, but to his dismay there is someone who is
riding up with them, their nose in their phone. That means he can’t ask now either, so he glances
over at Scaramouche who has his bangs strategically covering his eyes from being seen on the side.
His hands are tucked into the pockets of Heizou’s jacket and if it wasn’t for how he literally felt it
before, Heizou would never know how tense his manager actually is. This is such an odd display
of actions from him, though, it’s so foreign because Kuni is the type of person to speak his mind
and leave no questions to be asked. That’s why Heizou is so fucking concerned. He had to have
really fucked up to make him go quiet like this.

When they reach their floor, the two of them step out from the elevator and head in the direction of
their hotel room. So far so good. No more people and their friends surely aren’t back yet. ..Or so he
thought.

When the two of them unlock their hotel room door, heading inside, they are met with the
shocking sight of Kazuha laying on his bed idly reading a poetry book. And before he can catch
sight of Scaramouche, the shorter ducks from view and unzips Heizou’s jacket, handing it back to
him wordlessly before doing his best to cover the hickies with his hair and part of his collar.
Normally, Heizou would find the action to be smart considering they don’t want to be found out,
but when Scaramouche tossed it back to him he seemed so dismissive of it that it actually kind of
stung a little.

Brushing that feeling aside, he realizes that he won’t have a chance to ask about the situation
anymore, so with a defeated sigh he drops the subject and instead tries to focus on anything else.
Luckily for him, he has the perfect distraction right in front of him. “Kazuha, you’re back early?
Did you guys not stay too long?” he asks, going over to their dresser alongside Kunikuzushi and
picking out some pajamas to wear. He doesn’t pay any kind of attention to whether either of them
watch him change as he strips himself of his old clothes and puts on his new ones. Mostly because
he doesn’t want to blush at the idea and secondly because it’s just not a big problem right now.

“No, we left early because we were all concerned about you two. You can imagine our surprise
when we found you both to be absent upon our return,” Kazuha replies, setting his book down and
eyeing Heizou perceptively from his place at the end of the bed. Scaramouche scutters past him
and to the bathroom to change, and Heizou watches as Kazuha watches him do so, eyes lingering
on his small frame. A pang of jealousy shoots through him, but he pushes it down in favor of
walking over to the bed and situating himself under the covers. He snuggles himself in good as he
stalls to think of a reply, but he doesn’t waste too much time in doing so.

“I threw up so we had to go to the convenience store to get some meds. I had a killer headache
too,” he lies, bringing the blanket to his ears as he tries his best to act natural. Kazuha places a
hand atop Heizou’s head, running his fingers through his hair soothingly. It’s something he always
used to do for him whenever he got sick. Sometimes Heizou would whine over every little
inconvenient injury to get Kazuha to pet his hair gently. It takes him back to a time where his crush
was nothing more than a simple infatuation. It’s crazy how that has turned into fully blossoming
love now. Which leads him to think of his crush on Kunikuzushi.

Does he love him? He doesn’t know. Does he like him? Definitely, for sure. That’s why he’s so
freaked out over possibly losing him. Even if he can’t tell Scaramouche how he feels either, he
doesn’t want their relationship to change from what it is originally. But it seems it’s too late for
that, he fucked up over something and he doesn’t know how to bring up the topic to even ask. It
rubs him in all the wrong ways and he knows he really needs to just spit it out and ask, but he just
needs to find the perfect time to. With this thought in mind, he buries his head under the blanket as
he lets Kazuha’s gentle rhythm lull him into a dreamless sleep, his head resting against the
guitarist’s thigh.

————

Waking up the next morning isn’t as refreshing as Heizou wants it to be for someone who just had
the best fuck of his life. Even though he wakes up next to the love of his life, his mind can’t help
but fall back to Scaramouche. So, sitting up— he makes sure he’s careful so as to not wake Kazuha
— he glances over at Scara’s bed to see he’s still asleep, meaning he can’t take him somewhere to
ask him about last night. Sighing, he drags himself from the bed and begins to get ready for the
day.

They’re performing here in Sumeru today and meeting the lucky fans who got backstage passes.
Heizou loves to meet fans, especially the ones who get backstage passes because that means they
really worked hard to be able to get to see them before the meet and greet. Thus they’re one of the
most dedicated fans out there.. who also have a lot of money to be trying their chances at finding
one.

He throws on something simple considering they won’t be performing right away when they get
there and more like a few hours afterwards. Today the choreographed songs are more towards the
end of the concert which makes Heizou ecstatic because he hates when they’re at the beginning
and he remains sweaty and tired the rest of the show. Even in shows where there’s only singing, the
stage lights make him so hot and he can barely see the crowd because they’re blinding him. That
does cool his nerves, though, because he can’t see them all clearly.

By the time he’s done getting ready both Scaramouche and Kazuha are already getting ready as
well. Kazuha looks like he slept like an angel as always whereas Scaramouche.. has seen better
days. A pang of guilt stabs through Heizou’s heart at the sight, but he remains tight-lipped about it
all morning until they finally leave for their performance.
 ———

“Did you eat today?” Kazuha asks, squeezing his hands around Heizou’s waist. The redhead yelps,
jumping away from him as he spins around. His appearance is frazzled at the action as he stares at
Kazuha like he’s lost his mind, but the guitarist just tilts his head with a smile. Letting his heart
calm down before he speaks, Heizou releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding before fixing
his posture and replying.

“I didn’t. Eating before a performance makes me feel icky,” he says, sticking out his tongue in
emphasis before drinking his water. They’re only 30 minutes away from their live performance,
the stage is set and the fans are already beginning to gather into a crowd. Taking a quick peak
outside the curtains, Heizou can see multiple fans’ light sticks waving around in the air all with
multiple different colors.

“You still should have eaten Heizou. Kuni told you to,” he scolds, raising an eyebrow at the man.
Scaramouche has been doing his job really well all morning. He made sure everything they did was
on time; their make up, their clothes, their mic equipment set up— everything. And so far so good.
Nothing has gone wrong, but despite that everyone in their group can tell Scaramouche is at least
somewhat stressed. Even so, like he previously stated, Kuni is doing very well. Maybe he should
suggest the group treat him to something to congratulate him on handling his first big event as their
manager.

Removing his eyes from the crowd, Heizou looks back over to Kazuha who has part of his hair
pushed out of his face with glitter in it, making him sparkle. His clothes are color coordinated with
his hair and somehow symmetrical and asymmetrical at the same time. It’s confusing, but the
leather fingerless gloves on his hands are a very sexy touch. Not to mention his makeup makes his
eyes pop and his lips look way too kissable for Heizou’s liking. “Yeah, well, what he doesn’t know
won’t hurt him,” he replies, taking a sip of his water.

“What is it that I don’t know?” a voice asks from behind him and Heizou spits out his water, nearly
missing Kazuha who dodges it and looks at him in bewildered disgust. Heizou turns around slowly,
shoulders hunched and eyes wide to be met face to face with Kunikuzushi who has his arms folded
over his chest. An eyebrow is raised and he does not look amused.

“Uhhhhmm..,” Heizou trails, laughing nervously as he scratches the back of his neck. Scaramouche
just sits there, blinking at him impatiently as he waits for his answer. “Nothing much, just some
plans me and Kazuha made for after the show. It’s no big deal,” he replies smoothly and obviously
Kunikuzushi is not buying a single word that falls from his lips. Even so, Heizou’s resolve doesn’t
break as he keeps up the act, hoping to throw Scara off his trail.

“If you’re lying to me you’re gonna regret it,” their manager warns and Heizou sucks in a sharp
breath, nodding stiffly as he watches the other man turn on his heel. “The show starts in five, get
ready,” he finishes and Heizou whips around to check the clock on the wall. Where did the time
go?! He could have sworn that had at least thirty minutes before it started. Seeing his distress,
Kazuha laughs lightly before taking the water bottle from his hand and taking a drink of it. Heizou
watches the action, jealous that his water bottle gets to kiss Kazuha before he does, but he brushes
it off as his best friend hands it off to one of the staff members behind the stage.

Adjusting his ear piece, Heizou walks over to the curtain that leads onto the stage with the others.
They go through their routine of encouragement before every performance before they all smile
and make their way on stage. Heizou and Venti sprint out onto the stage, with Venti skipping and
Heizou just running as he waves. Laughter flows from their mics as the crowd cheers. Kazuha and
Xiao follow behind them with Kazuha giving a light jog and Xiao just walking onto stage. Both of
them wave at their fans who scream even louder for them. They’re both clearly fan favorites. It’s
not fair that both of them are so hot! It makes Heizou pout.

Pushing that thought aside, he comes to stand in line with all of them in front of their massive
crowd before Venti begins speaking. “Hiyyaaa!! Great to see you all again! It’s been a while since
our last tour and we all missed Sumeru so much! Thanks for coming out. Our first song will be a
fan favorite, so let’s get right into it!” he explains, hyping up the crowd as he claps his hands. All
of the members find their places on stage, Xiao and Kazuha coming to stand within close distance
behind Venti, guitars in hand while Heizou takes his seat at his drum set. He picks up a stick and
tosses it up in the air before catching it and slamming it against the other one to start their count.

Immediately, the music starts flowing into the area as Venti’s high energy and angelic voice hype
up the crowd. Heizou loves to watch Venti perform his solo songs because only when he is singing
alone does he really shine the brightest. His voice rings out over the crowd as the music guides him
to the next lyrics. Venti makes his way towards the front of the stage, resting his hand over his
chest as he looks out into the crowd that just looks pitch black to him other than all the light sticks
that are his color. When it’s Xiao’s guitar solo, all members of the band use a hand to wave above
their head to make the light sticks move, all changing to Xiao’s color until he’s finished. When
he’s done, the band kicks back up again and raises higher and higher until all the music cuts off
and Venti is holding a long note, screaming it out passionately as his eyes close to keep himself
concentrated.

When he reaches the end of the count, the beat drops and the crowd goes wild, jumping up and
down and waving their light sticks around to show their support for the lead singer. But Venti isn’t
paying attention to him, he feigns it like he’s just turning around to walk back on the stage, but in
reality he’s turning to smile excitedly at his bandmates— Xiao especially— to silently say: “guys
look! I did it!” And all of them return his smile with pride. Once Venti is sure he’s gotten all the
feedback he turns back around and continues singing for the brief moment that he wasn’t, closing
out the song and ending it with the brightest smile ever.

The rest of the concert continues on like this with the crowd growing more and more hyped with
each new song. And when their dance numbers come around, Heizou is on his feet and ready to
perform. His movements are fluid and since Kazuha is his dance partner, he’s extra sure to do
good. The two move around each other easily, almost as if they were programmed to do so
perfectly. Spinning and resting on and around each other for each move, singing into each other’s
eyes when the songs required it and that always brings a blush and a smile to his face. Kazuha is
pretty relaxed most of the time, but when he’s dancing he just seems so free that it’s like the air is
so much easier to breathe, even for Heizou. That’s just one of the many reasons he fell in love with
him.

Ending with a banger, they all pant heavily before bowing and the crowd goes wild once more. The
cheers from all their fans really motivates Heizou and makes his heart swell with pride because
they did this. They made all these people so happy that they became vocal about it. And after a
couple words said to the crowd by a breathless Venti, they all bow one last time before heading off
stage. All of them are in high spirits and despite having been nervous before, Heizou feels much
better now and a lot of his stress has seemingly evaporated. Not that he’s complaining.

The backstage staff are on all of them immediately, taking their gear from them and leading them
to sit down at their respective makeup stations. Towels are handed out to each of the sweaty men as
their personal stylists and makeup artists attend to them the best that they can before the backstage
fans are let in. And by the time that they are, Heizou has his water bottle back in his hand, refilled
to the brim as their manager makes their way over to them all. “I will admit, I was pretty surprised.
I didn’t expect to enjoy watching that as much as I did,” he compliments(?). Heizou doesn’t know,
Kuni has his own way of saying things and Heizou thinks that this could technically be considered
a compliment despite the slight underlying diss towards them.

They all just laugh, still coming down from their emotional high before Kunikuzushi steps out of
the way and welcomes their backstage guests. All of them seem young and sweet with their outfits
totally stylish and their makeup and hair beautifully well done. If Heizou didn’t know they were
his fans, he would assume they’re singers of their own or something because they definitely look
the part. Like this, time flies by easily with Kuni immediately running away as soon as the fans
arrive. Go figure, he probably doesn’t want to take a chance at any more of his photos getting
leaked. Despite this, all of them shake their hands in greeting before they get into picture taking
and regular chit chat.

It serves as a pretty good distraction for Heizou from the underlying problem he still needs to
resolve, but it wouldn’t be fair to his fans if his mind was on something else when they’re right in
front of him. So, he pushes that thought to the side and instead just tries to enjoy meeting some
dedicated members of their crowd.

———

When they arrive back at their hotel room, Heizou is so completely exhausted that he just collapses
on his and Kazuha’s bed with a groan. Now they only have two more days left here before they
leave for Liyue. And they’re there to be a special guest appearance for Lantern Rite, a festival that
is highly anticipated every year. Xiao is originally from Liyue, so he always likes it when they
perform there. It allows him some time back in his homeland and to see some old faces and places
he’s missed since moving to Mondstadt. Kazuha also spent a fair share of his life in Liyue, he is
willing to call the place his second home and he also has some nice faces and places he loves to
catch up with when they’re there.

The bad thing is, though, that Heizou doesn’t fare well with festivals. He’s got some.. things about
them he’d rather not think about right now, so he’ll just have to make sure he’s with someone when
that time rolls around because he knows he can’t be left alone. He also knows that they’re
definitely going to be seeing the festival and he has no way out of it. They’ve never performed for
Lantern Rite before, so getting caught up in the festival was never a concern for him before now.
He’s sure if he’d tell his friends why he can’t go, they’d let him stay behind, but what’s the fun in
that? Plus, he really thinks he should try to get over it by now. It’s been years .

Signing, he peels his face from the mattress and rolls on his back to be met face to face with
Kazuha looking down at him. “Something on your mind?” he asks, and Heizou wants to tell him,
he really does, but an image of Kazuha crying to Scaramouche before he ever did to Heizou flashes
in his mind. So, being petty and also because he’s still not really ready to share that story, he
doesn’t indulge his question.

“Nope, just tired. Aren’t you tried? Your hair’s a mess,” he teases, reaching up to ruffle Kazuha’s
hair from below him. The guitarist giggles, straightening his posture before looking over in the
direction of the bathroom. Kunikuzushi is always the first to use the bathroom and to go and get
changed no matter how many times both of them tell him he doesn’t need to. But considering how
Scaramouche refuses to take off his shirt even during sex, it definately has to do with his scars. A
wave of sadness slides through Heizou as his conclusion, but he wipes it from his mind before
sitting up again and just getting changed himself. He’ll just take a shower tomorrow. With that, he
gets up and heads over to the dresser to at least change out of his tight clothing, taking his shirt off
and grabbing a sweatshirt instead.

“Are those scratches on your back?” Kazuha asks and Heizou freezes. He completely forgot he
fucked Wolverine . Before when he changed no one said anything about them so he had assumed
they faded or were completely gone by now, but he supposes they weren’t and now he’s caught red
handed. Not knowing what to do, he just slips on his sweatshirt and closes the dresser drawer
before turning back around and flopping down on the mattress like his crush didn’t just catch sight
of the evidence that he fucked their manager.

“Yeah, I couldn’t reach the itch I had so I asked Kuni to scratch my back for me and the fucker torn
off my skin,” Heizou whines out a lie. He’s been lying a lot lately and he doesn’t like it, but what
else is he supposed to do? He can’t tell Kazuha he and Scaramouche are bed buddies! That would
cause a whole bunch of problems, not to mention he doesn’t want to take himself off the table for
Kazuha if he ever happens to decide to confess and it works out.
 “If you say so,” Kazuha laughs, a hint of skepticism in his voice as he changes out of his clothes as
well and into sleeping/loungewear. Shit. Heizou watches as he peels off his shirt, the skin on his
chest beautifully porcelain and devoid of any blemishes, though when he turns Heizou can find a
few little moles scattered across the top of Kazuha’s shoulders. His waist is slim and his hair lays
gently against his soft structure, giving the image of a perfect man in Heizou’s eyes. The view is
shattered when said man slips on a night shirt and goes for his pants now. Heizou turns away for
this one because he doesn’t know what he’d do if he were to see his best friend's bare legs like that.
He’s seen him wear those damned red thigh high socks. That man’s legs are evil.

Once Kuni is done getting changed in the bathroom and they all settle into their respective beds,
they hit the lights and head to sleep. A much needed sleep, might he add. Heizou has a lot of
processing to do and a new plan to think up. He has to find a way and a place to ask Scaramouche
what’s been on his mind. He knows he’s said this a million times already, but Heizou really
doesn’t want to lose him as a friend and he means it. Maybe he just has to show him that alongside
their plan to get Scaramouche a congratulatory gift for completing his first big event as their new
manager. Those are things for tomorrow, though, for now, he just lets his eyes fall closed as he
enjoys a good night's sleep.

Chapter End Notes

Hope you enjoyed :]] @MikaelasMayhem on tw for live updates. See you next week,

Mika.

Edit: Y’all listen to this song —>

https://open.spotify.com/track/29OBQBdkEWYaE3YxVAT8KL?si=-
YGEslofTkqOPphlFAATuA and think of this chapter. You’re welcome. :]]
 The Hurt of Betrayal Yields for No One
Chapter Summary

Heizou’s heart shatters for the final time.

Chapter Notes

Surprise early upload to thank you all SO dang much for the overwhelming support
and to celebrate passing up A Music-Filled Guide in everything! Thank you all so
much! Now grab some tissues and enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Heizou goes through the last of their remaining stay in Sumeru with zero options of ever bringing
up the topic at hand. Anytime he tries, someone interrupts them or they’re in public so he can’t ask.
It’s almost like Kazuha sticks to Scara’s side after that too. If he’s going to be honest, Heizou
thinks it’s a little weird. Like before they used to be around each other a lot but they weren’t glued
to each other’s side. And Heizou is perceptive enough to see that that’s not Scara’s doing, it’s
Kazuha’s. What put his feathers in a bunch to make him be on manager duty? Did he tell Kazuha
what was wrong and not Heizou..?

His heart stings at the implication and a sense of deja vu washes over him. Why does everyone he
care about not trust him enough to tell him things?! First Kazuha and now Scara. Is there
something wrong with him? Why can nobody trust him? It hurts unimaginable amounts and has
had him pouting for the entirety of the rest of their stay in Sumeru. Even if he was pouting he still
tried to find opportunities to ask Scara. He’s been pleading with Cyno for more help, but he says
there’s nothing much he can do being an outsider in the relationship. It all makes Heizou
unbearably anxious and with the festival coming up.. yikes.

With that said, they make their way onto the plane and head for Liyue. Heizou wants to find a
place to sit next to Scara and Kazuha but the two sit at a spot for only two people and he thinks his
heart shatters. It’s very telling as to why and now Heizou doesn’t know how to feel, so he sits
down by Venti and Xiao and stares down angrily, yet sadly at the table. Venti takes a glance over
at their manager and Kazuha before looking back at Heizou. He frowns and gives Xiao a look who
mirrors his disapproval.

Reaching over the table, Venti places a hand on Heizou’s shoulder and rubs it before using that
same hand to tilt his chin up to look at his other two bandmates. “What’s wrong, dear?” Venti asks,
voice soft and full of concern. Heizou hates the way it immediately breaks down all his walls. No
matter who it is, Venti is always able to do that to someone. He’s sure if he tried, Venti could even
get Scaramouche to open up to him. “Why are they avoiding and leaving you out? Did something
happen?” Ah, so that means the two of them noticed it too these last few days. Wow, that makes it
hurt even more.

Heizou holds his breath, looking over his two other friends before sighing in defeat and looking at
the table. If he were a stronger man he would be able to admit this without looking shameful and
hurt, but he is not. “Please don’t hate me, but Kuni and I have known each other from the
beginning. We met at a nightclub literally the night before he came to our penthouse to be
introduced. We.. did it,” he blushes, hiding his face behind and embarrassed hand, feeling like he’s
admitting such a thing to his parents. He has a feeling the two of them won’t judge him.. well, at
least Venti won’t.

“Like that night or a different day..?” Venti trails, trying to get a better grasp of the situation. And
even though he feels incredibly stupid and embarrassed, Heizou has no other option left than to tell
his friends and the secret was bound to get out anyways. So, he takes a deep breath and holds it
before shutting his eyes tightly and spilling all the information, afraid of the answer.

“Both..,” he says, waiting half a millisecond to continue because he doesn’t want to hear their bad
opinions just yet, “we fucked that night and then a few days ago.. after the welcoming party,” he
admits shamefully. The silence that follows is unbearable and if they weren’t sitting right in front
of him, Heizou would for sure be crying. All these overwhelming emotions— shame, sadness,
confusion, and anger— all of them are driving him to a near breaking point. On top of that he has
to admit to such things in front of his other good friends who are like family to him. Nobody wants
to admit to their family that they fucked their manager!

His two friends ponder the new information for a moment before Xiao speaks up, “was he any
good?” he asks, smirking. And that gets Heizou to scoff out a laugh, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Xiao isn’t good at being funny, but sometimes he hits the nail right on the head and it does
perfectly as intended. Venti’s jaw drops and he elbows Xiao who winces. “What! It’s a genuine
question! Maybe he sucked so bad Heizou’s got ptsd,” Xiao unreasonably reasons. This makes
Venti roll his eyes and he shakes his head with crossed arms. Even so, a hint of a smile is on his
lips as he stifles a laugh of his own.

“No, he was actually very good. Way too good,” Heizou shutters, feigning a frightened look. That
makes both Xiao and Venti chuckle, which Heizou appreciates because now the room— plane—
doesn’t feel so suffocating. “No, yeah, he was amazing, felt great and everything. That’s exactly
why I’m so confused about what went wrong. I asked for consent for everything I did as did he and
he never complained once. Not even after. I tried asking a married guy I know, but the old fart
barely knows how to tie his own shoes I swear. I honestly don’t know how he’s married when he’s
so blind to love,” Heizou rolls his eyes, leaning back in his seat as he crosses his arms. Venti and
Xiao are giving him a look and it makes him uneasy. He doesn’t know what that look means.
“Aren’t you the same, though?” Venti asks and Heizou tilts his head, clearly confused. “Blind to
love I mean,” he elaborates but Heizou still looks very confused. Venti looks over to Xiao who
stares right back, flicking his eyes over to their manager and Kazuha and back before his
expression turns stern. Venti bites his lip and blinks worriedly at him, but Xiao’s expression melts
into something a lot softer which causes the singer to fold. “I guess it does nobody any favors to
keep the secret any longer because this new information certainly complicates things,” he speaks
again, but before Heizou gets a chance to ask what he means, he continues, “Kazuha is in love with
you, Heizou. Has been for a while now and it’s so painfully obvious you love him too. I don’t
know— we don’t know why you guys don’t just tell each other,” he reveals. Heizou’s brain comes
to a complete halt, even his confusion over how his two friends had a silent conversation right
before him dissipates in the blink of an eye because.. what did he just say?

“You’re messing with me and I don’t find it funny,” Heizou frowns, but deep down he knows
Venti is never wrong about these types of things. Knowing that makes Heizou’s heart ache instead
of swell. Before, it would have been filled to the brim with happiness, overjoyed at his feelings
being reciprocated but.. If Kazuha really does love him as he says, then why would he cry to
Scaramouche before him? Why would he forcefully push Heizou away like this? Why would he
never tell him?! It all makes Heizou even more confused than before and his heart feels so heavy,
it’s unbearable.

Venti and Xiao don’t say a word, which affirms Heizou’s assumption that they aren’t wrong.
Whether they heard it straight from Kazuha or not doesn’t matter when they were given four years
to come to this conclusion. “Lantern Rite is coming up, we all know this. The festival takes place
the day after we arrive, considering we’ll be getting there in the dead of night, just like Sumeru.
The fireworks and festive activities will heighten once the sun sets and everyone will be releasing
Lanterns. Venti and I will be spending that time with Zhongli and Childe as well as Ganyu, Hu
Tao, and Keqing. That leaves you a perfect opportunity to ask for a moment with Kunikuzushi. Use
the festival as an excuse and go from there,” Xiao explains, placing a hand on Venti’s thigh
underneath the table and squeezing. The singer places his own hand over Xiao’s and runs his nails
against his skin, perfectly content.

Heizou nods, placing his hand on his chin as he ponders some things. Yes, that does seem like a
doable plan, it all just comes down to how Kazuha will interfere. If he can somehow break the two
away from each other for even just five minutes, maybe he could pry new information out of
Scaramouche. But.. his ptsd is sure to hit once he’s amidst the sea of people down at the harbor
and he doesn’t know how well he’s going to fare with that. He keeps that information to himself,
though, not wanting his friends to suggest a new, but longer route to a conclusion. Heizou will just
have to eat a pill and suck it up this time, he guesses. If it settles the raging storm in his heart and
mind then he will do anything . He can’t take this pain any longer.

“I’ll try my best then because this conflict is killing me,” he says before letting the silence trail
after, “and also I’m pretty sure I like Kuni too,” he admits, a frown falling over his features as his
eyebrows crease. He stares pointedly at the table, but neither of his friends say a word of judgment
to him, they just sit and let Heizou come to full terms with that fact. He did say he liked
Kunikuzushi to Cyno before, but to be honest he was still a little on the fence back then, but after
they fucked again.. He realized his feelings are for sure authentic and real. He definitely has a
crush on Scaramouche.

———

Arriving in Sumeru brings a wave of nerves to Heizou. Everything is decorated for Lantern Rite
and despite it being the middle of the night, people are still out hustling and bustling to get things
done for tomorrow. It makes the hairs on Heizou’s neck stand up just thinking about having to
tough it out tomorrow in order to get to the bottom of the issue that’s currently causing him to lose
sleep. He didn’t talk to Kunikuzushi that entire plane flight and he still hasn’t spoken to them once
yet and they’re already on the way to their hotel.

The rooming arrangements are the same as before which makes the situation worse for Heizou.
Xiao and Venti both offered him the option of rooming with them, but the redhead politely
declined saying if he doesn’t keep his eyes on Kunikuzushi then he might slip away. Not to
mention their room will only have one bed and he doubts it will be able to fit three grown men
despite them all being on the shorter side. Also, he’d rather be able to spend the night with Kazuha
and Kuni should things work out like they hopefully will. The only thing fuzzy about his plan is
whether he should ask them both about this whole situation at the same time or just ask
Scaramouche. He hasn’t decided yet. If he could, he’d at least like to watch the fireworks with
them both. Despite them being heavily related to festivals, Heizou can handle them well if he’s
with someone who can keep him grounded.

Soon enough they arrive at the hotel and everyone settles into their respective rooms with wishes
of well rest flying through the air in every direction. The tension inside the hotel room with his two
crushes is intense and it’s weighing down on him heavily. It’s upsetting him to the point where he
doesn’t even want to make eye contact with either of them, so he doesn’t. And it’s funny how if he
makes no attempt at conversation to either of them, neither of his crushes tries to do it instead, let
alone make amends. He can maybe understand why Scaramouche is upset at home because
obviously he did something wrong that night, but Kazuha? He’s never done this before. He’s never
ignored him or intentionally left him out. It’s unusual and very telling.

Heizou is the first in bed for once, crawling in on his side of his and Kazuha’s shared mattress as
he makes sure to give him lots of space. He nearly makes himself sleep on the very edge of the bed
because of it. If it keeps him from somehow passing off Kazuha even more then so be it. Thus,
Heizou closes his eyes and lets his body relax as much as it can for a stressed man as he clears his
thoughts of anything that’s bothering him. At least he tries to as he feels the bed dip where Kazuha
crawls in on his side. And normally they’d be a lot closer, but the redhead isn’t trying to end up on
death’s door any time soon. So he wills all his worries away and lets sleep consume him instead.

Though, not long after he’s fallen asleep does he feel arms wrap around him which causes the
redhead to tense before he realizes what it is. Kazuha is a cuddler in his sleep and Heizou guesses
that even if he’s upset with someone he can’t escape the need to cuddle something in his sleep.
Even if it happens to be the very same person he is having problems with and though he likes
Kazuha, his arms around him feel like nothing more than heavy chains right now. They weigh
down on him and his heart because Heizou knows that once he wakes up, all these actions will be
nothing more than a wishful memory let alone a memory at all for Kazuha considering he’s
asleep.

So, moving slowly, Heizou pries himself from Kazuha’s grip and gives him a pillow to cuddle
instead before settling back down into bed. Shutting his eyes more forcibly this time, the redhead
wills himself to return to his slumber, hoping tomorrow brings around a better day with newer
opportunities. Hopefully things work out as planned and everything returns to normal.

———

Upon waking up, Heizou can see the room vacant of his manager and Kazuha, but looking to his
right he can see a note written in sloppy handwriting— definitely Scara’s because Kazuha is way
too good at calligraphy— on the nightstand. It’s written in Inazuman as well instead of the
common language which furthers Heizou's assumption that it’s from Kuni. It reads: ‘Today is a
free day, nobody asked for any meetups. Enjoy your time doing whatever before the festival
tonight. Tomorrow is the performance and the days to follow proceed just as they did in Sumeru.
Don’t be late.’ Heizou sighs, crumpling up the note and tossing it in the trash. Screw him and his
sucky handwriting! Why should he have to listen to such a princess?! Then he remembers that
Kuni is his manager.

Sighing even heavier, Heizou decides to start up his day with setting his plans into motion. Maybe
he can get Scara a gift as a peace offering, but Heizou doesn’t know what he’d like. Maybe a
stuffed animal? Everyone likes those! Or chocolate or flowers? No, those seem too sentimental and
would definitely gross him out. Heizou bites his lip, pacing the room as he thinks of more options.
Maybe he could get him a card and write a heartfelt note in it. Maybe even if Kuni won’t give him
the time of day to say it verbally, if he writes it down in the card and hands it to him to read later..
yeah that might work.

Deciding on that, Heizou grabs his jacket— the same one he let Kuni wear— and heads out of the
hotel room. He greets Hu Tao and Ganyu who are making their way to Xiao and Venti’s room with
hugs and smiles. He knows Ganyu isn’t very touchy feely just like Xiao, but Hu Tao on the other
hand.. “Hei Hei!!” she exclaims, dashing forward from all the way down the hall as Heizou opens
his arms nice and wide for her. She jumps right in, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging
him tightly to her chest. The redhead’s face gets lost in her shirt as he laughs, stumbling a bit
before spinning her around. The woman’s signature pigtails swing around through the air as he
does so before he drops her to the ground and puts her in a chokehold. Heizou ruffles her hair when
she tries to break free.
“I haven’t seen you in forever and you’re coming to see them and not me first?!” Heizou jokes,
releasing her. Ganyu walks up to them then, a small smile to her lips as she bows her head in
greeting. She’s so polite and formal despite them having known each other for a while now
because of Xiao’s frequent visits to Liyue where he brings the lot of them with. No matter what he
says, Ganyu is insistent on being super respectful and it reminds him of a certain green haired
woman he knows as well.

“We were gonna come see you too, but I had to say ‘hi’ to XiaoXiao first! Zhongli Xiansheng
would be disappointed in me if I didn’t greet him properly yet here he is being too busy to even
come say ‘hi’ to him until later tonight! What a stingy old grandpa!” Hu Tao pouts, crossing her
arms, Heizou and Ganyu laugh lightly at her antics. Hu Tao is one of three people that Zhongli
seemingly took under his wing and became a huge mentor for. Heizou doesn’t know what it is
about that man, but he radiates the same aura as Venti. The two of them have the ability to make
anyone bend to their will and sometimes it’s super frightening.

“Heizou, it’s nice to see you again. I hope you are well,” Ganyu smiles. Heizou’s smile turns
bittersweet at that, but he keeps his expression in check as much as he can. It’d be unfortunate for
more people to find out about his little dilemma than need be. He’s already got more people in the
know about it than he would have originally liked. Despite that, he still greets Ganyu with the
same kindness since he is also one of the three people that Zhongli took in under his wing like a
good mentor would. In a way, Ganyu, Hu Tao, and Xiao are all like his little ducklings while
Zhongli Xiansheng is like the mama or leader duck. Whatever one prefers to call him.

“As is you,” Heizou smiles, bowing his head in greeting as well. As always, it makes Ganyu blush
slightly and look away awkwardly. He told her a while ago that if she keeps being so respectful, he
will have to give her the same amount of respect back to make it even. So far he hasn’t gone back
on his word and it makes the blue haired woman flustered every time since she doesn’t deal well
with such things.

“Hopefully we’ll see each other more later right? You’ll be here for a few days and I know I’ll
definitely come see you guys perform! I always do when you’re in town,” Hu Tao winks, smiling
pridefully. Heizou laughs at the gesture, putting his hands in the pocket of his jacket as he does so.
Even though none of them talk on a regular basis, Heizou still misses these girls both so dearly
whenever he leaves. He thinks he may be more excited to return to Liyue than Xiao himself for that
reason. He also misses Beidou and her crew a lot, but he doubts he’ll feel welcome if he goes to
say ‘hello’ to them right now.

“Right, I’ll see you guys then. Have fun with the guys!” He smiles, turning on his heel and heading
for the elevator. Hu Tao waves him goodbye before he enters it and he waves back as the doors
shut, mood uplifted a bit. With that now out of the way, he can go back to gift shopping for Scara,
maybe he can find something for Kazuha as well. Heizou wonders if maybe he could ask
Scaramouche to light a lantern with him and use that as an excuse to bring up his question. Yes!
Now with the perfect plan set into action, Heizou slams his fist down on his palm as a smile graces
his lips. With a skip in his step he heads out of the hotel and to walk the streets of Liyue harbor to
see what he can find. Since holiday festivities are everywhere, he shouldn’t need to walk too far.

Food can be smelled everywhere around him and it smells so good that he stops to eat a delicious
rice ball, humming at the taste. As he eats he watches everyone walking around in their traditional
red garments, arms linked with their faces all done up beautifully. Men and women graze past each
other with smiles and laughter filling the streets and the gingling of red jewelry clattering as they
move along. Everyone seems to be in high spirits and it gives Heizou hope for tonight, so, finishing
his food, he gets back on the move.

The first shop he stops at is a shop owned by a jewel collector. He has all different kinds of Cor
Lapis each in different sizes and shapes, welded into jewelry and even embedded into other
accessories. It really fascinated Heizou as he looks over the stall, scanning it for something that
either of his crushes may like. But he finds nothing, so he moves on with an apology because he
didn’t buy anything.

The second stall he stops at has exactly what he needs: cards. Heizou’s eyes scan over all the
beautifully handmade notes, eyeing each one so he can pick out the perfect one for Kunikuzushi.
There are multiple different ones with different flowers and mythical beings painted on them with
Liyuean writing melting into the pages. All of them are beautiful, but not what he’s looking for
until his eyes fall upon a red card, black ink marking its pages with a beautiful dragon painted
around the entirety of it. He opens it to find it’s blank on the inside, perfect for what he intends to
use it for and once he has his mind settled, he picks it up and pays for it gratefully.

Heizou knows Scara clearly isn’t into all that romantic stuff or maybe he just shies away from it,
but he still thinks getting him a little present would also do some good. So, he makes his way over
to a different jeweler whose stall is decorated beautifully with all different kinds of red items.
Rings, hair pieces, bracelets and more are displayed in front of him. Heizou eyes everything in
front of him and hums before the stall owner speaks up. “Are you out shopping for your girlfriend”
they ask, a sly smile to their lips. Heizou’s head snaps up, eyes wide as red now covers his cheeks
too.

“Eh?! Nono, I’m just,” he looks down at the card in his hand and then at the jewelry and realizes
he does, in fact, look like he’s out shopping for his nonexistent girlfriend. So, biting the bullet, he
just agrees, “yes, do you know which one she may like best?” he asks, fidgeting where he stands.
The stall owner hums, bringing a hand over their products before gesture towards the bracelets.
Heizou looks at them as his eyes sparkle. A bracelet would be the perfect gift! It’s not too forward
and it’s not too dull either!

“Women in the workforce tend to like these the best since they are the least high maintenance.
That or these necklaces,” they gesture towards the other half of their display. Heizou follows their
motion, looking over the necklaces as well as he ponders them. Maybe he could get a bracelet for
Scaramouche and a necklace for Kazuha. Perfect! That way he is not neglecting either of his
crushes! He just hopes they accept them.

Smiling to himself, hopes set high, Heizou purchases a red necklace with a tiny basket-like
accessory attached to it horizontally for Kazuha and a bracelet with a small bead made of jade on
it. The shopkeeper politely puts both items into their own separate gift bags before handing them to
Heizou with a smile. He happily takes them, holding them close to his chest as excitement grows.
He can’t wait to see them both happy and appreciative of his gifts! This should definitely settle
things.

The last stop he has to take is for a lantern as per the plan. He walks past many shops, watching
children rush by in groups through the excitement. Everything is so lively here and surprisingly
Heizou is doing very well so far. He hasn’t felt nauseous or anything yet, but that could just be
because the festivities haven’t really started yet. His heart is pounding a little harder than normal,
but he’s trying his best to keep himself under control and if he can’t handle it, he’ll take one of his
pills before he leaves the hotel. He’s not even sure where he can find those two once everything
starts, so maybe he’ll have to ask around which will make things a little harder, but oh well.
Anything to get this conflict through with.

Taking in a deep inhale before exhaling heavily, Heizou finds a shop selling lanterns and purchases
one. They are also giving out free pens because you’re supposed to write something on the lantern.
Humming to himself, Heizou takes both graciously with a bow before attempting to find a semi
quiet spot to sit down and fix up everything he has. His eyes scan around the area before he finds a
lone picnic table off to the side, so he rushes over and claims it immediately. The bench is vacant
of anyone else, so Heizou just lets his things be spread over the table as he picks up the lantern and
uncaps the pen. He figures since that will be the easiest, he’ll start with that.

Something he wishes for, huh? He doesn’t know what he wants right now other than for this
problem to be solved. Maybe he’ll stick with something simple and wish for good health for all of
his crew in the years to come, that way there won’t be any drawbacks during tours or anything else
of the like. Nodding to himself, Heizou scribbles it down on the lantern before pushing it aside
gently and opening up the card. This item is a little more personal than the lantern so he’ll write it
in Inazuman lest to wish for prying eyes to see him pour his heart out in this letter.

He calms his rapidly beating heart as he tries to control his blush; he never knew asking for a
second chance and apologizing would be so hard, but if it gets things to settle down for him and
Scaramouche then so be it. He writes of how when they first met Heizou was already entranced by
him so much so that he made him forget all his current troubles. He writes about how he admits to
having been slightly pleased at seeing Scaramouche become their manager despite his jealousy
towards his closeness with Kazuha. He writes of how he enjoys every moment they spend together
and how ever since he learned to get over his jealousy, he’s been greatly enjoying their time
together.
Heizou quickly runs out of room, but a napkin holder is placed on the table and since he has
nothing else, he grabs one and continues writing. He continues talking about how since the
beginning he’s always thought Kunikuzushi to be very beautiful as well as quite the character. He
also writes of his feelings during their intimate times together; how it makes him feel like.. he’s got
everything he could have ever asked for in his arms. And finally he writes of how this bracelet is a
gift to him as an apology for whatever he did wrong that night as he politely asks to be informed.
He also writes of his hope that he will enjoy it and wear it often. Heizou doesn’t realize it, but this
letter is starting to sound like something else rather than an apology.

Now, with his feelings poured out onto a card and a napkin, he tucks the bracelet into the card with
the napkin and shuts it. Heizou caps the pen before picking up Kazuha’s necklace and the lantern
and heading off back to the hotel room. If he’s going to attend a festival, then he has to look the
part after all. So, he weaves through the fastly growing crowd, willing himself to calm down. It’s
much harder to control himself now that the crowds are growing considering the time is growing
near to the start of it all. Even though he’s managed not to freak out, he thinks he should probably
just take one to be safe.

With that thought in mind, he makes it back to the hotel room quickly seeing as he hadn’t gone too
far before raiding it back up to their hotel room. When he enters, his friends are still vacant which
makes his heart sting, but one reminder of what’s in his hand keeps his spirits high. He quickly
undressed only to be redressed in more formal attire, his hair done up and his clothes neat and tidy.
He figures that since he will be giving his items to his friends as soon as he finds them, that he
wouldn’t be needing a bag, so he leaves it here and just carries his things.

Once he’s satisfied with his appearance he heads off to Venti and Xiao’s room to find the two of
them dressed and ready as well. “Hey, are you coming to see Zhongli and Childe before heading
out?” Xiao asks, and originally he wasn’t, but he guesses he can make some time. He’s totally not
just avoiding the festival because he hates how crowded and loud in a bad way it has become.

“Uh, yeah sure. I’ll come say ‘hi’ and then go off to find Kazuha and Kuni. Do you guys have any
idea where they’d be by the way?” he asks, shifting his weight to one foot as they approach him.
Venti shuts off the lights in the room before coming next to Xiao and linking arms. They’ll only be
allowed to be this touchy feely now and at Zhongli and Childe’s place. They can’t risk being seen
like that out in public lest they wish the media to freak out and expose the both of them.

“No idea,” Venti says, “the two haven’t even come to greet us today at all actually,” he frowns.
This causes the redhead to frown as well, his posture turning sluggish as he ponders these actions.
Xiao doesn’t let these thoughts marinate too long, though, as he pushes both Heizou and Venti
along with a warning of how upset Zhongli Xiansheng will be if they are late. He’s strict, but
gently strict.

“Oh.. alright,” Heizou trails. With that, all of them set off to go meet up with Zhongli and Childe
and presumably Hu Tao and Ganyu as well. Parties are easier for him to handle rather than
festivals but sometimes if there’s too many people in one space he gets overwhelmed. Oh, shit! He
forgot to take his meds! It’s too late now, though, they’ve already left and if he runs back when he
seemingly has everything he needs then he’ll be questioned. He already got curious looks from the
both of them for the things in his hands, but that’s not nearly as bad since they know what he’s
going to do.

“You could try asking one of them when we get there,” Venti suggests, “they might have seen
them walking around together on their way to Zhongli and Childe’s place.” Heizou nods, silently
agreeing. If they have at least seen them then they can give Heizou a general direction in which
they went which makes finding them easier. The faster he finds them the better since he forgot to
take a pill before he left which means he is sure to freak out if he doesn’t have someone by him.

With his next step in the plan solidified, they all hop in a cab and head to their destination. Upon
arrival, Heizou is amazed at how nicely they decorated for the occasion— definitely Zhongli’s
doing, but with Childe’s money. Lanterns on strings are hung up everywhere and red basically
drowns the entire building. Every bush and hedge is trimmed nicely and the gate to enter the place
is insanely fancy. The cab drops them off outside of it and wishes them a happy Lantern Rite
before they all make their way to the gate.

When they reach it, they all stand there awkwardly not knowing how it works, before Xiao steps
up and enters the password to get in. The two of them follow Xiao inside as they make their way
up to the building. Not bothering with a knock— since Zhongli told him there was no need— the
guitarist pushes the door open to be greeted by Hu Tao, Ganyu, Childe, Zhongli, and surprisingly
Beidou and Ningguang. Heizou is surprised to see the last two here because if he couldn’t find
Kazuha and Kuni, they were his next best guess. Guess that marks one more place off his list to
check.

“Hey guys, glad you could make it!” Beidou cheers from her place on the couch, arm slung behind
Ningguang. The blonde woman is cuddled into her side gently, sipping from a wine glass that she
surely asked for as soon as she got here. The two of them have been together for as long as Heizou
remembers meeting them and he’s glad to see their relationship hasn’t changed one bit. Good on
them!

“Hey, I just came to say ‘hi’ before heading out because I've got some things to do,” Heizou greets
with a smile and a wave. He lets everyone greet him properly with smiles and hugs once more
before thanking Zhongli for the hospitality (as well as Childe). The redhead then lets his two
friends embed themselves in the commotion as he watches Xiao get bearhugged by Beidou who
nearly crushes him in her arms. Everyone laughs at the display except for Xiao who has a heavy
blush coating his cheeks and a now frazzled appearance. Venti graciously fixes his hair for him,
though, as well as straightens out his clothes before giving his boyfriend a peck on the cheek. This
makes everyone coo instead which furthers Xiao’s embarrassment.
Heizou can’t help but get caught up in the laughter as well, brushing a stray hair behind his ear as
he politely lets everyone finish their greetings. “So you just came to make your presence known
and then leave? How crude,” Childe jokes, but it hurts just the tiniest of bits because he really
would like to stay, but he needs to finish the task at hand first. So, with an awkward smile and
laugh, Heizou scratches the back of his neck to show his apology. “I’m just teasing, comrade, no
need to get so upset. I assume the things in your hand are what you have to leave for?” he asks, and
Heizou nods. Hopefully no one asks too in depth about what they’re for, so he doesn’t need to out
himself in front of all these people.

“Right, speaking of which, did any of you happen to see Kazuha and Kuni on your way here?” he
asks, and when he receives some confused looks he elaborates, “Kuni is our new manager. Shorter
than me, purple hair, blue eyes, angry little thing?” he asks again. The group before him all check
through their memory and when none of them answer Heizou begins to lose hope. That is, until
Ningguang speaks up next.

“I’m not sure if he was with this ‘Kuni’ person you speak of, but I did see Kazuha walking around
near the pier with another fellow that is indeed shorter than you,” she informs and Heizou’s eyes
sparkle. Perfect! The pier is easy to find, so he knows right where he’s going, not to mention it’d be
a perfect spot to release their lantern. So, with a quick bow in thanks and a promise to see them all
later, Heizou dashes out the door and heads for the street. And since he’ll be unable to haul a cab
here, he walks as far as he can before he starts hitting the crowds.

Luckily the two live closer to the docks than Heizou had first anticipated, so the walk isn’t too
long, but as soon as he hits the crowds, he can feel his anxiety spike. He has to find them quickly if
he wants to remain calm while asking to borrow Scaramouche. So, he rushes, pushing his way
through the crowds as gently and politely as he can to make it to the pier. He’s rushing against time
now, the timer being his own mind as bodies shove him this way and that, making his journey
difficult. Heizou holds on tightly to his items so he doesn’t drop them as he accidentally almost
knocks over a small child. He bows in an apology before turning and booking it through the
crowds once more.

He lets the smell of sea salt be his guide as he finally breaks free from the masses and feels as
though he can actually breathe a bit better now. It’s still bad, but not as bad as before. Heizou turns
in every which way, not knowing which one they could have gone before picking one and
sprinting. He’s breathing hard now because of exhaustion and anxiety. This isn’t good for his heart
and he’s beginning to feel faint, but he must persevere. So, once he realizes they definitely aren’t in
this direction, he turns around and books it the other way.

The crowds are now moving down to the pier in order to enjoy the fireworks, which makes
everything a hundred times worse than it was just a moment ago. Even so, he keeps pushing
himself. Even when his heart is beating so rapidly and even when he doesn’t feel like he can
breathe anymore, Heizou keeps running. Suddenly, he catches sight of white hair in a mix of the
crowd and he takes his chances and bolts right for that person. They turn a corner with a second
person being pulled along with them and Heizou now knows with full confidence that those people
are Kazuha and Kuni.

Mirth fills his heart at finally having found them, so much so he almost trips and drops his things.
He catches himself, though, and continues following after his two friends as he rounds the corner
as well. “Kuni! Kazu..ha..,” Heizou exclaims before he registers what he sees before him. The
redhead’s heart shatters into a million pieces at the sight of Scaramouche’s back to the wall,
Kazuha’s hands on his waist as the two engage in a passionate kiss. Though, when they notice him,
they fly apart, Scaramouche shoving Kazuha off of him who looks at the guy like he’s gone mad
before he realizes that Heizou is standing right there.

The redhead stands there in shock, mouth ajar as he breathes heavily from all his running.
Suddenly the gifts in his hands feel like they weigh a million and he feels his eyes sting with tears.
“Heizou, it’s not what it looks like I can explain,” Kuni tries, but Heizou isn’t hearing him
anymore. Fireworks sound from behind him and the redhead winces, covering his ears as he
crouches down to the ground. Kazuha and Kuni are on him immediately but he shoves them back,
letting the items in his hands drop. His two.. friends..(?) watch them fall, realizing immediately
what they are— gifts for them. And when Kazuha tries to pick one up, Heizou smacks his hand
away and snatches it from him instead.

He’s breathing even harder now, frantic in his movements as he picks up all his dropped items
before getting up from his place on the ground. Kunikuzushi tries to grab him, but Heizou shoves
him back, Kazuha catching him before he falls. He doesn’t care how forceful he’s being, he can’t
control it. He’s scared and panicking and he just got his heart broken. Why were they kissing? Is
this why Kuni was upset after he told him about his crush on Kazuha; because he likes him too?!
But if he likes him why would he be messing with Heizou! Well.. the same could be said for the
redhead, but it’s not the same because he likes them both! But.. why.. why would Kuni kiss Kazuha
after Heizou just confessed to him about how he’s loved that man for years ?

The realization of this betrayal hurts like hell and he can still hear the voices of his bandmate and
manager calling out for him. He ignores them, though, and continues running. He has no idea
where he’s going and frankly he doesn’t care. The fireworks are loud and hurting his ears, the
cheers of the crowd are turning into screams in his head from a distant memory. He can’t breathe.
His vision is blurry. He’s tired. People are shoved to the side in his wake, not having the ability to
care about being gentle anymore. He’s lost all sense of self as he searches for a quiet place to run
and hide— somewhere away from the crowd and all the festivities that remind him of bad times
and away from the two men that just took his heart and crushed it beneath their feet.

Eventually, he happens on a lone tree, just outside a park that is only a little ways away from
everything. Heizou can still hear the fireworks and screa— cheers of the crowd, but they’re dull
now. He sits down, his back against the tree as he brings his knees to his chest and covers his ears.
His eyes are still watery as he focuses on trying to slow down his breathing. Heizou’s heart races
rapidly in his chest as he stares with wide eyes down at the ground between his feet. His mind
replays everything that just happened from the moment he saw the two of them to the moment he
saw the flash of hurt dance across Kuni’s face when he shoved him away.
He can’t hold it back anymore, tears fall from his eyes as he brings one hand down to his chest to
squeeze the cloth over his heart in an attempt to get it to hurt less. When it doesn’t work, he brings
his other hand down as well, gripping the fabric with both hands, but nothing is stopping the ache
of the stab wound to his heart. He tries to will the tears away, never having been a big cryer, but
for some reason they just won’t stop. He’s shaking and coughing— he can’t breathe as tears fall
onto the card he purchased for Kunikuzushi, memories of him and Kazuha float through his mind
of all the times he’s cuddled with him and watered plants with him, played video games and sang
with him. It all serves as more salt to the wound at the memory of how many times he’s ached with
longing to go further. To hold him, kiss him, lay with him and make it official between them. He
sniffles as he attempts to wipe the tears pouring from his eyes at such things.

Then comes all the memories with Kuni as well, all the times they kissed, every time they gave
each other knowing looks or laughed with each other. Every time they slept together.. all of it.
Even though Heizou has known Kunikuzushi for less than half the amount of time he’s known
Kazuha, his little manager happened to wedge his way into Heizou’s heart and hooked himself
there, refusing to move. He remembers how he felt each time they would be intimate as well as
each time he would be ignored or pushed aside in favor of Kazuha at the beginning of their
relationship. He remembers all the realizations he’s had along the way. Finding out he doesn't need
to be jealous of Kuni, finding out he likes Kuni, finding out how Kuni betrayed him.. It all comes
back to Heizou in waves as he curls in on himself.

His own tears are making his eyes hurt from how much he’s crying and he’s developed a headache
from all his sniffling. Heizou brings a hand down to fiddle with the damp package of the card and
of the bracelet and necklace. He supposes he’ll have no use for these anymore, so he should
probably return them tomorrow after the concert. Right, the concert. He doesn’t know if he’ll be
able to pretend to be happy after that. Heizou is pretty good at putting on facades, but he’s only
human and this is not something he can just get over in one night.

Heizou lifts his head and looks over at the discarded lantern, rereading his own handwriting in the
dark with only a tiny bit of light provided every now and then from the fireworks. Maybe he should
have wished for better health for himself as well as he decides to not waste the lantern and light it.
He picked up a lighter before he left from Zhongli’s, so he lights it and lets it fill up in order to fly.
He watches the light radiate from it with swollen eyes and a sniffling nose, its glow shining dully
now that he has to release it on his own. Heizou’s heart aches deeply and he feels numb, but he
eventually lets the lantern go, watching it float off into the sky with a pounding head.

He truly has no idea how to feel anymore. Ever since he met Scaramouche his feelings have been
unmanageable and all over the place. Constant ups and downs that get him nowhere and this time
is no different except for the fact that he thinks this is the end of it now. Maybe this is a good
thing. If those two like each other then they can date and Heizou can finally be free from the
shackles of his one-sided crushes. No.. Heizou wouldn’t want that. Even he is allowed to be a little
selfish sometimes and this would be one of those times.
Feeling tears prick his vision once again, Heizou returns to his tree and sits down. He puts his arms
over his knees and lets his forehead rest against them as he closes his eyes. He doesn’t want to go
back to the hotel or to Zhongli’s place. He’ll have to apologize for not returning like he said he
would; it's just that back then he never would have imagined that this would happen. He thinks his
best option is just sleeping here tonight, hopefully no prying fan walks by and recognizes him and
puts his moment of weakness all over the internet. That would be pretty unfortunate and hard to
clean up, not to mention heavily invasive. So, he lets his breathing calm down as his heart slow its
pace. His pounding head makes it hard for him to sleep, but eventually he drifts off into a deep,
exhausted slumber.

Somewhere into his nap, though, a gentle hand taps his head. Heizou lifts it and groggily blinks his
eyes open to be met with the sight of Xiao. Confused, Heizou looks around and realizes that he’s
still in the park. When he looks back to his friend, Xiao has a massive frown adorning his features
as he stares down at him from above. He doesn’t seem mad, he seems heavily concerned and that
makes Heizou feel even worse because now he’s made his other friend worry. “How’d—“
Heizou’s voice comes out strained so he clears it and tries again, “how’d you find me?” he asks,
wiping his eyes from the salt trails left behind by his tears.

“I lived here all my life before moving to Mond, so it wasn’t that hard,” Xiao says and then a
pause, “I also saw your lantern.” Ah, so that’s how. Heizou curses himself for such a foolish act
while he was vulnerable, but he really didn’t want to waste the lantern. It was too pretty and he
hoped he could at least have one good memory of tonight. “You don’t have to worry, though, I saw
it and ran off without telling the others so they wouldn’t follow me,” Xiao clarifies and Heizou
nods before frowning. Others..? What others?

“There were other people looking for me?” he dares to ask, afraid of the answer. Xiao stares down
at him for a moment, unsure if he should answer his question truthfully or not, but then his eyes
flick down to his useless gifts. The guitarist grimaces before he sighs heavily, coming to sit down
in front of Heizou so he doesn’t have to break his neck to look up at him. Heizou is grateful for this
since he’s already so exhausted as it is. He doesn’t even know where he’ll be sleeping tonight and
it’s definitely not going to be back in his hotel room.

“I won’t sugarcoat, lie, or leave anything out when I tell you what happened after you left,” Xiao
starts and Heizou nods, preparing himself. “After you left we had all carried on having a good time
until a little while after, Kunikuzushi and Kazuha came bursting through the door in panicked
states. Both of them were frantic and unintelligible considering that they had run all the way there.
When they calmed down, they explained to us that you had seemingly entered some sort of panic
mode and seemed to be hyperventilating and unwell. When asked what happened to make such a
thing happen, Kazuha hesitated to inform us, but Kuni spit it out right away. He said: ‘Heizou saw
both me and Kazuha kissing in an alleyway, but it’s a whole misunderstanding and when he saw it,
he shut down.’ I don’t know what’s to be misunderstood about that, but he claimed it to be a
misunderstanding. After that the both of them pleaded with all of us to come help search for you
and because we care, we did. I was luckily the first to find you,” he finishes. Heizou doesn’t say a
word after that, though, letting himself process all this new information because he doesn’t
understand how such a thing can be misunderstood either.
“That makes no sense. I tell him I like Kazuha and then I find him making out with him in a back
alley while on my way to bring an apology gift,” Heizou spits, venom lining his voice, “he clearly
did it to get back at me for whatever the fuck I did when I have been trying to apologize for over a
week now,” he explains. Xiao doesn’t agree or disagree, just listens as Heizou works through the
issue on his own which he’s grateful for. But he can’t stay mad for long, all of that anger just
immediately turns to sadness as he feels his heart break all over again.

Seeing tears prick Heizou’s vision once again, Xiao panics and coughs awkwardly. “None of us
would like you to sleep outside, so Venti and I have agreed to let you room with us until this matter
is all sorted out,” the guitarist says and Heizou tilts his head. There’s only one bed in their room,
though, so is he going to sleep on the floor? “You can sleep with us on the bed,” Xiao says,
answering his unspoken question with a slight smile. The guitarist is true to his word when he says
he’s not good at emotional stuff very much, but he’s trying his best and Heizou really appreciates
that. It seems Venti has softened him up quite a bit.

“Thanks for the clarification,” Heizou laughs lightly as he yawns. Guess all that running and
heartbreak made him extremely tired and considering his nap was interrupted that makes sense too.
So, without further protest, Xiao and Heizou gather his discarded items and head off back to the
hotel room. The entire time the guitarist keeps in touch with Venti so they don’t run into Kazuha
and Kuni on their way back in, but he does say to let everyone know that he found him. And when
Venti initially found out, he frantically texted Xiao asking of his well being to which he replied
with simple responses so as to not freak him out even more.

Once they’re back in the safety of the hotel room, Venti springs up from his bed at the sound of the
door opening. He rushes around the corner with a frantic expression and when he sees the state
Heizou is in his heart shatters for him. Heizou tries his best to give him a smile and a wave, but the
singer rushes forwards and scoops him up in his arms (as much as he can anyway) and hugs him
tightly. The redhead tries— he really does— not to cry, but when he feels the warmth of Venti’s
hug he breaks down all over again. Thus, Heizou buries his head in Venti’s shoulder and holds him
as tightly as he can. His eyes sting with new tears as he sniffles in their lead singer’s hold.

He didn’t realize how badly he needed a hug until he got one as Xiao gently guides them to the
bed. They sit down on the edge of it as Venti rubs Heizou’s back and coos him quietly. Xiao
doesn’t know what to do, so he just places a comforting hand on Heizou’s shoulder and squeezes.
Even though it’s not much, the redhead still appreciates it greatly because it shows he cares. So,
they sit there for a while, Venti and Xiao comforting Heizou in their arms while he calms down
and processes all the emotions he’s gone through tonight because he is painfully overstimulated. In
seeing such, Venti moves them to the bed as Xiao shuts off the lights. They don’t bother changing
clothes because it’s too much right now, so they just all lay down and cuddle.

By this time Heizou has exhausted himself once again from all the emotional turmoil he’s gone
through, so he tires quickly. Letting the soothing feeling of Venti’s hands running through his hair
 calm him down and the pressure of Xiao against his back solidify him, Heizou relaxes and his
breathing slows. His eyes fall closed and he curls into himself and Venti. Xiao brings the blanket
over all three of them as he tucks them in and continues to help Heizou out the best he can in his
own little way. Eventually, all three of the bandmates fall asleep in each other’s arms hoping for a
better tomorrow.

Chapter End Notes

I stole the nickname ‘Hei Hei’ from a lovely commenter named ‘Mill’ !! Thank you so
much and I’ll see you next week,

Mika.
 It’s All Up From Here
Chapter Summary

Everything comes out: Scara’s POV.

Chapter Notes

The chapter you’ve all been waiting for is here! I really hope you enjoy and thank you
SOOOO much,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Watching Heizou run from them hurts Kunikuzushi more than he ever thought it would. He’s stuck
there, frozen, just watching as his crush bolts away from him, probably heartbroken and heavily
betrayed by what he saw. Scaramouche can hear Kazuha calling after the redhead, but he can’t
focus on anything else as his mind races with anxiety. It’s not what it looks like— it’s not what it
looks like at all. He wasn’t his fault, he swears he didn’t know Kazuha was going to kiss him out in
public nor did he expect him to be any good at it! Scara had been avoiding Heizou ever since that
night because it was finally confirmed with his own words that Heizou has zero interest in him and
it’s only with Kazuha. So, feeling hurt, he went to Kazuha and told them their plan worked and
there’s no need for him any longer, but then Kazuha told him he likes Scara too and thinks he
should stay.

Their plan is simple(?). Get Kuni to mess with Kazuha to make Heizou jealous to prove that he
likes Kazuha. Then once that’s settled, Kazuha can confess with full confidence without being
rejected. That was all that was supposed to happen, but things got complicated and they took it too
far. Kuni failed to mention how he already knew Heizou and he also failed to mention that later
down the line he had fallen for him as well. His game plan switched in hopes Heizou would fall for
him instead and it seemed to be working.. until that night.

Honestly, Kunikuzushi should have known. Heizou has had a crush on Kazuha for years and
there’s no way that would change in the two or so months that they’ve known each other. But he
wanted to believe, he wanted to have hope. Heizou somehow got himself tangled in Kuni’s heart
and is becoming a mess to undo, but now he has no choice but to undo it because Heizou doesn’t
like him and he thinks he betrayed him. Kuni never would have kissed Kazuha if he could have.
He didn’t expect it at all. One moment they were strolling down the docks and the next they were
in an alley with their lips pressed together.
Kazuha had told him that he also liked Kuni, but their manager didn’t believe him, so the guitarist
thought that the only way to prove it would be to make out with him apparently. That plan
backfired because they were caught by Heizou and now he’s run from them in a panicked haste
that Kunikuzushi knows all too well as a panic attack. With that in mind, he snaps back into action,
“Kazuha, where is Zhongli Xiansheng’s place? We need to go get help to find Heizou now! He’s in
the midst of a panic attack,” he questions urgently, eyes wide. He’s shaking with anxiety and fear
that Kazuha easily picks up on and doesn’t question— thankfully— before nodding and taking off
in the preferred direction to acquire help.

Both of them are breathing hard as they weave through the crowd, Kazuha dishing out apologies as
he goes whereas Kuni flips the bird to anyone who gives him a dirty look. Fireworks sound at their
back, but they’re no match for the sound of his racing heart as he keeps up with Kazuha diligently
until they breach the crowd. Once they break free, they quickly book it around a corner and begin
heading up a hill. The incline does them no favors in trying to save time, but it’s better than waiting
ages to haul a cab who probably won’t even be able to navigate through all this foot traffic.

Once they make it to Zhongli’s place, they don’t even bother to knock as they barge through the
door. The park were probably the last two people they all expected to see, but here they are.
Everyone in the room looks at them with concern and Kazuha hesitates, but Kunikuzushi knows
that time is wasting. People cannot be left alone during panic attacks! He knows that feeling all too
well and it’s not a good one. So, wasting no further time, he speaks. “Heizou saw both me and
Kazuha kissing in an alleyway, but it’s a whole misunderstanding and when he saw it, he shut
down,” he spits out in a panic. Everyone blinks at him for a moment but his anxiety is too high for
patience right now and he never had any to begin with. “I know that look on his face— he is
definitely deep in a panic attack right now and he’s run off somewhere. We need your help to find
him.. please!” he begs as he rests a hand over his heart to try and calm himself down. Kazuha tries
to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he shrugs it off. He hates being touched without
permission and this whole situation is a prime example of exactly why.

“Which way did he go?” Xiao asks, dropping down from the bar stool in the kitchen. Venti is by
his side immediately, both adorning matching determined expressions. It makes Kuni study them
for a moment, realizing that it’s very true that the longer you spend with someone the more alike
you become. Zhongli and Childe walk over from their places in the kitchen as well, Beidou and
Ningguang already standing. Both women’s eyes are cold, staring right at Kazuha who stares right
back and looks like he is fearing for his life. Kuni doesn’t know the dynamic between them, but he
can assume that the women definitely know Heizou from the way they glare at Kazuha over this.

“The— The left side of the docks. That’s the direction we saw him take,” Kazuha stammers, trying
to break eye contact with Beidou and Ningguang. Ganyu and Hu Tao are immediately on their feet
after that, rushing passed them out the door with them following shortly after. Every person in that
house files out of the building with one goal in mind: find Heizou. The adrenaline kicks back in as
he’s once again outside, the group heading off in the direction peck of the piers.

Childe, used to being the commander that he is, dishes out orders and splits everyone up into
teams. He will lead himself, Zhongli, and Kuni while Beidou will lead Kazuha and Hu Tao.
Ningguang will handle Ganyu and Venti, leaving Xiao to tag along wherever he thinks he’s
needed. With that settled they all break and run off in different directions. It sucks being with the
two tallest men while he’s so short because they run so fucking fast! But that’s a good thing in this
situation because they cover a lot of ground. Kuni informs both men to check small dark places and
places where you think someone wouldn’t go because that’s exactly where Heizou would go in his
condition. They both nod, taking his word for it as they start checking this side of the city up and
down.

They spend hours out here searching with no luck and everyone is starting to become very, very
worried. Zhongli suggests filing a missing person report, but that would end up all over the news
and should be avoided at all costs if possible. Even if he had a part to play in this mess,
Kunikuzushi is still their manager, though, if it comes down to it, they definitely will.

Kunikuzushi begins losing track of time the more they spend searching out here. Eventually,
lanterns start to fill the sky and his heart aches as an image of Heizou’s heartbroken face holding
on tightly to a lantern and some gifts in his hands. A card as well. If only Kazuha hadn’t kissed
him, if only Heizou never saw! Everything would be okay and it would have worked out over time,
but no! Of course he plays life on hard mode, so everything has to be ten times more difficult for
him, doesn’t it?

Frustratedly, he punches the closest cement wall to him with full force and feels the way his skin is
torn from his flesh as he lets his emotions literally bleed out of him. Childe is on him immediately,
though, and of course he tries to struggle out of his hold, but the ginger is strong, holding him
there. “Don’t be an idiot. How would Heizou feel if he knew you got hurt for him?” he scolds,
dragging him over to a nearby table and grabbing a napkin from it. Childe makes quick work of his
bloodied hand as the feeling to punch the guy in the face grows inside Kuni. He doesn’t, though,
considering his husband is right there; maybe if they were alone it would be different.

Scoffing once the ginger lets go of his hand, out of the blue all of their phones buzz with a singular
text from Xiao: ‘Found him’ is all it reads. Kunikuzushi feels an immense amount of relief wash
over him as his whole body sags. The adrenaline leaves his body and exhaustion from all their
searching takes its place. Zhongli walks back over to them both with a small smile on his face.
“Your friend is all right,” he says to him. Kuni nods, shutting his eyes as he exhales heavily. All
three of them take a breather for a second before they begin to head off back to where they were
originally. With everything now over, the shame of ruining everyone’s night kicks in and he begins
to feel guilty. He keeps it to himself, though, he’s sure Kazuha will apologize enough for both of
them.

———

Upon arriving back at the hotel, Scara thinks he’ll try his luck with going to Xiao and Venti’s place
and asking for Heizou. He doesn’t think the guy would want to see him right now, but he’s going
to try anyway so that the two hopefully pass on the message that he really wants to talk. Alone, just
the two of them. If he could, Kuni would love it if they could talk it out right now, but in all
honesty he thinks Heizou has gone through too much tonight and Kuni can wait until once he’s
more stable to talk. But he still needs to let him know that he does and there’s no better way to do
that than to let him know directly through his bandmates.

Knocking on the door, Kuni slips his hands into his pant’s pockets, nervous for the moment it
opens as his heart beats rapidly in his chest. He’s afraid of the answer that’s bound to come, but he
still wants to hold onto that little bit of hope that maybe things could be different. A soft clack
sounds when the door opens and Venti appears alongside Xiao. They both wear matching frowns
as they blink at him before looking around, probably for Kazuha. “Nope, just me. Hey uh—,” Kuni
starts, laughing nervously before his words get caught in his throat, “I know he probably doesn’t
want to see me right now, but would you let him know that this is a huge misunderstanding? And if
possible could you let him know I’m free to talk through it whenever he’s ready. Also..,” Kuni
sucks in a breath. His gaze falls to the floor as his heartbeat begins to fill his ears as shame fills his
heart. He truly wishes that Heizou never saw them kiss— that Kazuha never kissed him to prove a
point at that moment. Maybe then none of this would have ever happened. “Tell him that I’m
sorry.. please,” he requests, voice soft.

When a verbal reply doesn’t come from either of the men in front of him, Kunikuzushi thinks his
attempt at reconciliation is futile, but upon raising his head he realizes that isn’t true. Though
puzzled, both of the men before him don’t seem nearly as heated as they did before which is a huge
relief on Kuni’s end. Instead, they seem quizzical, but not against him in any way. “Sure, we’ll let
him know just.. go easy on him tomorrow. He’s already got zero energy,” Venti urges, hands on
the door as he readies himself to close it. Kunikuzushi nods in understanding, already having swore
to himself not to run Heizou into the dirt during their performance tomorrow. Luckily for him,
Xiao and Venti are the major attractions because their duet songs will be sung as a special for
Lantern Rite here in Liyue. Thus it takes a big weight off his shoulders that Kuni hopes will let
Heizou take some time to heal.

Taking Venti’s words to heart, Kuni turns on his heel and heads back to his shared hotel room with
Kazuha. The whole way his mind runs through images of all the events that took place as well as
ways he can fix this entire mess. His mental image stops on the sight of the Heizou’s gifts for them
tumbling to the ground as well as the sight of a card. Kunikuzushi stops in his tracks, blinking
down at the floor as he comes up with the perfect way to apologize. He’ll take Heizou’s idea right
from him and flip it around. While he has no idea what was in those packages, Kuni can try his
best to get something the redhead will like. He’s also not the best at words, but if he really tries,
he’ll be able to write at least a little something for him.

Nodding to himself, Kuni opens the door to his hotel room and lets it shut behind him as he takes
off his shoes and heads for his bed. He doesn’t have the energy to do much right now and it’s not
like he’s the one that has to keep up appearances around here. “Is he okay?” Kazuha asks, sitting
down on his and Heizou’s shared bed. Kuni looks over at him, letting his eyes run over his
appearance. Kazuha’s hair is a mess and his eyes are worried. His clothes are astray and his hands
are gripped together tightly in his lap. He’s biting his bottom lip as he waits for Kuni’s reply, but
he doesn’t know what to say or how to say it.

“He’s pissed, probably. No,” Kuni shakes his head, getting on his bed and pulling the covers over
himself. He faces away from Kazuha as he continues speaking. “knowing him, he’s most likely
heartbroken beyond belief,” he guesses, voice barely above a whisper. Thankfully, Kazuha doesn’t
say anything about that, he just lets silence consume them both for a moment. After a while,
Kunikuzushi closes his eyes and begins to drift off, but he doesn’t get very far before the guitarist
is speaking again.

“I’m sorry I kissed you,” he says and Kunikuzushi tenses, “after I had confessed I liked you, you
said you didn’t believe me and also that if I did I should prove it. So, we spent a week or so acting
as a couple, going out on fake dates and stuff but you clearly still weren’t believing me. I thought
the only thing I could possibly do now is show it physically. I didn’t think a kiss between us would
be so bad, so I went ahead with it when I thought the time was right, but then Heizou saw,” he
explains. Kunikuzushi stares pointedly at the wall in front of him, listening intently. “You fell for
him, didn’t you,” he states, voice quiet. It’s not a question, it’s Kazuha pointing out what he has
discovered over the course of the night and he’s not wrong.

Kunikuzushi bites his bottom lip a little too hard, feeling the taste of blood on his tongue as he curls
in on himself under the covers. He wasn’t supposed to fall for Heizou. He wasn’t supposed to
adore the way his laugh sounds or have to resist the urge to kiss the twin moles beneath his eyes.
He wasn’t supposed to love the feel of Heizou inside him or the way he treats him in bed, let alone
his little nickname for him. He wasn’t supposed to love the way they fit together like puzzle pieces
or the way that even though Heizou knows about his past and his scars, he doesn’t find them gross
or unsightly. He never judged Kuni as a person or as a whole, despite his rough exterior, Heizou
continued to treat him kindly like he was never phased by his sassy behavior and rude looks.
Kunikuzushi was bound to fall for him from the very start, but he didn’t know that until it was too
late.

When he doesn’t reply, Kazuha doesn’t push, already feeling that he’s gone too far for one night.
Instead, he whispers a ‘goodnight’ and shuts off the lights. Kunikuzushi listens to the way the
blankets and sheets brush against each other as he makes himself comfortable in bed until the
sounds eventually stop. He lets the dark of the room and the silence filling it drag him down under
into a very exhausting slumber.

———

The next morning makes Scara regret ever waking up. He feels terrible. He doesn’t want to move,
eat, get dressed, go out and see the sun— nothing. His body feels like it weighs a thousand with
anxiety and other emotions. But alas, he has a job to do, so he drags himself from the bed and grabs
a new set of clothes before heading to the bathroom and changing. He truly has no idea how
Heizou is going to perform today and in all honesty, Kuni is willing to make up some excuse to
exempt him from the concert tonight. Despite him not having as big of a part, he’s still there so he
will be seen. Kuni isn’t too sure he would want to make his fans worried with his depressed
atmosphere and appearance.

Checking his phone once he’s done changing, Kuni sees that everyone besides him and Kazuha
have already eaten and headed off to the studio to practice. Though, when he exits the bathroom he
sees Kazuha laying on his own bed, fully clothed—even shoes on— looking completely drained,
his plans to do the same change. Sighing, Kuni walks over and sits on his own bed and flicks
Kazuha’s forehead. “Stop pouting,” he says, watching the way his friend’s body remains slack.
Kazuha remains quiet and unmoving, his arms covering his face as his breathing hitches. This
draws curiosity from Kuni.

“I’m not pouting, I just feel like shit,” he says, surprising the manager because the guitarist never
swears. Well, at least he doesn’t if he can help it. Kazuha moves his head just enough to where his
eyes can be seen from underneath his arms and the sight shocks Kuni. They’re red rimmed and
glossy, evidence that the man has been crying. But for what reason should he be crying?! He’s not
the one who got his heart broken, he’s not the one who has to clean up this whole
misunderstanding! What right does he have?! It’s pissing Kuni off.

“Why are you crying?” he asks, truly having no idea why the guitarist should ever be crying right
now. Kazuha just blinks at him sniffling, before dragging his limbs from the bed and sitting up
properly. He wipes his eyes and sniffles. It’s going to be hard to fix his appearance until they get to
the studio, so they must not be seen at all costs. If a photo is snapped of Kazuha looking like such
the mess that he is right now, then that would become an even bigger mess than the man himself.

“I probably just lost a best friend over my own idiotic actions. Not to mention the fact that I love
him,” he explains, burying his face in his hands. Kuni doesn’t say anything about that just yet,
thinking. ‘Love’? Kazuha loves Heizou and Heizou loves Kazuha back. The problem here is him.
The problem is Kuni. He’s the odd ball out, he’s the one that no one wants, he’s the one that no
one loves. He should have come to this realization sooner considering the way he got into this
entire mess was to play matchmaker for the two of them. This realization stings and it hurts like a
bitch. Any remaining optimism drains from his body and a deep frown is placed on his lips. He
officially acknowledges that there is no place for him here. Not with Kazuha, not with the band,
and definitely not with Heizou. No one has ever told him they loved him before, so what business
does he have thinking that would change now?

“No, you’re fine. It’s me he’s upset with. He told me he liked you and then I turned around and
kissed you. In his eyes I completely betrayed him. You could feign oblivion and blame it all on me
and Heizou would be none the wiser,” he states bitterly. At this Kazuha frowns, looking over at
Scaramouche with confusion. It only serves to irritate him more, so he gets up and grabs his phone
before heading to the door. He can’t stand looking at his face anymore and if he does he might just
scream.
“But I kissed you,” Kazuha replies like that makes everything better. No shit he kissed Kuni, but to
Heizou that was Scara kissing his crush of four fucking years . It’s a betrayal that can’t be taken
lightly and would have never happened if Kuni had any control over it. He’s pissed, heart broken,
and feels like a fool, yet here this guitarist is sitting down stating the most obvious fact known to
man like it means something. It doesn’t. Not to Heizou.

“Not to him, you didn’t,” is all he mumbles before, opening the hotel door and letting it slam by
itself. Fuck it, Scara can’t take this any longer. He needs to destress somehow before he shows up
to work and punches something or someone. Knowing such, he takes an alternate route that will
lead him past a convenience store first. Once he arrives he purchases some cigarettes and a lighter.
These probably won’t be allowed on stage or even backstage, but when has Kuni ever been
anything short of excellent at hiding things? So, he exits the store and stands idly next to it as he
unwraps the box and lights one up. He places it between his lips and inhales deeply, appreciating
the way his muscles relax immediately when the nicotine hits his system.

His thoughts clear as he closes his eyes, willing them to go away if they don’t. The cigarette in his
hand burns slowly as Kuni takes in the scent of the smoke it releases. He’s always hated the smell
of smoke, that’s why he only uses it as a last resort. That being said, he’ll definitely smell like it
now, at least a tiny bit because the smell of smoke is so unnecessarily hard to remove. Especially
from fabric. Thinking about how he’s going to smell later pisses him off, but not enough to stop
smoking. The all too expensive pixie stick is doing wonders for his anxiety right now.

Surpassingly, the entire time he spent smoking up until his arrival at the studio/stage place thing—
Kuni doesn’t know what it’s called— he didn’t see Kazuha once. He doesn’t know if it’s because
of what he had said to him earlier or if the guy genuinely just didn’t think to come looking for him.
Either way that’s not his priority right now. His priority is being manager, so first things first, he
checks with Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose to see whether or not they’re all set up for later this evening.
The two girls seem none the wiser about everything going on in their inner circle which Scara
thinks is for the best, to be honest. Though, once they give him the stamp of approval, he moves on
to checking with costume designers and the makeup artists.

The costume designers let him know that everything is okay and ready, the hard part is going over
to the makeup artists. This is because this is exactly where all of the band members are, including
Heizou. This is the first time Kuni has seen him since last night and he looks nothing short of
horrendous. His eye bags are terrible, he’s not even attempting a fake smile, and his eyes are dull
and lifeless. His skin looks pale like he hasn’t eaten anything all day and his hair is only okay-
looking because of the makeup artists working on it right now. Kuni feels his stomach drop and a
knot form in the pit of his stomach. He feels terrible. He never would have perilously imagined
what a look of heartbreak is, but now that he’s seen it with his own eyes, caused by himself.. he
wishes everything never happened.

If he had never found that ad online, if he had never been approved for an interview, if he had
never passed that interview, if he had never showed up at that penthouse after having met Heizou
previously. If all of it never happened, Kuni wouldn’t be in this mess with a boy he cares for
deeply and said boy’s crush of four years. He can’t help but blame himself for everything. He finds
himself staring. Staring at the way Heizou blinks slowly from exhaustion, staring at the way he
moves lethargically when handed a bottle of water by one of the artists, staring at the way he opens
it half assed like he couldn’t give two shits about his own health. It hurts. It hurts to see someone
you care about in so much pain.

So, he takes a gander and assumes the makeup is good enough. He’d rather not cause Heizou
anymore distress by just being there, so he turns on his heel and heads off to find more things to
busy himself with. He finishes doing his round check-ups, makes sure the snack bins are refilled,
checks the time and the stage, even sweeps! Anything to keep his mind and body preoccupied with
something that isn’t Heizou. It’s a struggle, but it works for the majority and soon the sun drops
lower in the sky and they’re all ready to perform.

When Scara sees Heizou again he still isn’t smiling, looking pointedly out the curtains and waiting
for their cue. “I think your best option is to give him some space for now,” a voice comes from
behind him gently. Kuni turns around and sees that the voice is, in fact, from Venti. That’s kind of
surprising since he thought Venti was on Heizou’s side. His confused expression must give him
away because Venti gives him a small smile as he tilts his head. “I just want everything to work out
between you three. I’m here for you if you need me to try and convince him to have a talk, but I’ll
need some solid evidence that will make him budge. Heizou’s unbearably stubborn and now that
he has a reason to be, he’s going to be even more so,” Venti explains, walking to stand beside him
instead. Cheers from the crowd outside the curtain can be heard as the announcers begin opening
for them.

“Would you really be willing to listen?” Kuni asks astonishingly, feeling hopefully for the first
time in the past twenty four hours or so. Venti nods his head and before Kuni can ask him when
and where, the announcer is announcing their names and out walk all of them. Venti gives him a
wink and a salute before he runs after his friends.

Scara moves to the curtain to watch them all perform now, but his eyes are really only on Heizou.
He’s switched his expression to feign focusedness rather than sadness which oddly go very well
together, but Kuni knows what he’s really feeling. He watches the way Heizou still effortlessly
moves his sticks and creates the most beautiful best to whichever song they play. Luckily, since
there are the duet performances between Xiao and Venti, there will be no dance numbers. They
thought that would just be too much on Xiao and Venti solely. Kuni still thinks it was a good
decision to cut them and he’s not just saying that because he’d prefer if Heizou took a break
(maybe).

The crowds cheers are as loud as ever despite them not knowing the inner turmoil within the group
right now. It’s a sick feeling, watching all perform like nothing is wrong whatsoever, but at the
same time Kuni isn’t phased by such things. After all, he too, used to do that everyday. Masking his
emotions until they overflowed onto his skin and them putting on fake smiles for a day isn’t
exactly the same, though. He supposed that even so, it doesn’t make their situation any less
important than his own was to him.

Eventually watching them grows on until it’s time for the closing acts which happen to be the duet
songs between Xiao and Venti, so Heizou and Kazuha exit the stage. Not together, but one by one
they head towards the curtain and Kuni takes that as his cue to move as well. He knows he
shouldn’t be avoiding Heizou if he wants anything to change, but he also wants to give him space.
The manager knows that once they have their talk that is bound to come, he’s going to have to deal
with a very heartbroken and very confused Heizou turned angry. Also, he’s not sure if he and
Heizou should have a talk alone or all three of them, but all three of them feels like too much
pressure. Maybe they can ease into it as they go along.

Now at a safer distance, Kuni watches with folded arms and a look of guilt as Heizou exits the
stage first followed by Kazuha. Heizou doesn’t even spare anyone a glance as he heads right for
the break room, looking as if he were on the verge of a breakdown. Guilt washes over the manager
in waves as he watches him go and he can’t help but tap his foot impatiently while waiting for the
show to finish. He really needs it to be over so he can talk to Venti about possibly arranging a time
to talk with Heizou. The thing is, it will most likely have to be after all their jobs here in Liyue are
over.

Biting his thumbnail, Kuni returns to his previous place by the curtain to watch Xiao and Venti
perform so he can snatch Venti as soon as he’s done. Funnily enough, their soothing voices calm
Scara down to a certain degree and he closes his eyes, allowing himself to get lost in the music.
The two sing in sync, but at different octaves, harmonizing with different rythmings and notes in
the most beautiful way ever. Just by their singing anyone can tell that they’re basically made for
each other. It sucks they have to keep it a secret, though. They’re all supposed to appear single for
the public eye because the fantasy of ever getting with them has to remain available for profit.
Honestly, Kuni thinks it’s a little weird that people fantasize about getting with a real human being
that they don’t even know the true identity of. Any one of them could be a huge big bitch for real,
but they still fall for their Internet personality anyways.

Shaking his head at his own thoughts, Kuni continues listening to them sing. He watches as the two
couldn’t make it any more obvious that they’re in love with the way they sing into each other’s
eyes and belt out the notes like they’d die without each other. Kuni watches as they get close
together on stage, Xiao almost slipping up and wrapping his arm around Venti’s waist, though,
plays it off like he’s just using his hands to sing. It makes him cringe at the action, but Venti is
sure to give Xiao the softest smile to let him know he knows how he feels and reciprocates it. That
makes a tiny smile appear on Xiao’s lips as well as he continues singing only to be practically
jumpscared when Venti brushes a strand of hair behind his ear lovingly on stage!

Clear confusion and panic shows on Xiao’s face, but Venti plays it off casually by letting his hand
fall to his boyfriend’s shoulder and then down his back as he faces them towards the crowd. The
cheers grow loud and even louder when Xiao takes the hint and wraps his arm around Venti’s
waist as well, singing together in each other’s arms. This is the closest thing they can get to PDA
without it overnight overboard because it just looks like two friends who are singing together side
by side, supporting each other. Of course to the BL enjoyers and those with a more perceptive eye,
they definitely aren’t just two friends who are singing together side by side and simply supporting
each other. Kuni scoffs out a laugh. They’re definitely supporting each other all right.

With that, the show ends and the two take their bow together, letting the cheers of their beloved
fans fill their ears and their hearts. Upon lifting their heads, Venti turns to look at Xiao
immediately and gives him the biggest breathless smile Kuni has ever seen. It brings a slight blush
to his own cheeks even though he’s not on the receiving end of it. Xiao gives him a flustered look
before it quickly turns lustful and Venti’s smile is replaced by a smirk. He chooses that exact
moment to wave ‘goodbye’ to his fans and saunter off stage like he didn’t just tease the idea of sex
to his boyfriend right in front of them all. He’s such a little shit, that Venti. It makes Kuni smile.

As he approaches, though, the manager remembers the task at hand and mentally prepares himself
to ask Venti if they could talk once they get back to the hotel. And once Venti passes him he does
just that. “Venti, could we..,” he trails, losing his confidence as his heartbeat quickens with nerves.
He’s not good with feelings, especially asking to talk about them. Luckily, Venti being the empath
that he is, picks up on what he’s trying to say and nods quickly, telling him they’ll for sure make
some time once they get back.

Kuni nods in understanding before watching him go followed by Xiao and then Heizou who
returns from the break room. He probably watched their performance from there instead of here
which makes Kuni feel guilty. He could have been the one watching from the break room instead,
but he had no idea that that’s what was going on. Whatever the case may be, nothing is sitting right
with Kuni right now and he’s itching for a cigarette. Despite that fact, he pushes it down and
patiently waits for the backstage staff to attend to all of them.

They work diligently to Kuni’s delight and don’t waste any time with chit chat or formalities.
They’re all probably used to this by now. Xiao and Venti are handed water bottles that they both
take gracious sips of which causes Xiao to choke and start coughing. Venti laughs lightly, a
concerned expression on his face as he pats his boyfriend’s back gently, asking him if he’s okay.
The guitarist nods, taking another drink of water before he’s forced to stop so that the makeup
artist can do their job removing his glam. He’s noticed ever since Sumeru that makeup is definitely
Xiao’s least favorite thing of all, but he’s also used to it by now, so it’s hard to tell.

Once they finish up with the makeup and everything, all of them don’t bother with goodbyes as
they exit the building and head straight for home. The car ride back is anything if not awkward.
Venti and Xiao have voluntarily sat extremely close together which forces the three of— Kuni,
Kazuha, and Heizou— to be together. Heizou stares pointedly out the limo’s windows while
Kazuha next to him stares pointedly down at the floor. He fidgets with his hands nervously, clearly
wanting to say something, anything to his best friend, but the words never come. Kuni is left to sit
next to Kazuha and he makes sure there’s an extra inch of space between them because he’s petty
like that. Maybe he should have sat on the other side with the girls.
When they arrive at the hotel, Heizou immediately glues himself to Xiao and Venti’s side, but
Venti slips away to talk to Kuni. The two walk with each other until they find a small private back
garden of the hotel and sit down on an uncomfortable stone bench. They two don’t have a lot of
meat on their bones so sitting on hard surfaces hurts, okay? “So what’s up?” Venti asks him, a
smile gracing his lips in an attempt to make Kuni feel better, but it only makes him feel more
nervous. He knows Venti, as Heizou’s friend, is bound to get mad at him for the information he’s
about to share, but he can’t go on living like this. He’s never cared about someone’s opinion on
him before Heizou and it’s driving him mad.

“I.. despite what you may believe, that night truly was a misunderstanding on Heizou’s part,” he
starts, biting his lip as he lets his gaze fall to their feet. Venti doesn’t say a word of disbelief or
anything, just content to listen and wait. Kuni will have to thank him for his patience later. “I see
no point in hiding it anymore, so I’ll tell the story from the beginning. We met before I ever knew
he was my employer. The literal night before we met at a club and hooked up. After that I showed
up for work the next morning and was beyond shocked to see him. What shocked me even more is
that Kazuha seemed to pick up on the fact I knew him and wanted to use it to his advantage,” he
explains, swallowing thickly. He doesn’t mean to make Kazuha the bad guy in this situation, but
there really is no better way of putting all this. And when all the cards are placed out in front of
them, was the guitarist ever in the right to begin with?

“He offered me a deal, said if I mess with him to make Heizou jealous and it works, he’ll pay me
more. And at the time I was like ‘sure fuck it I’ve got nothing to lose and money is money’ but
then as time progressed..,” he pauses, feeling embarrassed. He looks away from Venti, gripping his
knees tightly as he bites his lip. The stars sparkle in the sky and he finds his anxiety hitting a new
all time high for situations outside his home. Venti still doesn’t say a word, though, just sitting and
listening, thus Kuni continues to speak. “As time progressed I found myself.. falling for Heizou. At
first he seemed angry about me and Kazuha for obvious reasons, but then we had that night in his
room.. after that things changed. It’s almost like a switch flipped and we were able to become
legitimate friends, all three of us. Though, at times things were still rough because of the deal and I
felt strained. Actually, that night I was going to go tell Heizou about the deal because I realized
how wrong it was seeing him suffer so much, but we got side tracked.”

“After that, Heizou and I grew closer and he was just so.. nice and understanding and he put up
with me and all my.. issues,” he states vaguely, bringing a hand to his covered arm and squeezing,
“he never questioned me if I didn’t wanna talk to share something and he never pushed me. He
never forced me to do things I didn’t want nor things I didn’t like. He was considerate and kind
and.. I got swept up in it. Before I had realized.. I fell for him. And then he brought up an
opportunity to go even further between us and do it as clearly more than friends. It was different
from the first time and.. I thought it meant something. But then he told me he still liked Kazuha,”
Kuni whispers, voice breaking. Venti places a gentle hand on his back and rubs it soothingly.
Though the touch feels like fire against his clothed skin, Scara also finds that it grounds him.

“I know that it was stupid of me to ever fall for the guy I was supposed be playing matchmaker
with for a different guy, but I honestly never saw it coming. Him saying that to me was like a wake
up call and after that I went to go tell Kazuha that my job is done. I wanted everything to just go
back to normal after that: I keep being the manager I’m supposed to be and those two can fall in
love and be done with it. But then Kazuha goes and tells me he’s fallen for me,” he says, clearing
his throat. He shakes his head as he wraps his arms around himself, feeling more vulnerable than
he has in years. No one besides Heizou has ever sat down like this and listened to him talk about
something so emotionally raw to him before. It’s foreign and doesn’t feel right, it makes him want
to revert back into his shell as he begins to regret having ever spoken in the first place. “I, of
course, didn’t believe him because— let’s be honest— if you were in my situation, would you?
You just spent two months playing matchmaker for this guy only to have him turn around and say
he likes you. I told him he’s insane and he couldn’t possibly like me because he likes Heizou, but
then he goes and says he likes us both?! I don’t get it.”

“I mean I suppose it’s possible to like two people, but him having fallen for me alongside his crush
for god knows how long? It seems like a fairy tale. I haven’t even been here a full year, yet he’s
saying he likes me like that. With that logic I shouldn’t have ever gotten my hopes up for Heizou to
reciprocate my feelings either. It was all doomed from the very start,” he murmurs, cracking his
fingers in the uncomfortable silence. Venti doesn’t move or anything at first, just processing the
new information which makes Kuni sick with anxiety. Then he hums and puts a finger to his lips in
curiosity.

“Then why did you kiss him?” he asks and Kuni feels his hackles rise. This is the hard part because
Venti can either choose to believe him or choose not to believe him. Though, he guesses the same
could be said about everything else he just mentioned as well. It all comes down to whether Venti
is willing to trust him despite their very little friendly interactions outside of work. Kuni hopes that
he trusts him, even if it’s just this once, let the universe bend in his favor.

“I didn’t,” he states confidently, “he kissed me. Without my permission and without warning. We
had spent a week or so fake dating after that so he could ‘prove’ to me that he likes me for real, but
I still wasn’t buying it. The idea just feels so abstract to me and makes no sense. I don’t understand
how he can like me when we did practically nothing together other than work related stuff and fake
flirting. When I asked him why he did it afterwards, he said it was because he didn’t have any other
ideas on how to prove it to me that weren’t physical and he thought a kiss wouldn’t be too bad,” he
finishes, staring at the cement wall of the garden to his left, avoiding Venti’s eyes nervously. The
singer hums, tapping his foot before taking a hand and gently making Scaramouche face him.
When he’s sure he has the manager’s attention, he smiles.

Confused, Kunikuzushi goes to speak, but Venti beats him to it. “I believe you,” he says and Kuni
thinks his world comes crashing down because what..? Did Venti just say he believes him? Just
like that? It was so simple it feels wrong. Is there a catch? There has to be a catch! Venti giggles,
“there’s no catch,” he replies to Kuni’s inner turmoil which freaks him out even more. Did he just
read his mind?! “I’ll talk to Heizou and explain some things, I’ve got quite the way with words so I
can say with confidence that he will definately be willing to talk once I’m done with him. It might
just have to be after we finish all our work here, though,” Venti finishes. Kuni’s eyes alight with
hope for the first time since before Heizou told him he liked Kazuha as his heart swells. Maybe
things will work out after all!
“Thank you so much, Venti,” he says graciously, bowing his head to show just how much this
means to him. The singer just laughs and gently places his hands on his shoulders, lifting him so he
stops bowing. He doesn’t say another word, but the smile that graces his lips, the tilt to his head,
and the way a stray strand of hair falls loose from his bangs tells Kuni all that he needs to know.
For once in his life he can say with full confidence that he can trust someone to pull through for
him.

———

A few days pass with no word from Venti or Heizou. Kazuha has seen better days, but he’s
gradually accepting things, Kuni thinks. He still hasn’t decided whether or not he should ask if
Kazuha can join them in their talk, but he does think that that’s a little too much for their first time
around. Also, Kazuha is a big boy he can get himself out of his own mess by himself. With that
being said, Kuni still has to buy Heizou the gifts and write him a card. Knowing Heizou, he’ll
accept any gift given to him and what’s better than an old classic plushie? When he went into
Heizou's room before he saw a few on his bed, probably from his bandmates, so what’s the harm in
adding another?

Feeling nervous and a bit embarrassed by doing something so mundane and loving for someone,
Scaramouche skitters his way out of the hotel and hails a cab. If he were a stronger man with less
anxiety right now he would go to a mall so he has more options, but he’s not so he decides to just
stop at a cute little gift shop. After he pays the cab, he turns around and reads the sign of the store,
seeing that it’s also a floral shop. He shrugs and supposes that that would make sense since a lot of
the time people buy flowers as gifts as well. Should he buy flowers for Heizou or is that going too
far? He doesn’t know! This is hard.

A bell chimes as he pushes the door open and he’s immediately hit with the scent of a bunch of
different flowers. He takes in the smell that relaxes him just a bit before a woman with long black
hair with two blue braided strands greets him. “Hello! Welcome to our shop, my name is Yun Jin.
Is there anything I can help you with today?” she asks and Kuni swears he’s heard that name
before, let alone her voice. Does she sing? Maybe he heard it from some concerts he’s gone to in
the past or maybe just from names on the list for shows for 4NEMO. Nevertheless, he bows his
head in greeting to her, slipping his hands in his windbreaker jacket’s pockets as he speaks.

“Hi, yes, do you have anything that works for apologies..?” he asks hesitantly. He prepares himself
for the judgemental look he will for sure receive, but when the woman just hums and turns on her
heel, he blinks. Following her, she leads him to a whole array of different apology cards he can
choose from which she explains. She also explains that they do have little plushies he can buy
when he asks for them. “Okay, thank you,” he replies and crouches down to look at all the cards.
Some of them seem too sappy while others seem like not enough and some have too many words
where he can’t write anything whereas others have too little. He feels he might be being a little too
picky about this, but he really doesn’t want to mess things up.
He runs his fingers over some of the cards, picking up some and reading their contents before
placing them back. That is, until he finds one that’s perfect for this. It doesn’t have too many or too
little words and it’s not too sappy or too bland. It’ll leave enough room for what he wants to say as
well and the color and design are pretty. Deciding that this is the one, he plucks it from the card
slot and grabs the matching envelope. Standing from his crouched position, he goes over to where
the plushies are and looks at all of them, feeling overwhelmed. There’s lots of cute soft animals,
but he doesn’t know what Heizou’s favorite animal is. So, he whips out his phone and asks Venti.

——————

[Me] whats heizous favorite animal?

Sent 14:34

—————————

As he waits for the singer’s reply, he instead decides to go over to the lady he’s sworn he’s heard
of before and ask about flowers. “If you had to recommend a flower for an apology, which would it
be?” he asks and Ms. Yun Jin hums. She steps out from behind the counter and leads him over to
their flower section, the woman continues humming a familiar tune as her eyes scan the array of
different plants. When she comes up blank she taps her chin and turns to Scaramouche instead.

“Is this an apology for a lover?” she asks, eyebrow raised. Even though she doesn’t seem
judgemental in the slightest, Scara can’t help but feel at least a little embarrassed. To be honest, he
doesn’t know if he should buy him a gift with underlying romantic feelings or keep the wall of
friendship between them. He’s not sure, but if he hopes to possibly— maybe be something more
with Heizou, he should definitely buy something at least slightly romantic. So, he nods and Ms.
Yun Jin hums, “are we looking for a big bouquet or just a small one? “ she asks and Kuni replies
with a small one. He wants to apologize, but he doesn’t want to make it more dramatic than it has
to be.

So, he watches as the pretty lady shuffled around and picks out certain flowers, all white with a few
light blues mixed in there as well as some green from some leaves. When she’s done, she grabs a
ribbon and asks that Kuni hold the bouquet for her while she ties it on. He obliges, of course, and
she gets to work tying a simple but pretty bow. When it is complete, the woman puts her hands on
her hips triumphantly and nods with a smile. She lets him know that he can always ask for more
help before returning to her place behind the counter as he reaches for his phone.
——————

[Venti] he said he likes deer

Read 14:41

—————————

With that in mind, Kuni pockets his phone and holds the card and small bouquet of flowers close
to his chest as he walks over to the plushies and lets his eyes scan over them. To his dismay, they
don’t have any deer plushies, so he gets the next best thing in his opinion: a hedgehog. The hedge
hog is holding a little heart between its paws and has cute little blushes on its cheeks with a smile.
It seems a little corny, but it’s the next best thing, obviously. So, with all his items picked out, he
brings them to the counter and checks them out. The florist is still very kind to him and wishes him
good luck on his apology and that she hopes all goes well. He thanks her with a bow and heads for
the door.

The same bell chimes as he leaves and continues to walk until he finds a nice outdoor cafe to sit
down and write at. He feels a bit silly walking into a cafe with his arms full like this, but he holds
his items to him previously and protectively as he orders a small hot coffee and finds himself a
quiet table to sit at. He sets down his gifts and gently places the flowers down as well before
realizing he forgot a pen and going up to ask one of the staff if he has one he can borrow.
Thankfully they do and he takes it before heading back to his table. Now with everything for sure
in front of him, he takes a sip of his coffee and opens the card as he begins to write.

He’s not very good with words so he makes his message as meaningful as he can with what little
suave he has. He writes of how he apologizes dearly for what happens and doesn’t tell him it’s a
misunderstanding because it will make him turn away as if Kuni is making excuses. Then he
writes of how he hopes things will return to normal for them and finally of how he came to the
conclusion of purchasing each of his gifts. It’s short but sweet and he hopes it gets the job done.
And just as he finishes up writing, his phone buzzes from his pocket and he takes it out, expecting
it to be nothing. His excitement for hopefully receiving a text saying he got the green light from
Venti died out as more days passed, so you can imagine his surprise when he receives that very
same thing.

——————

[Venti] he said hes willing to talk tonight and to meet him at a park just a ways out from the main
commotion of the city i can send the address

Read 14:56
—————————

Kuni feels his heart rate spike as he rereads the message over and over. His coffee runs cold from
how long he stares at it with glee. Heizou is willing to talk! Finally! He will do everything in his
power to make things right again. He’s willing to sit there and be yelled at by Heizou when he
finds out everything that has happened. He doesn’t care. He just wants everything to be all right
again.

———

It’s time. It’s time for them to have their talk and Kuni couldn’t be any more nervous. He hasn’t
eaten since he got the message and he arrived way too early. He’s currently sitting on a swing with
his gifts in his arms because he thought he looked oddly suspicious just pacing around the place
like a predator. He put the flowers in the hedgehog’s little arms just behind the heart, leaving the
card to just be held in his hands. He rocks himself back and forth on the swing, biting his lip as he
stares pointedly down at the ground.

He got here an hour ago but they’re supposed to be meeting now and Heizou still hasn’t shown up.
Only around five minutes have passed, but he can’t help but feel that maybe this was all a set up to
get back at him and make him look like a fool. Or maybe he’s just too used to that kind of thing
because a car door slamming shut sounds in the distance and it can be heard driving away. Kuni
looks up hopefully, eyes landing on Heizou who looks around the park, not having seen him at
first. He’s tempted to call out for him, but he’s too nervous that his voice won’t come out sounding
solid enough for his own liking. So, he just waits.

Eventually Heizou notices him and purses his lips with a small nod of his head before making his
way over to Kuni and sitting down on the swing next to him. It’s only then that he realizes just how
sweaty his palms are and he silently hopes that he isn’t soaking the hedgehog with his nerves.
“What’s that?” Heizou asks, gesturing towards the gifts in his arms. Kuni looks down at them as
well before nervously moving them in Heizou’s direction. When the drummer accepts them, he
almost sighs in relief.

“They’re for you.. as an apology,” he explains, watching as Heizou admires his gifts. The redhead
pats the hedgehog’s head before lifting the plushie so he can smell the flowers. He still looks dead
tired and completely exhausted, drained of all energy and it just makes Kuni feel worse and worse.
It almost makes him back down and not even feel the need to explain himself, but he’s determined
so he will do it. “I know you might not believe me, but that night really was a huge
misunderstanding,” he starts, fidgeting with his hands in his lap before clasping them tightly
together because he doesn’t know what to do with them. “Do you remember the night you told me
you found that article?” he asks, and Heizou nods, looking over Kuni’s uncharacteristically timid
stature, “remember when I said I wanted to be friends? That was just an excuse for a job I was
offered.”

Heizou’s gaze darkens and even though Kuni is too afraid to look at him, he can feel his glare from
over here. “After I became manager and we saw each other again, Kazuha somehow noticed that
we knew each other and wanted to use that to his advantage. Long story short: he offered me
money in exchange to flirt with him to make you jealous. Back then I had nothing to lose, so I said
yes, but then..,” he trails, digging his nails into his own skin, “then things changed,” he finishes.
All is silent for a moment before Heizou finally decides to speak.

“Changed how? What could have possibly changed because it clearly seems like you got the job
done and saw it through to the end with no inside casualties,” he spits, venom lacing his voice.
Kuni bites his lip, refusing to flinch at his harsh tone as his heart races inside his chest. “You got
what you came here for, so I don’t see any reason behind us talking right now. I only came here
because Venti insisted, so get your money from Kazuha and leave,” Heizou barks, crushing the
card in his hand. Kuni feels his heart break all over again, like the night he was told his crush was
in love with someone else. It hurts and it stings and he doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like it one bit.

“The night he kissed me wasn’t my fault, I didn’t ask for that nor did I want it,” Kuni explains
desperately, nearly drawing blood from how tightly his hands are clenched into fists. Heizou
scoffs, a bitter laugh leaving his lips which causes the manager to cave in on himself some more.

“Right, and I’m supposed to believe that? After you just admitted to me that messing with me was
all a ploy to get me jealous? Huh? Tell me, what am I not understanding? I told you I was in love
with Kazuha and you go and face fuck him right in front of me. There’s no excuse, you did it to get
the job done and it worked. Are you fucking happy now?” he asks, gripping the hedgehog in his
hands tightly, crushing the flowers that Kuni had bought for him. The manager feels his words get
stuck in his throat as he swallows thickly. He’s still too afraid to look Heizou in the eye, but if he
wants to get his point across then he has to stop being afraid.

Inhaling deeply as he closes his eyes, he turns to Heizou and opens them to meet his gaze head on.
“After we had grown closer over time I had wanted to tell Kazuha to call it off— that I didn’t
wanna do it anymore, but if I did, it wouldn’t have given me an excuse to be close to you. I wanted
to tell you about the deal that night and ask to be friends for real, but then you told me about the
article. I didn’t know how to feel, but I figured that the cat was out of the bag and just told you my
story, forgetting about the fake friend thing. After that night I promised myself to do the best I can
to genuinely be your friend instead and it worked,” he explains, Heizou is still glaring at him, his
gifts in a death grip in his palms. Kuni thought that if he genuinely tried to be his friend behind the
scenes of the deal where he’s supposed to be faking it, maybe things could naturally change. It
clearly did not work.

“Then what? Where’s the catch? I’m not getting how any of this is supposed to make me forgive
you. You just told me you had an opportunity to stop the deal but you went along with it anyway.
Was nothing we did together special to you? Did it mean nothing to you? Because it sure meant a
hell of a lot to me, Scara ,” Heizou questions, his glare permanent and never fading. Kuni feels his
entire body tense at the name he specifically asked Heizou not to use with him, but he used it
anyway. The last of his patience snaps in that moment. None of this is going how he wanted it to,
everything is falling apart in his hands and he’s falling with it.

“How do you think I felt when after you fucked me so passionately and told me you loved
someone else while holding me in your arms?! You think that felt nice, Heizou because it didn’t! It
fucking—“ he yells, his voice catching in his throat as he feels tears prick his vision. He will not
cry. He won’t cry. He hasn’t cried in years, so why does he feel like he wants to cry now. Over
this? Really? After so long he’s going to let this get to him?

“‘It what’? ‘It what’, Kuni?!” Heizou yells back.

“It fucking hurt, okay?! It hurt so fu- fucking.. bad,” Kuni yells with a stutter, feeling the trails of
hot tears cascade down his cheeks. His eyes widen at the feeling and he immediately hides his face
in his hands, attempting to hide his emotions from Heizou. This wasn’t supposed to be how it goes
at all! He wasn’t supposed to cry! He was just supposed to explain himself and ask for forgiveness
and suck it up if Heizou didn’t want to forgive him, but here he is crying over the fact that he won’t
believe him! How ridiculous! Why is he feeling this way? He doesn’t understand— he doesn’t get
it at all!

“What right do you have to cry, Kunikuzushi?! You’re not the one who got backstabbed by the
person you liked while the other person you liked plotted this entire scheme against you!” Heizou
yells, throwing the hedgehog and flowers down at the ground. Kuni doesn't respond right away,
taking a moment to collect himself as his head pounds with an oncoming headache. He doesn’t
want to lose Heizou over this, he never imagined that this was going to be so hard. He’s never tried
to maintain friendships before.

“I don’t know why I’m crying either! I don’t get it! My chest hurts every time you imply that I
don’t care about you and it aches every time you remind me you’re in love with someone else!”
Kuni practically screams, clutching his shirt over top of his heart as he sniffles, watching his own
tears fall from his face and onto the ground. He watches as the salt water drips into the soil and
sinks down until it’s just a small dot of damp dirt. It almost illustrates how he’s feeling at this exact
moment. Thick with emotions unable to quenched, growing dull only to be a damp, dark spot on
his usually normal and dry life.

“‘In love with someone else’?” Heizou questions, genuinely stunned and surprised, “what do you
mean?” he asks, voice a lot gentler now, but still very accusatory. The caution lacing his words as
well as the disbelief hurts Kuni, but he supposes that he can’t keep his feelings a secret from the
redhead any longer.
“I mean I’m in love with you, Heizou. I have been for a while, got it? I wanted to call off the deal
so many times, but the idea that I wouldn’t have an excuse to be around you any more was
undesirable. I got so swept up in the way you treated me that I lost sight of the goal and before I
knew it I had fallen for you. I found myself longing to be with you more and more that I put telling
off Kazuha on the back burner, but when you told me you—,” he inhales sharply, feeling a fresh
wave of tears coming on. He wipes his eyes furiously, willing them to go away so he doesn’t
embarrass himself anymore than he already has. “When you told me you were in love with
Kazuha, it knocked me back down to reality and shattered my fairy tale all at once. After that I
went to go tell Kazuha we need to call it all off because I can confirm that you like him, but he
goes and tells me he likes me now. I told him I didn’t believe him because of everything he had me
do and so he said he’d prove it to me.”

“Prove it to you?” Heizou asks.

Kuni nods, “after that, we spent a week fake dating so he could ‘prove’ it to me, but I made it clear
I didn’t want him to touch me in any way,” he explains, “but he told me when he saw it wasn’t
working that he thought the only way left was to show it physically and he thought a kiss wouldn’t
be so bad. That’s what you saw that night. It wasn’t me, Heizou, it wasn’t me at all ,” Kuni
practically begs him to believe. Heizou sits in shocked silence for a while, listening to the way
Kuni sniffles, still rubbing at his eyes that have now gone red rimmed and glossy. An occasional
hiccup escapes his lips and his posture isn’t anything short of cowardly. It’s very unlike himself
and it makes Kuni self conscious in a way.

After a moment of just processing new information and staring at Kunikuzushi who looks
completely miserable, Heizou sighs heavily and picks up his crushed gifts from the ground. He
opens the card and reads its contents. It explains everything that the manager had previously stated,
but the interesting part is what’s written about how he came up with the gifts. It’s oddly
sentimental for such a mundane apology letter. “Kuni—“

“I’m sorry, Heizou. If I wasn’t so dumb, deep in a crush none of this would have ever happened,”
he apologizes, leaving Heizou to blink over at him and then down to the crumpled card and flowers
in his hands. The drummer brushes the dirt off the hedgehog and admires it. He runs his fingers
over the little blushes on the cheeks and over the scratch now present on its eye from having hit a
small stone on the ground. The fur is soft and silky, a perfect plushie to add to his collection from
his friends is what Kuni hopes.

“I don’t know when it happened. The night I hugged you for the first time, when we played games
together, when we did it a second time..,” Heizou starts, drawing Kuni’s attention. He looks over at
the redhead who is staring down at the hedgehog in his hands with longing. “Before I had realized
it, I had already fallen for you. I had been questioning it— denying it— for a long time saying
things like: ‘you can’t be in love with two people that’s wrong’ and such. It seemed unjust and
unfair. Then I talked to this one married guy and even though he didn’t help jack shit he made me
realize that love in its purest form is given and received equally and honestly. So, I thought that as
long as I loved you both equally and with an honest heart everything would be okay. Then I found
out all this was happening behind my back,” he states, rubbing the hedgehog’s paws between his
fingers.

Kuni cringes at that, sniffling as he rubs at his left eye. Crying really makes your eyes dry and he’s
finding it very annoying very quickly. “When you ignored me after we did it again, I thought you
were mad at me, so I went out and bought you both gifts. Being ignored like that and then having
your hope of reconciliation crushed right before your very eyes hurt, I’m not even gonna lie,” he
says, pulling out a red bracelet with a jade bead on it. He holds out a hand for Kunikuzushi to take,
but the manager hesitates. When Heizou rolls his eyes and insists he give him his wrist, Kuni obeys
and holds it out for him.

Heizou slips the bracelet over his hand and tightens it, admiring the way it looks around his wrist.
Kuni makes a mental note of how Heizou didn’t push his sleeve up any further than it needed to
go. “Now that I know the almost full truth, I can’t help but fawn over the fact that both of my
crushes like me back and put the anger to the back of my mind. Kazuha and I will have our own
talk about his dumb ass decisions. I swear sometimes that guy can be the most unpredictable
person in all of Teyvat,” Heizou laughs lightly, but Kuni can’t manage anything else other than a
small bittersweet smile.

Sighing, Heizou hooks a finger under his chin, lifting Kuni’s face so that he looks at him. “Do you
promise not to break my heart again?” he asks, completely serious. Kuni pauses, a frown appearing
on his face as he ponders where this is going. Of course he promises not to break his heart again,
that’s kind of the entire point of doing all this, is it not? So, with that in mind, he nods his head as
he stares back into Heizou’s beautiful emerald eyes. He’s always loved the color of his eyes,
they’re like a beautiful green apple color and shine brighter than any crystal ever could. They
always look at him with such patience and kindness unless he’s mad. Kuni just found that out the
hard way. “Pardon me then,” he says, using that same hand to brush Kuni’s bangs from his
forehead and plant a kiss there.

The manager is too stunned to speak, feeling his cheeks heat up at the action, but they only get
hotter when Heizou rests his forehead against his. “Sorry for not asking permission, I just really
wanted to kiss you,” he murmurs, “it feels so much better when you know your feelings are
reciprocated,” he concludes and Kuni swallows thickly. His eyes are blown wide, counting every
eyelash on Heizou’s closed eyes as his brain short circuits on what to do next. Though, before he
knows it, Heizou is pulling away and admiring his gifts again. He brings the crushed flowers to his
nose and smells them once more. Guess the lady at the florist really knows how to do her job.

“If I’m gonna be honest, I’m scared too. The whole idea of dating and making things official
frightens me and it seems unfair to you both to ask that you love each other just because I love you
both. I say this because I know I couldn’t just end up with one of you and be happy, I need you
both, Kuni,” he says openly and honestly. His gaze falls back on the manager and Kuni’s heart
stops. His eyes aren’t mad anymore, they’re filled with nothing but pure and innocent love . “So, if
things all work out and Kazuha agrees, would you be willing to be my boyfriend alongside him?”
he asks, causing Kuni to gawk at him. Is he being serious right now? This isn’t a dream?? It’s not,
right? Please tell him it’s not. Though he doesn’t fancy Kazuha all that much right now, he can’t lie
when he says that the fake flirting with him was attractive. He’s sure if he lets himself warm up to
Kazuha the way he warmed up to Heizou, he will surely come to cherish them both equally.

“It wouldn’t make any sense if I said no, now would it?” he teases and Heizou laughs. Kuni’s heart
jumps into his throat as it swells with pride. This is the first time he’s heard him laugh in a while
and it feels incredibly good. Heizou gestures for Kuni to come over to him, patting his lap, but he
glares, giving him a frown at the action. Is he seriously asking that he sit on his lap like a child
right now? At least he would feel like it since he just cried, it’s like Heizou is comforting him. But
then he gives him a pout with puppy dog eyes and Kuni sighs heavily, being unable to resist.

When he stands from his swing Heizou’s face lights up with joy and Kuni takes his gifts and places
them on the swing he was just on. He then holds on to the chains of Heizou’s swing and uses them
as an aid to jump into his lap. He slots his legs on either side of Heizou’s waist and plants himself
right on top of him, looking down at the way the redhead smirks in the smuggest way ever. A light
blush appears on his cheeks as he holds onto Heizou’s shoulders so he doesn’t fall backwards.
“You look pretty on top,” he comments and Kuni’s reflexes move before he can think, shoving
Heizou’s face away from him, causing the swing to shift when his hands aren’t gripping anything.
The manager panics, looking for something to hold on to so he doesn’t fall, but Heizou wraps an
arm around his waist while holding on to the swing with the other. “Whoa there, princess, wouldn’t
want to see you injured right after we just made up,” Heizou jokes.

Kuni glares at him, adjusting their positions so he’s sitting upright again. Heizou giggles up at him,
resting his chin against Kuni’s chest as the manger takes a finger and brushes some strands of hair
from his face. He makes sure to stay holding on to Heizou this time so he doesn’t fall as he admires
him as well. He runs a hand through his hair, admiring what a beautiful shade of red it is alongside
the little strip of a darker shade. He admires the soft feeling of his skin beneath his fingertips as
well as how prominent his two twin moles are. He admires the way his lips smile at him in the
gentlest way and the way Heizou’s eyes look like beautifully green stained glass. Harboring zero
thoughts, just emotion, Kuni brings a finger to trail along Heizou’s jaw to stop at his chin. His gaze
flicks from the man’s lips to his eyes, but the drummer doesn’t say a word, waiting for him to
make the first move. Then he does, leaning down to slot their lips together.

Heizou tilts his head one way while Kuni tilts his the other, placing a hand on his cheek as they
kiss ever so gently. Both of their eyes fall closed as they enjoy deep kisses together, feeling content
even if it’s just for now. Their lips move in sync and they quickly grow breathless. Heizou is the
first to use tongue, trying his luck with Kuni to which the manager responds openly to. The action
deepens their kiss even further and a soft whine escapes Kuni’s lips. Instantly, a smirk appears on
Heizou’s lips and it irritates him the way he can feel it against his own as they kiss. Asshole, he did
that on purpose.

Eventually they pull away, Kuni resting his forearms on Heizou’s shoulders as the redhead
actually decides to start using the swing for what it’s for. Gently, he rocks them back and forth,
allowing gravity to take its course and keep them moving to and fro. The calming rhythm and
gentle breeze that this creates, lulls Kuni down to a point where he grows sleepy. The crying must
have taken a lot out of him because he’s usually never tired at this hour. Seeing this, Heizou
continues swinging, letting his manager lean forward and relax his body completely. His eyes fall
closed as exhaustion catches up to him, feeling the comforting weight of Heizou beneath and
around him really helps him calm down. Everything is all right now, everything is okay.

———

Upon waking up, Kuni realizes that he is in a car, head resting against someone’s shoulder. That
someone being Heizou, so with a yawn he lifts his head and stretches, looking around in confusion.
“Morning sleeping beauty. You’re a lot more peaceful when you’re asleep,” he smirks and Kuni
glares. From a quick glance around he can tell that they’re on their way back to the hotel which
means that their night of peace together will soon come to a close until Heizou sorts things out with
Kazuha. In realizing this, a frown appears on his face as he thinks about it a little too hard.

Heizou doesn’t say anything more, just laughs lightly as he tells him to quit pouting to which he
glares some more. Though when they arrive back at the hotel, Heizou doesn’t part from him to
head to Venti and Xiao’s room, he walks with Kuni right to his and Kazuha’s room. Panicking, he
goes to question the man, but Heizou quickly takes out the keycard and swipes it, pushing open the
door and heading inside. His nerves spike as he waits for the awkward tension that’s bound to
come, but when it doesn’t, Kuni grows confused. This is when he realizes that Kazuha is missing.

“Get dressed up, you and I are going on a date tonight and be prepared to take your clothes off,”
Heizou winks. Flames light Kuni’s face at the implication, distracting him from the fact that
they’re going on a date tonight. He spends all his energy that he gained from his nap on picking
out a good outfit that he doesn’t realize that Heizou changes quicker than him and is already dolled
up and ready to go. Flipping him the bird when Heizou giggles at this, he takes his clothes and new
outfit and goes to get changed in the bathroom. He spend a good amount of time making sure not a
single hair is out of place before he re-enters the room causing Heizou to whistle.

“You look so sexy,” he smirks, “a shame you’ll be taking it off oh so quickly.” This causes Kuni to
raise his eyebrows at him, just daring him to say anything more lest he want to get punched. So,
taking the hint, Heizou laughs it off and reaches an arm around his waist. The redhead waits for a
look of approval before planting his hand there and guiding him out the door. He has no idea where
they’re going and he can’t even make a guess because the only thing Heizou is giving him a hint of
is the fact that he’s going to have to take his clothes off! That asshole.

Heizou doesn’t say anything more, not even while they’re on the way to where they’re going. The
discreet car takes them just out of the city and to a little remote area with villas lining the shoreline.
Those houses must be expensive to rent, even just as a vacation home he thinks as they pull into
the driveway of one. His brain stops working as he looks around, the place is hidden from most of
the public eye, the entrance facing the road, yet surrounded by trees to give them privacy. The
backyard faces the ocean and gives access to a private beach. He doesn’t think this is going where
he thinks it’s going, right? But then Heizou steps out of the vehicle.

“Hey, are you serious right now?” he calls from inside the car still and Heizou leans down into the
doorframe and smiles. He takes an arm and holds it out for Kuni to grab on his way out, but he just
scrunches up his nose and opens his own door, stepping out. He takes in the view around them, the
trees almost curl into the property and welcome them as the place is made entirely of wood and
glass. He can see light coming from the small windows in front as well as see a chimney pipe
coming from the roof. This villa is the sort of thing people can only stay at in their dreams! Or if
they’re loaded, which Heizou is and Kuni tends to forget that fact.

“Coming or what?” Heizou laughs from the doorstep. Kuni didn’t even realize he walked ahead!
Hesitantly, he follows, stepping into the place first and admiring the interior when Heizou holds
the door open for him. A chandelier hangs from the middle of the ceiling, shining and shimmering
with the lights glowing through it. The back wall is a complete floor to ceiling window where you
can see a private pool and hot tub as well as the ocean from it. Off to one side is the bathroom and
single bedroom with one bed.

They both enter said bedroom and find that the floor and mattress is covered in flower petals,
candles are lit all around the room and condoms and lube are set on the nightstand. Kuni pops a
quizzical brow at Heizou who laughs with a shrug. “I told them to prepare it for a couple and I
guess that meant.. this,” he laughs, scratching the back of his neck. The manager just shrugs,
turning around to exit through the back door and admire their view. The sun is completely set now
and only the moon allows a good view of the water. It sparkles from what he can see and the smell
of salt water is strong.

He walks over to the edge of the pool, crouching down to get a good feel of it and is surprised to
find it’s heated. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised to be honest, this place is expensive just
because of the land it’s on. Standing up, Heizou walks over to him and admires the view alongside
him before Kuni gets an idea. Without a word, he turns to Heizou and starts feeling around for his
phone and wallet. The redhead just lets him, thinking he’s trying to flirt before Kuni takes those
items from him and pockets them. Once they’re safely tucked away, Kuni uses all his strength to
shove Heizou right in the pool.

The redhead screams, said scream being muffled by the water when he collides with it causing a
huge splash that even lands back on Kuni. When Heizou resurfaces with a big frown and a pout, the
manager can’t help but burst out laughing. His hair is no longer fluffy, all soaking wet and flat
from the water, so Heizou flips his bangs out of his face and swims over to the edge of the pool.
Kuni backs up as a safety measure in case Heizou decides to pull him down too. “That’s for
making me cry after my 12 year long streak,” he chides, crossing his arms with a smirk. Heizou
raises a brow at him before a smirk of his own grows on his lips. Feeling uneasy now, Kuni takes
another step back right as Heizou uses the edge of the pool to push himself up. “Oh hell no,” Kuni
laughs, dodging Heizou when he tries to grab him before running into the house.

Despite being soaking wet, Heizou walks to the back door and takes off his layers, just leaving his
boxers on for now. A blush coats Kuni’s cheeks as he watches safely from behind the couch in the
living room, but he shakes his head, telling himself to focus. He, too, strips himself of his layers,
only taking off his jacket in case Heizou does catch him and throw him into the pool. That way the
valuable items won’t get trashed. Right as he finishes that, the redhead storms through the door,
intent on catching the manager. When he spots him, Heizou makes a beeline straight for him,
jumping right over the couch to which Kuni yells ‘what the fuck?!’ and runs behind the kitchen
counter.

Both of them are panting from their little game of cat and mouse, but they’re both wearing
matching smirks and smiles. Heizou fakes a left that makes Kuni go right and almost get caught by
him, but he swiftly dodges, running back over to hide behind a whole chair instead of a couch this
time so Heizou can’t jump it. The redhead stalks his way over, pacing around the living room like a
lion and it makes Kuni uneasy. This man is unpredictable and he doesn’t know what he’s going to
do next. They circle around the chair until Kuni is out in the open again and he takes the chance
and runs outside again, putting the pool between himself and Heizou.

The drummer follows him outside and in seeing him trapped, he locks the door behind him that’s
passcoded, so Kuni can’t get in. He swears under his breath at having not seen that before as he
watches Heizou like a hawk. Heizou sees a tiny paddle board resting up against the side of the
house and uses that to his advantage, throwing it down on the water and running onto it, gliding
across the surface to collide with Kunikuzushi before the man can even think. Heizou kicks a leg
under his and picks him up bridal style as it’s his turn to scream as he’s launched into the pool.

When he resurfaces and shakes his hair out of his eyes, he can hear Heizou’s hearty laughter as he
wipes a tear from his eye. Kuni glares at him from his place in the pool and Heizou just smirks
down at him. “You made me cry too, I was just calling it even,” he says before dropping down into
the pool as well. Kuni scrunches up his face when the water hits him before he feels Heizou’s arms
around his waist under the water and he shakes his head with an embarrassed smile. Heizou then
pops his head out of the water again, pulling Kuni, even though still fully clothed, closer to him by
his waist. “You don’t wanna lose some layers? That’s gotta be uncomfortable, sunshine,” he
smirks and Kuni glares.

He’s right, though, so he detaches himself from Heizou and takes a step back, pulling his heavy
pants from his body and leaving his boxers as well. He hesitates when it comes to his shirt, looking
up at Heizou who has his arms crossed and head tilted with a soft smile. His hair is all brushed to
one side, exposing his hairline on his left side. He looks incredibly attractive and it makes Kuni
nervous, but he has to learn to allow Heizou to see this part of him, even if he’s ashamed of it. He
really wants them— and eventually Kazuha— to work out. So, with a deep breath, he lifts his shirt
over his head and tosses it out of the pool along with his pants. Luckily, Heizou can’t really see his
scars underneath the water but they’re still clearly there.
The redhead just gives him an even more dopey smile, pulling him in by his waist again and
kissing his cheek before kissing his other cheek and then showering his entire face with kisses.
Kuni scrunches up his nose and closes an eye as he places his hands on Heizou’s chest. “Okay,
okay, you’re gonna be the one drowning me instead of the water,” he says, a shy blush coating his
cheeks. Heizou just laughs, brushing Kuni’s hair from his face before taking his face in his hands
and squishing his cheeks together. He then plants one, loudly obnoxious kiss to his lips which
makes even Kuni smile with laughter.

“It’s not my fault that I’m so fucking proud of you and so happy to actually be able to call you
mine,” he smiles, holding Kunikuzushi close and swaying them on their feet in the pool. “I’m
gonna spoil you and treat you so good, I swear on it. Not a day will go by where you won’t smile!“
he promises and Kuni can feel his heart throb with how badly it aches with love. He’s too stubborn
to admit it out loud, but he’s just as happy as Heizou is right now. He’s sure that the redhead can
tell as much too. So, he wraps his arms around him and rests his head against Heizou’s chest as
they stand together just enjoying each other’s company.

Crickets chirp all around them and the moonlight aids the lights of the pool in lighting up their
night. The ocean waves create an alluring music that calms both body and mind as Heizou
absentmindedly rubs Kuni’s back. The redhead rests his head against the manager’s as they sway
gently back and forth on their feet. The pool water is warm and the night air is crisp allowing a
perfect equilibrium to take place, making this night more perfect than before.

Kuni slides his hands up Heizou’s back and hooks them around his shoulders, hugging him close as
the redhead cups some water with two hands and dumps it on top of his head. Shocked, Kuni rubs
his eyes from the water and glares up at Heizou, arms now crossed. “Really? We were having a
moment,” he chides which just makes the man smirk. Heizou then takes a step forward, closing the
distance between them as he brings one hand around Kuni’s waist to spin him around in the water.
Confused, the manager just goes along with it until his back hits the side of the pool and a knee is
pushed between his legs. He looks up at Heizou with a raised brow, but almost immediately his
lips are trapped in a kiss.

Heizou’s knee grinds against Kuni’s groin, bringing a whine from the manager as he tilts his head
back in order to be more comfortable in their kiss. His hands come to hold onto the side of the pool
as Heizou’s trail down his body. The redhead slides his fingers into the waistband of his boxers,
grabbing the soft skin of his ass as he pushes his knee against him. Another whine escapes his lips
as Kuni now moves his hands to touch Heizou as well, bringing them up to his chest and then
caressing his pecks. “If you really want to do this, that means there’s no going back. If we walk
down this road you’re mine,” Heizou murmurs against his lips, parting from the kiss to do so.
Swallowing thickly, Kuni pants from the intensity of the situation, his mind hazey with lust.

“Then.. let me be yours,” he whispers back, breath dancing over Heizou’s lips. Their eyes meet and
Heizou can’t help but shake his head with a smile, bringing his hand up to Kuni’s chin and locking
their lips once more. Kunikuzushi’s hands wander Heizou’s body, feeling up his arms, his torso,
and, of course, his ass. Meanwhile the redhead brings his hands back down to work on stripping
Kuni of his last clothing item. Before he grabs his dick and starts stroking. The manager’s head
falls back with a moan as Heizou continues to press his knee up against him all the while jerking
him off. And with his neck fully exposed like this, Heizou takes the opportunity to lean down and
kiss his neck. He leaves little trails of kisses before spending a longer amount of time on the more
tender parts, assuring he leaves a mark— not that Kuni minds any more.

“Are you sure you want to do this here? Might be a little more painful without normal lube. Water
isn’t exactly the best, you know,” Heizou asks as he continues his assault on Kuni’s neck. The
manager can’t think straight with him surrounding his everything right now. So, he picks up his
head and knocks it against Heizou’s gently, but firmly. The redhead yelps and pulls away, looking
at him with big doe eyes that don’t understand why he was just bopped in the head. “Ouchie,” he
whines, rubbing his forehead.

“I can’t,” he pants, “I can’t think when you’re on me like that,” he admits, brushing his hair out of
his face so he can think with a clearer head. Heizou just pouts at him, stopping his hand
movements, but not removing his hand while he waits for Kuni to respond. “We can do it here, if it
gets too painful we’ll move inside,” he compromises and Heizou nods, starting up his rhythm
again. Kuni shivers, his shoulders hunching at being over sensitive. Every little touch feels a lot
more intense— a lot more thrilling now that they are together and it feels amazing.

Heizou leans forward to trap his lips in a kiss again as Kuni works on removing his boxers as well.
The redhead helps him as he shimmies out of them and tosses them somewhere in the water.
Letting the buoyancy of his body do him favors, he leans back against the edge of the pool and
plants his ass directly against Heizou’s crotch. The redhead bites his lip when he feels the way
Kuni rubs his ass against his cock, all the while the manager himself can feel the way his dick
grows hard beneath him. So, while Heizou works his front, Kuni works himself in the back,
bringing a hand down to poke at his hole. Heizou is right when he said it’s more painful without
actual lube, but the water still helps somewhat as he slips his first finger inside.

Heizou brings his legs to wrap around his waist so he doesn’t float away while doing so as he
grinds up against Kuni now. The manager moans against Heizou’s lips, the redhead slipping his
tongue inside before practically drowning him in the kiss. Heizou places his free hand on Kuni’s
waist, gripping it tightly before letting it slide to his ass and doing the same. Out of reflex, the
manager’s hand flies to his partner’s shoulder when a second finger slips inside him and brushes
against his prostate. Heizou lets out a breathy laugh at this, admiring the way Kuni is making
himself feel good right now. Kunikuzushi himself doesn’t realize how erotic it is for Heizou to be
watching him play with his own ass.

Heizou’s thumb brushes over the tip of Kuni’s stimulated cock which draws a gasp from him, his
head falling back. So, Heizou brings up a hand and runs it through his hair, brushing it out of his
face as he kisses behind his ear. He sucks a hickey into his manager’s skin before licking it and
biting it gently, causing Kuni to shiver with pleasure. “You’ve got me losing control already and
we barely even started, princess,” Heizou murmurs, lust lacing his words which drives Kuni mad
with desire. Feeling smug about having done such a thing to him, the manager lifts his head and
gives him a smirk and laugh, using his legs to pull his cock against his prepped ass. Heizou grunts,
hanging his head as he tries to maintain self control, but Kunikuzushi keeps at it until Heizou is
pressing bruises into his hips with the urge for him to stop.

“What if I were to tell you that’s exactly what I want?” he smirks, placing a finger against Heizou’s
cheek and sliding it over to his slightly ajar lips. His eyes flick from Heizou’s eyes to his lips
before catching on the way his Adam’s Apple bobs when he swallows thickly. Taking pride in
such things, Kuni unwraps his legs from around Heizou’s waist and turns around in his hold.
Looking over his shoulder, the manager presents his ass to his partner and smirks. “All yours, you
just have to take it,” he teases and Heizou bites his lip, looking up to the sky and bringing his palms
flat against each other. Kuni thinks he hears a small ‘thank you’ to the archons and it makes him
stifle a laugh.

Heizou is on him in seconds after, lifting Kuni’s right leg as he uses his other hand to line his cock
up to his boyfriend’s entrance. Kuni takes note of how much gentler Heizou is being with the
initial penetration than usual, considering their lack of lube and a condom. And he appreciates it,
he really does, but he already stated once before he’s not made of porcelain so he’s not fragile. And
maybe.. just maybe, he enjoys a little pain. So, he, without warning, slams his ass back against
Heizou’s cock as his eyes roll back in his head at the pleasured pain he’s experiencing. The
redhead, once he’s recovered from the pleasure rush, immediately scolds him for being so reckless
as he asks if Kuni is okay. The manager just swats him away and tells him to get moving.

Taking the hint, Heizou lifts his leg high and presses his manager against the side of the pool as he
begins fucking into him. Kuni rests his arms against the ledge of the pool, sometimes burying his
face in them when the pleasure gets too intense for him to handle. The drummer takes a hand while
keeping the other on his boyfriend’s waist and uses it to stroke his cock in hopes it distracts from
the pain more. Luckily, it does and Kuni is a moaning mess within seconds. He’s found that out of
all his partners Heizou has been the one to make him the most vocal. In all honesty it’s pretty
embarrassing and is something he will never admit to the redhead. The smug bastard will definitely
let it go to his head.

Speaking of, Heizou leans down, pressing kisses to Kuni’s shoulder blades before biting his
shoulder as he slams particularly hard into his prostate. The manager whimpers, clenching tightly
around Heizou which causes him to groan in pleasure. Kuni feels the way the redhead releases his
cock and instead comes to play with his nipples as his other hand continues to rub soothing circles
into his thigh with his thumb. The manager shudders when Heizou pinches and pulls at the
sensitive buds, loving the way the small spikes of pain turn him on so nicely. And once Heizou is
satisfied with making multiple different noises leave Kuni’s mouth, he brings that hand up to his
throat and pulls his manager’s back against him, fucking him straight standing.

Heizou’s dick reaches even deeper inside him in this position and it makes his head fall back
against the drummer’s shoulder. Water splashes all around them as each of them pant from the
workout they’re experiencing right now. Kuni brings his arms up and back, cupping them around
Heizou’s neck for leverage so he doesn’t lose his balance. The action clearly turns the redhead on
if the way his dick hardens even more has anything to say about it. So, he leans down and sucks
where the base of Kuni’s neck meets his shoulder. He trails his kisses up until he makes his partner
lean his head to the side, exposing more of himself. The manager then closes his eyes tightly,
focused on the intense pleasure that’s building up inside him.

I’m noticing this, Heizou picks up his pace, stroking his cock again as he pounds into his ass.
Kuni’s corresponding string of moans and mewls are unstoppable as he feels himself growing
closer to his euphoric high. He clenches tightly around Heizou, feeling as the man channels all his
energy into making Kuni climax. “Come on, Kunikuzushi, you’re so fucking sexy,” Heizou
encourages and it’s something about the way he says his full name that drives Kuni over the edge.
He comes into the water, head tossed back against Heizou’s shoulder as his eyes shut tightly with
unbearable pleasure. The scream of the moan he releases is almost loud enough to echo off the
walls of the house as he closes impossibly tight around Heizou. The redhead grunts, holding still as
he lets his partner ride out his intense orgasm.

When Kuni comes down from his high, he’s panting and sweating even though they’re in a pool.
Heizou drops his leg, the manager shuttering from the way he feels his dick move inside him.
“Let’s finish you off inside,” he pants, patting Heizou on the forearm to ask him to let him go.
When he does, Kuni is thankful the water is there to help him keep his balance as he leans against
the edge of the pool and regains his energy. He can feel the way his ass and cock throb from their
intimacy and it brings a blush to his cheeks when Heizou comes up behind him and kisses the nap
of his neck. The redhead rubs his back encouragingly as he catches his breath before giving him a
kiss on the cheek and helping him out of the pool.

The pair make their way inside, both still slightly breathless as they towel themselves off and head
for the bedroom. Surprisingly the candles are still lit as Heizou leads the way to the bed, only to
get pushed on his back as Kuni climbs on top of him. The wide eyed look he receives from the man
below him, makes the manager swell with pride. He took note of how Heizou had commented on
him looking good on top, so using that to his advantage, he grabs some lube and slathers them both
this time and puts a condom on his partner as well. He then slides his way down Heizou’s cock
like a slut, making sure he pays attention to every inch that disappears inside his body. Once he’s
fully sat on his lap, Kuni places his hands on Heizou’s torso and uses them as leverage to get his
body moving.

The manager skillfully clenches around his boyfriend, grinding down in circles around his cock as
he bites his bottom lip, watching where their bodies connect. He feels so much lighter after having
just fucked in the pool, so his energy is restored and his stamina isn’t so easily depleted. Using this
to his advantage, the manager picks himself up and slams himself back down before continuing
that rhythm, lewd sounds filling the room. Heizou groans, letting his hands fall to Kuni’s waist as
he aids him in his pursuit to climax. Sitting up against the headboard, the drummer leans forward
and presses their lips together, biting his partner’s bottom one as their moans intermingle andhe
brings a hand around Kuni’s cock. The man shudders, whimpering at the touch before Heizou
begins stroking him again.
“I didn’t lie when I.. hah.. said you look pretty on top,” Heizou murmurs against his lips, Kuni
responding back with a moan. The words go straight to his groin as his dick hardens again much to
his dismay. After two climaxes he’s bound to be exhausted and he wanted to spend more time,
y’know, awake and conscious for their first date as a couple. Does this even count as a date? He
doesn’t know. It doesn’t matter, though, as he feels the way Heizou’s body stiffens under him,
signaling the beginnings of a climax. So, taking note of this, he focuses all his energy and attention
on that.

Kuni grinds his hips down, making sure he slides around Heizou just right as he clenches tightly
causing more heated friction. His arms come around Heizou’s neck, leaning into their kiss more as
he whimpers, panting against his lip. Heizou continues to stroke his cock, even as he’s finally
reaching his own orgasm which Kuni finds to be ridiculous because he doesn’t know how he does
it. The manager plays with the hair at the base of Heizou’s neck, running his fingers through it as
he grinds down just right and Heizou stops all movements. Kuni watches as his face scrunches up
in pleasure, a choked groan leaving his throat as the drummer grips his waist tightly. Bruises are
sure to form there later.

Once his climax passes, Heizou sighs, dropping his head to rest against Kuni’s chest as he pants
heavily. The manager blinks up at the ceiling slowly, panting as well as he processes everything
that just happened. He doesn’t get long to do so, though, as Heizou is switching their positions and
pulling out of him. The drummer rids himself of the condom and hovers over Kuni before he
spreads his legs and brushes his fingers against his partner’s entrance. The manager shudders,
feeling over stimulated, but still open to the idea of a second climax. So, Heizou takes his cock in
his mouth as he fingers his hole, causing Kuni to grip the pillows under his head tightly and moan.

Heizou’s hand is quick and skillful in its movements as is his mouth as they work Kuni in just the
right way. It feels so good that the manager is growing dizzy with pleasure as he brings a hand
down to tuck a strand of hair behind Heizou’s ear. He never thought that doing it with someone
you have emotional ties to would feel so damn good. He was too busy caught up trying to cure
himself of his loneliness and the hole in his heart that he never thought to fill it with an actual
romance. He thought all relationships ever bring is pain, but he was wrong. Though they can bring
negative emotions, they also bring euphoric highs and relaxing calms that sooth his inner being.
They ground him and make him not hate the fact that he feels so much. It’s showing him that there
is more to them than just broken ties and misery. If it weren’t for Heizou, he never would have
known as much.

Suddenly, Heizou pops off his dick and moves his face down to Kuni’s ass instead. He licks at his
hole as he lets his hand do his mouth’s previous job as his tongue works his entrance. It feels
amazing and causes the manager to whimper, hiding his face in the pillow as he grips Heizou’s
hair instead. The drummer just hums at the action, continuing his venture of eating his boyfriend
out as he continues pumping his cock right alongside that. Kuni’s hips buck involuntarily as
Heizou continues to touch his most sensitive places, feeling his tongue breach his hole is what
sends him over the edge.
Kuni comes hot and fast with a high pitched moan that sounds like music to Heizou’s ears. The
manager’s chest heaves as he breathes hard, blinking slowly down at Heizou who he still has his
hand in the hair of. He takes that hand and combs it through his hair which his partner happily
leans in to, smiling at the feeling. Then, Heizou moves up his body and plants his lips on Kuni’s,
kissing him deeply as he keeps his cum filled hand off the bed. If any of that drips, Kuni is not
going to be the one to clean it up. So, humming against his lips, Heizou gives him one last peck
before sliding off him and going to wash his hands and grab a wet towel.

The manager is left there to process their passionate night together as he finally takes in the vanilla
scented candles all around them. He absentmindedly counts them as he waits, determining that
there are eight of them, all at different points in their burn time. He supposes that this means he and
Heizou are official now, like, offical offical. An uncontrollable smile appears on his lips at the
affirmation, which brings a blush to his cheeks and he hides his face in his hands. They’re together
for real now. Finally. He doesn’t have to pretend not to like him anymore and he doesn’t have to
beat around the bush with him. He doesn’t have to be afraid of rejection anymore and he doesn’t
have to feel heartbroken anymore. Most importantly he can trust him now.

The realization hits him like a bus and he quickly pulls his hands away from his face, looking over
his forearms with widened eyes. He was able to take off his shirt in front of Heizou and not once
did he ever make a comment about his scars. Maybe him saying he was proud of Kuni counts as
one, but he doesn’t know. What’s big is the fact that Kuni was able to take off his shirt in front of
Heizou and not have one single thought of self consciousness over them the entire time. Even now,
he doesn’t feel ashamed or like he needs to hide himself. Heizou makes him feel beautiful,
appreciated, and loved.

Kuni feels like he’s going to cry again but for a whole different reason. He doesn’t, though, instead
he just sits there, patiently waiting for Heizou to make his return so they can end their night
together with lots of cuddles and kisses. Despite how this whole thing started, Kuni has to admit
that his favorite part of being together is definitely the soft parts. The kisses, the cuddles, the hugs
and the soft smiles. The little things are what get his heart racing and Heizou is an expert at doing
all of those things. So, when he returns to the bedroom and gives Kunikuzushi the gentlest smile,
he can’t help but return it, opening his arms with a shy glare in his direction. Heizou happily
accepts the invitation, slotting himself right in his arms.

“Your heart is pounding,” Heizou laughs, his ear pressed to Kuni’s chest. The manager just glares
down at him despite him not being able to see it. It’s not his fault his heart is racing! It’s not like he
can control its speed at will! Maybe if Heizou didn’t make him this way his heart wouldn’t be
beating so fast, but here they are.

“Shut up,” he grumbles, running his fingers through Heizou’s hair. The redhead laughs lightly,
kissing Kuni’s chest where they’re curled around each other. The action makes him shudder in a
good way, as he closes his eyes and relaxes. Heizou’s arms snake around his waist, pulling him
 close against himself despite the fact they’re both still fully nude. In realizing this, Kuni kicks the
covers over them with his feet before relaxing again. His boyfriend doesn’t seem to mind the action
at all as he hums in claiming comfort. “Was it the pool or the sex that I was originally supposed to
take my clothes off for?” he asks skeptically and Heizou lets out what can only be described as an
evil giggle.

“I’ll leave that up for you to decide, princess,” he says, making the smirk he wears evident in his
tone of voice. It makes Kuni roll his eyes as he stifles a scoff of a laugh. The manager wouldn’t be
surprised if it was either that went before the other, he just wants to know which came first out of
curiosity. Though he must admit that if they swam after they fucked.. he might have not been in the
best condition to do so. So for now, he’ll assume the swimming was supposed to go intentionally
before the sex, for his own peace of mind. Tch , asshole.

Even though their talk didn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped, everything worked out in the end and
hopefully it all works out with Kazuha too. Maybe he should have a talk with him as well and have
a proper discussion about how they were both wrong to partake in the deal. Though Kuni really
harbors no ill feelings towards the white haired man, the kiss still bothers him and he would like to
clear the air about it. But that’s a long conversation for another day. For now, he just wants to relax
in the arms of his lover and enjoy a peaceful night's sleep with one another.

He’ll have to be sure to thank Venti later.

Chapter End Notes

I’ll be honest when I tell you my heart is absolutely POUNDING right now. I
desperately hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. Also, to all the horny mfs
who voted for make up sex on twitter: sleep with one eye open. See you next week,

Mika.
 Survivor’s Guilt
Chapter Summary

From the end starts a new beginning. Kazuha’s POV.

Chapter Notes

You know the drill, welcome back! We finally made it y’all. Enjoy,

Mika.

Edit: Oops I forgot to say I made a little book with my character annotations too. You
can check them out on my profile thing (I think)!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Kunikuzushi didn’t come back to the hotel room last night. Heizou hasn’t been back to the hotel
room in days. Kazuha feels isolated. Closed off— shut off, but maybe he deserves it. This is
probably how Heizou felt the entire time the deal was going on. His heart hurts. His eyes sting.
Even though he’s not even moving, he feels like his body weighs a thousand pounds. His limbs lay
stretched out across his and Heizou’s shared bed as he stares up at the ceiling. Soft sunlight floods
in through the curtains that are slightly ajar and his phone has long been dead, resting on the
nightstand. A permanent frown is on his face as he thinks of all the possibilities there are.

Kuni didn’t come back last night and Heizou hasn’t been back in days. Where could Kuni have
gone if not out with Heizou? Unless he got a whole new hotel room, but that doesn’t seem
plausible because he would have done that way sooner if he really felt that uncomfortable around
Kazuha. Which means he definitely talked to Heizou and since he didn’t come back last night, it’s
safe to assume everything went well. Good for them. He’s glad they made up, really, but now what
is he supposed to do? He knows he’s supposed to apologize to Heizou, but how does he even get to
that point? He’s afraid. The redhead has every right to not want to be friends with him anymore
after this, and Kazuha would never blame him for such a thing.

His fear is what began all this. Maybe if he wasn’t such a pussy afraid of his own feelings and of
losing his best friend, he wouldn’t have had all this happen. Guess all of it was pointless now
anyways. Heizou found out and now Kazuha is in for a beating for sure and he’s definitely going to
lose a friend. Part of him wants to live in a fantasy where he trusts his and Heizou’s friendship
enough that they’ll pull through this, but the situation is just so.. fucked up. Not to mention his
crush on Kuni as well. What a fool. He brought on this whole mess because he couldn’t confess to
his best friend, what a joke to even fall for the guy you set up. How stupid is he?!
He fucked up his friendship all because he was scared of rejection and in the process he ended up
developing a crush on another guy at the same time! Who does that?! He’s horrible isn’t he?
Despicable? Kazuha feels tears prick his vision but he quickly scolds himself, reminding himself
that he has absolutely zero right to cry. So, he turns on his side, kicking the covers over himself as
he brings them over his shoulders. He stares at Heizou’s side of the bed with creased brows as he
grips the blanket tightly. Is it even worth apologizing anymore? He already knows what Heizou’s
going to say. He’s going to tell him that they never should have been friends and then walk out of
the door and essentially his life.

No. He’s just making up excuses to get himself out of having to apologize. He can’t do that to
Heizou— he can’t do that to the man he loves. But he wants to give himself time to collect himself
and apologize properly, Heizou doesn’t deserve a half assed, half baked with no frosting apology.
He deserves a heartfelt one that leaves him enough room to decide where to go from there.
Whether he wants to remain friends with Kazuha or kick him to the curb— that’s what he needs.

So, you can imagine Kazuha’s surprise when the man himself walks into the hotel room, hair tied
in a low pony tail as normal, hand in his jacket pocket while his other hand holds out his phone.
“Hey, I tried calling you, but you didn’t pick up,” he says, leaving Kazuha dumbfounded. He sits
up straight immediately, the blankets falling from his shoulders as his mouth hangs ajar. The
guitarist looks so unpresentable right now it’s insane. His hair is down and falling in a huge mess
over his shoulders, stray hairs sticking up every which way and his eyes are red rimmed from
unshed tears. His shirt is undone and exposing his collarbone as he looks at Heizou with wide eyes.

“My.. my phone died. I’m sorry,” he meekly apologizes. Why does he look so calm? Did
Kunikuzushi take all the brunt of it and now the redhead doesn’t have the energy to fight his real
wrongdoer? Kazuha can only imagine the horror of having to deal with an angry Heizou. Speaking
of which, Kuni is nowhere to be seen, it’s just Heizou. Just the redhead showing up unannounced
back in the hotel room after days of having been gone. “What are.. you doing here?” Kazuha
questions awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. His heart is pounding in his chest. Should he
get on the floor and kneel as he begs for forgiveness? Maybe kiss his feet and swear he’ll never do
it again?

“What? Can’t come back to my own hotel room?” Heizou asks, causing Kazuha to flinch at the
tone. He bites his bottom lip, his gaze falling from the redhead’s face, down to the blanket in front
of him. He doesn’t know what to do, his heart is pounding and he’s scared. How can he fix this?
Somebody please help him; Kazuha thinks he might just explode with nerves. “Relax, Kazuha, I’m
just teasing,” he says, surprising the white haired man. Heizou then comes to sit down in front of
him on the bed, feet planted on the floor as he turns his torso to give the guitarist his full attention.
Kazuha doesn’t know what to do under his gaze, so he does the only thing he thinks is appropriate
and bows.

He shifts so he’s kneeling on the bed as he plants his head on the blankets. He knows he should get
down on the floor and do it properly, but he doesn’t trust his legs to hold his full weight right now.
“Heizou, I am so sorry,” he says quietly, gripping the sheets as he keeps his head down. “I was
scared of confessing and being rejected, so I made a dumb descison and hurt you badly. I have no
excuse and I completely understand if you don’t want to be friends anymo—“ he attempts to finish
but Heizou cuts him off.

“Whoa whoa, who said anything about not being friends anymore?” Heizou says, a frown evident
in his tone. This confuses Kazuha because he thought it’d be pretty obvious as to why the redhead
wouldn’t want to be his friend anymore but he supposes he’s wrong. “Look, Kazuha, Kuni told me
everything that happened and after sleeping on it, yes I am hurt, but I can’t help feeling mad
anymore. I already gave Kuni an earful, so I’d rather just hear how you came to this conclusion
rather than jumping to my own and getting mad like I did with Kuni. I learned my lesson from that
already,” Heizou explains, “and raise your head.”

So he does. Kazuha lifts his head, but refuses to meet Heizou’s eyes. He’s too ashamed to even
look at his best friend right now, but he deserves to know his side of the story, so he shall tell him.
“Honestly, I have liked you for a long while now, almost since we met but maybe a year or so
after. We always spent so much time together and even if it wasn’t that intimate, I still daydreamed
that it was. Looking at Xiao and Venti all the time made me envious of their relationship because
they can love each other no problem, but with us it was different. We have so many layers of
friendship so built up that the stakes of confessing and being rejected were too high. I thought it
wasn’t worth confessing and getting rejected if it just ruins everything we already have,” he
explains, picking and pulling at loose strings from the blanket, “with that thought process in mind,
Kunikuzushi came into the picture and I saw a ‘perfect’ opportunity. He was an outside character
and he seemed to already know you so I thought it’d be perfect. This idea never even came about
until..” he trails, biting his lip.

“Until..?” Heizou pushes gently, not rushing him but clearly showing his curiosity. Kazuha greatly
appreciates the fact that he’s not pushing him, but he can’t help feeling guilty that he wasn’t the
one who got yelled at. He really needs to apologize to Kunikuzushi as well, he doesn’t deserve to
be treated this kindly by Heizou right now.

“Until he and I had a heart to heart on the couch. I don’t know what happened, but I just felt like I
could open up and talk to him because he didn’t know any of us. It was like a breath of fresh air to
be able to tell someone about..,” he trails, chancing a glance at Heizou. The redhead has his brows
furrowed, listening intently as his green eyes pick him apart piece by piece, calculating. “About my
crush on you,” he concludes, looking away with shame. A nervous arm wraps around his middle,
willing his breathing to slow before he freaks out from the choking silence that follows.

Heizou doesn’t speak for at least a minute and his gaze isn’t exactly looking at Kazuha. His mouth
is slightly ajar and his eyes are unfocused almost as if he is recounting a distant memory and fitting
different puzzle pieces together because of it. “So.. that night when I saw you crying on the couch
to Kuni.. That was you telling him you liked me..?” he questions and Kazuha is momentarily
shocked. He had no idea Heizou saw that, he thought everyone was long asleep by then, that’s why
he felt comfortable enough to even share that information with Kunikuzushi. “Why were you
crying, though?” he asks, tilting his head with genuine confusion.
“I was crying because I was overwhelmed with emotions,” he admits, “I had never told anyone I
liked you before and I guess speaking about it made me realize.. just how lonely I felt,” he
confesses, a frown etched into his features. Kazuha doesn’t get the chance to speak very often
about his love life, but he used to have a lover, though he’s gone now. Love has always been a
sensitive topic for him since and he feels uncomfortable speaking about it with the chances of
messing it up, hence his whole plan that backfired. “Before I joined the band I had a friend— my
best friend,” he starts, “he and I were inseparable, attached at the hip. We went everywhere and did
everything together. We were so open with each other and had no need to shy away from any topic.
No topic was too sensitive nor too personal to talk about between us. That included the topic of
our.. gender preference,” he says, a light blush to his cheeks. To distract from his glowing cheeks,
he scratches one awkwardly, looking up at Heizou whose expression momentarily shocks him. He
looks.. sympathetic. But why? Kazuha hasn’t even told him the story yet.

Clearing his throat, he continues. “I told him I’m open to anyone as long as I loved them and he
was much the same and that was it. That’s all it was from there on for a while until I fell for him,”
Kazuha frowns, biting his lip as his heart pounds in his chest, “I thought that because we were so
open with each other, telling him such a thing wouldn’t be a problem and I was right. In fact, he
ended up confessing as well and we entered a relationship together. We grew closer and closer now
that that line of friendship was crossed and we were each other’s first for.. everything,” he says.
Heizou continues to listen to him intently, not interested in interrupting him, only interested in
listening to his story. “We dated for five years. It was a serious relationship and we gave each other
promise rings, actually,” Kazuha says, reaching into his shirt and holding out a necklace with two
rings around the chain. Heizou’s eyes widen as a look of horror crosses his features and Kazuha
can’t help but manage a sad, tired smile.

“He died in a car crash when we were still teenagers,” he says solemnly, “I was actually in the car
crash as well. We were coming home from a date at the movies and it was pretty late at night. We
were talking about what we had just seen while crossing an intersection and a drunk driver T-boned
us on the driver’s side. The car went tumbling and.. the injuries Tomo sustained were fatal,” he
whispers. He doesn’t want to cry again, but this story always makes him so emotional, so he’s
trying his best to hold back his tears. “After the car stopped rolling, I freed myself from the car and
even though there was glass stuck in every part of me and blood dripping down into my eyes, I
tried to drag him from the vehicle. Bystanders called the emergency units, but they were too late.
By the time they arrived.. Tomo’s pulse had already run dead,” he chokes out, tears lining his
vision. The survivor's guilt eats at him every day, the necklace with their promise rings burning
into his flesh whenever he feels it against his skin.

Heizou brings him into his arms, pushing Kazuha’s head into his shoulder as he lays his head rest
against the guitarist’s. The redhead rubs his back as he holds him close and Kazuha can’t help but
sob in his arms. A hand remains tightly wrapped around the rings on his necklace, burning his
hand like they’re going to leave a scar. He shakes as he sobs, burying his head in Heizou’s shoulder
as he realizes just how much he missed being held by him. He’s missed him so much, his hugs, his
smiles, his cuddles and his laughs— all of it. He can’t believe he did such a thing to someone he
loves so deeply all because of fear of losing someone again like he did years ago.
“It wasn’t your fault, Kazuha, you couldn’t have stopped it,” Heizou murmurs into his ear, rubbing
his back. That just makes Kazuha choke on more tears as he releases his hold on the necklace and
wraps both of his arms tightly around Heizou. The white haired man holds on to him for dear life,
finally hearing the words he’s been so desperately hoping to hear for his entire life after that event.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, but I’m sure Tomo is looking down on you with pride.
Look how far you’ve come,” the redhead whispers, squeezing him in emphasis. All the walls
Kazuha had built over his years of loneliness start tumbling down as he holds his crush like he’d
float away if he didn’t hold on tight enough. It’s at this moment he realizes how wrong he was over
everything and how messed up of a situation it is. Sure, he acknowledged it before, but he finally
feels the weight of it all now literally and figuratively.

“I’m sorry, Heizou, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I—“

“Shh, I know, Zuzu , I know. It’s okay, I’m right here,” Heizou coos, “I’m not going anywhere,” he
reassures him, bringing a hand to the top of Kazuha’s head and brushing his fingers through his
long, undone locks. The guitarist hiccups, burying his face in Heizou’s shoulder even more as he
sniffles. It’s hard to breathe like this with his stuffy nose and he can definitely feel the way his tears
wet Heizou’s shoulder, but he’s too drained to move right now, too drained to care. He only wants
to stay here in Heizou’s arms forever, safe and sound, never having to think about the past again
and feel guilty. He doesn’t want to have to think about how different it’d be if the one who died
was him instead. He doesn’t want to think about how maybe if he had gotten Tomo out of the car
he might have had a chance at survival. He doesn’t want to have to think about how he couldn’t
even speak at his funeral, because he was so heart broken he went mute.

“When I was younger I also had.. a friend,” Heizou speaks with hesitation, lacing his voice, but
Kazuha continues to listen. “I met him when I was young, he claimed to be a rich boy from a rich
family and always brought me gifts to show for it. But his clothes were raggedy and his skin was
always dirty, like he never had a bath before,” he continues, never ceasing his movements in
rubbing Kazuha’s back. The guitarist is thankful for that though, it’s soothing his nerves and
calming him down to just small sniffles, now. “Nevertheless I’d appreciate every gift he gave me,
until I finally connected the dots and he admitted to being a thief. I was outraged because liars are
my number one pet peeve. Lying is unjust and at times, cruel. So I yelled at him and told him we’d
never be friends anymore or again. I went home and threw out every gift he ever gave me except
for..,” he trails. Heizou leans back and reaches into his pocket pulling out his wallet.

Kazuha releases Heizou from his hold, wiping his eyes as he sniffles, watching Heizou get
whatever it is he’s looking for. The drummer opens his wallet and reaches into one of the little
pockets, pulling out a small green stone and showing it to Kazuha. “Except for one,” he finishes.
Heizou hands the pebble to Kazuha to hold and the guitarist takes it gently, holding it between his
fingers as he admires the color. “I actually tried to get rid of it by throwing it out the window, but I
missed and it bounced back, hitting me in the forehead before rolling under my bed,” he laughs
lightly, drawing a small laugh of his own from Kazuha, “I then figured that it wouldn’t be so bad to
keep it, it was the only gift he had ever given me that wasn’t stolen. We went to play in a river
together and he found matching ones, he gave one to me while keeping the other,” he explains.
Kazuha nods, showing he’s listening as Heizou continues to speak.

“And then a year later a festival rolled around— the same one I met him at— and I saw him again,
but he was on his way out,” Heizou speaks softly, taking the pebble back from Kazuha and
pinching it between his fingers to admire it. “Got into a fight— something about stealing again—
and that person stabbed him straight through the heart. I rushed over and kneeled down all
panicked and the asshole had the nerve to joke with me. I tried to stop the bleeding, but it
obviously didn’t work, I just ended up with bloodied hands and a dead.. friend,” he frowns, voice
barely above a whisper. Heizou puts the pebble back into his wallet and pockets it again, “he said
he came to see me and showed me the very same matching pebble. He kept it that entire time.
While I may never forgive him for what he did.. I’ll never forget what happened. I had nightmares
for six months afterwards. It got so bad I had to take medication for it and I still have issues when
going to festivals,” he finishes, sighing heavily.

Kazuha looks at Heizou in horror, watching the way he nonchalantly runs a hand through his
maroon locks. “So.. at the festival Kuni was right,” Kazuha says, mainly to himself. When he
realizes he said that out loud, though, by the way Heizou’s head tilts, he elaborates. “After you ran
from us, Kuni panicked and told me we have to run after you because you looked like you were in
the midst of a panic attack. I didn’t really think much about it before because I was too worried
about.. you know. If you have ptsd at festivals, why didn’t you tell any of us?” he asks, genuinely,
hiding away the promise rings underneath his shirt. Heizou’s shoulders sag and he sighs, looking
down at the blankets. This draws curiosity from Kazuha, but he keeps his mouth shut, waiting.

“I don’t like.. talking about stuff. Especially not that because it makes my blood boil and my heart
ache. I don’t want you guys to have to see me in such a state. But I guess there’s no point in it
anymore, Venti and Xiao already saw my lowest and now I’m telling you about this— Kuni and I
fought yesterday, so he saw me like that too,” Heizou explains, scratching the back of his neck.
Kazuha blinks at him, his mind processing everything he just learned as he relives the events of a
week prior and connects the dots he didn’t know he was missing. Some of Heizou’s behaviors
become more explainable with this new information and it helps Kazuha dissect him as a person.
“Plus, I can generally handle it better if I take my meds and stay by a friend. It’s still pretty bad and
I’d rather not do it, but I understand festivals are fun for everyone, so why ruin the fun? Y’know?”
he laughs, but it’s dry and lacking in life. It makes Kazuha frown as he stares at him with an almost
pout.

“Heizou, you don’t have to bend to the will of the majority when you’re physically incapable of
handling a situation,” Kazuha explains, using his hands to talk, “if you had told us all sooner we
would have just went to Zhongli Xiansheng’s party and lit our lanterns, just our small group. Well,
if we weren’t all split at the time at least,” he reasons. Kazuha is sure Ms. Sucrose and Ms. Jean
wouldn’t have minded changes to plans either, even if they didn’t go to the party in favor of having
a ‘girl’s night’ as Ms. Jean called it. Apparently it’s a term the child she babysits for uses a lot.

“I knew you’d say that,” Heizou sighs, dramatically flopping on his back on the bed. Kazuha
scrunches up his nose, asking what he means. “I mean you’re too nice for your own good, Kazuha.
You preach about not bending to the majority, but here you are trying to help the minority when
the majority is overpowered. Doesn’t it ever get tiring?” he asks, looking up at the ceiling before
letting his eyes fall onto Kazuha. The guitarist thinks for a moment, his brain all fuzzy from all the
words flowing through his ears as well as the emotions traveling through his heart. He honestly
doesn’t know what to say to that. No one has ever told him such a thing before.

“I just.. care, Heizou,” Kazuha replies, placing his hands in his lap as he meets his best friend’s
gaze. They stare at each other for a moment, Kazuha making sure Heizou understands just how
much he means that as he doesn’t break eye contact. Heizou doesn’t falter either, though, staring
straight back, lips pressed into a thin line, but green eyes deeply swimming with emotions. Heavy
emotions. Distrust, guilt, curiosity.. and one that Kazuha can’t really explain. They say the eyes are
the window to the soul and it’s in this moment that the guitarist thinks he understands what they
mean.

“Kazuha, do you like me?” he asks, catching Kazuha off guard and when he goes to speak, Heizou
cuts him off, “as more than a friend?” he questions, face completely serious. There’s no
reminiscence of his usual happy go lucky, all jokes and smiles type personality. His eyes are
guarded, a smile isn’t present, and he looks at Kazuha with complete stone cold seriousness. The
guitarist almost wants to shudder from the chill behind his bite, but he doesn’t.

“..Yes. I’m sorry,” Kazuha apologizes, hanging his head and letting his bangs fall in front of his
eyes. A frown is now etched into his face, eyebrows pinched together in worry as he waits for
Heizou’s reply. The room falls silent and no words are spoken. The only noise that wafts through
the air is the sound of midday traffic and post-festival celebrations. The longer the silence grows
the more anxious Kazuha becomes, so he closes his eyes and wills himself to calm down when he
feels Heizou draw near. The redhead rolls over so that his head is now planted sideways in
Kazuha’s lap, looking up at him from below. A tiny and gentle smile graces his lips and his eyes
sparkle.

“I thought you’d never admit it,” Heizou jokes, an underlying half truth to it as well which causes
Kazuha to bite his lip to keep from smiling. At the end of the day it’s really not that funny because
him not admitting to liking Heizou due to fear is what got him into this mess. “I like you too,
Kazuha,” he whispers, reaching up to place a hand against his cheek. At this point the guitarist is
shaking and tears threaten to prick his vision once again, but he wills them to go away, placing a
hand on top of Heizou’s. “I’ve liked you for four years and I have never not loved you,” he admits
and Kazuha chokes, tears spilling from his eyes and landing on Heizou’s face who scrunches up
his nose.

“Sorry.. sorry. I’m sorry,” the guitarist repeats, placing his forearm over his eyes to prevent the
tears from falling onto Heizou. The redhead just laughs, wiping the tears from his face and
bringing Kazuha’s head down to hug him as best as he can in this position. “ Why was I ever afraid
to tell you? ” he scolds himself, hiccuping and a headache begins to form from all his crying and
emotions. This conversation is going astronomically better than how he thought it would and he
doesn’t deserve it, but he knows if he told Heizou that he’d disagree.
“Hey now, we all know why you were, don’t try to invalidate yourself like that,” Heizou chides,
running his fingers through Kazuha’s hair, “sure you made a dumb mistake because you were a
afraid, but your history gives you every right to be fearful. No matter how close we are,” the
redhead reminds. Kazuha just nods his head, working on calming himself down so he stops crying
because they both just admitting to liking each other and Heizou has actually liked him longer than
Kazuha has liked Heizou! What a relief!

The irony of it all makes him laugh wetly and Heizou coos, patting his back and combing his hair
with his fingers. They continue like that until Kazuha has calmed down, luckily he’s not a big cryer
so he doesn’t cry that much. Once he’s all calmed down, he removes his forearm from his eyes and
looks at his dirtied and wet sleeve and then over to Heizou. Kazuha places his hands on the top of
Heizou’s head and underneath his chin, using his thumb to rub the crown of his hair. Heizou looks
as beautiful as ever, twin moles a dead give away to his intelligence and beauty, his green eyes that
Kazuha often jokes reminds him of green apple Jolly Ranchers. He probably tastes as good as a
green apple Jolly Rancher .

“Can we..,” Kazuha trails, voice a whisper. Heizou lets out a soft, amused chuckle that has hints of
smugness underlying it. It almost makes Kazuha take back his words.. almost. He waits as Heizou
studies his features, looking over his eyes, his hair, his nose and his cheeks, and finally his lips.
The redhead’s smile then fades to something a lot softer as his eyes return to Kazuha’s and he
nods.

“Yeah, we can,” he whispers and so they do. Kazuha leans down and Heizou closes his eyes, using
his left hand to brush Kazuha’s hair behind his right ear so it’s not in his face. The guitarist’s heart
pounds in his chest, as he tilts Heizou’s chin upward to get easier access, and he, too, closes his
eyes. In the space between before and after their lips lock, Kazuha could breathe, but not anymore.

Kazuha leans down and their lips press together softly.

Heizo’s lips are a lot softer than Kazuha thought they’d be and they feel perfect against his own—
they feel right against his own. Then the kiss deepens and the both of them are moving, pulling
apart just to relock lips and do it all over again. A quiet noise leaves Kazuha’s lips and Heizou
responds with a hum, bringing his right hand up to place it on the back of Kazuha’s head and push
down, smashing their lips together. It’s kind of awkward to make out in this position, but they’ll
make it work if it’s the last thing they do. The both of them have been waiting for this for ages and
they’ll be damned if they let it end so soon.

That being said, Heizou sits up now, straddling Kazuha’s lap as he places a hand on his cheek and
kisses him again. The guitarist’s hands are on his waist immediately as he tries his hardest to focus
and not get lost in a euphoric high, but to be honest that’s pretty hard. The crush he’s had for three
years now is sitting in his lap making out with him. It feels like a fever dream when Heizou bites
his bottom lip, drawing a moan from Kazuha. The guitarist’s eyes immediately fly open and he
pulls back, a hand flying over his mouth. A deep red blush coats his cheeks as he looks at Heizou
with absolute horror and the man has the nerve to laugh!

Kazuha shoves Heizou off him, sliding under the covers and yanking them over his head as he
buries himself with embarrassment. Heizou falls back on the bed, hysterical laughter filling the
room as Kazuha feels the weight of his legs kicking the bed from his uncontrollable hysteria. The
guitarist covers his face with his hands even though he can’t be seen by Heizou right now as he
feels the scorching heat of his own face beneath his fingertips. That was so embarrassing!! He just
moaned because of Heizou’s ungodly skill at kissing and he doesn’t know how to react! And the
guy’s laughter sure isn’t helping!

“Oh my archons! Kuni! Did you hear that?!” Heizou questions through his laughter, and Kazuha
sits up again with an even more horrified look than before. Kuni comes around the corner, arms
crossed over his chest and a smirk on his lips. His head is tilted to the side a bit and he looks every
bit as smug as Heizou does. The two of them really have been hanging out with each other too
much.

“Did he do the thing to you too? Where he bites your lip?” Kuni questions, but Kazuha is too
dumbfounded to respond, staring at Kunikuzushi like he doesn’t think he’s real. When did he get
here?! How did he get here?! If the door opened, shouldn't they have heard it?! Doesn’t that mean
Kunikuzushi heard that entire conversation? How embarrassing!

“Kuni’s been here the whole time, we figured it’d be only fair if he heard your side of the story.
But having two people here at once feels like more pressure than just one, so we staged it like it
was only me. Sorry for the trickery, but it was deserved, to be fair,” Heizou explains, sitting up on
the bed as Kuni comes to sit down on the other side of them. Now they’re all sitting in a triangular
shape on the hotel bed and Kazuha doesn’t actually mind that Kuni listened in, he was going to
find out anyway because he planned to apologize. What he does care about is how Heizou got both
him and Kunikuzushi with that stupid lip biting trick! “We’d also like to talk to you about
something,” Heizou starts, looking over at Kuni. The manager just nods so Heizou continues.
“Kunikuzushi and I talked about it and both he and I agreed we’d be okay with entering a three
way relationship. The third person being.. you. I know it’s selfish, but I can’t live with just one of
you, I need you both. We know you like us both and I like you both. Kuni likes me, but he admitted
to having been charmed by your flirtatious behavior and said he would be willing to warm up to
you. So.. if you’d like, would you want to be our third?”

Kazuha’s jaw drops as he looks between both Kuni and Heizou. Their faces are stone cold
seriousness showing that neither of them are joking. The guitarist swallows thickly, his palms
growing sweaty at the question. He still feels guilty about what happened between him and Kuni
and the fact that Kuni doesn’t even for sure like him yet rubs him the wrong way. But.. this is an
opportunity to break down his walls and show him that through all their fake dating his feelings
were real and they still are now. He has an opportunity to show Kuni he means just as much to him
as Heizou does. He knows it’s going to take time, but all Kazuha has is time and patience which
he’s willing to use on Kunikuzushi. So.. the answer is obvious.

“Yes, I would want to be your third,” Kazuha smiles and Heizou turns to Kuni and punches his
shoulder out of instinctual excitement, a wide smile across his face. When the punch lands, Kuni
winces and turns to Heizou infuriated and punches him back twice as hard to which Heizou whines
about. Kazuha just laughs which catches the attention of both of his.. boyfriends as they look back
at him with gentle smiles. It’s in this moment that Kazuha couldn’t be any more happier. He feels
like crying, but out of happiness this time. He doesn’t though, in favor of embracing Heizou when
he leans forward and then Kunikuzushi when he is forced into the hug by the collar of his shirt.
Heizou is the one to manhandle him like that and even when the manager is wearing a frown, his
eyes still glisten with hints of love.

Kazuha holds both his boys tightly as he laughs, hysteria taking over as his heart feels so full.
Heizou plants a small kiss to his neck and Kunikuzushi shyly snuggles against his chest, a hesitant
hand coming around his back. The blush on Kuni’s cheeks is evident and Kazuha finds it cute how
hard he’s trying now, before Kuni never would have let them get this close. Apparently Heizou
finds it cute too as he leans forward in their group hug and plants a kiss to his nose, making Kuni
recoil. Kazuha laughs, patting their manager’s shoulder as he looks down at him. “May I.. kiss you
as well?” he asks, nerves filling his body when Kuni looks at him with hesitation. He almost back
tracks, wanting to cover up the awkwardness, but then Kunikuzushi shakes his head with a smile
before looking him in the eye and nodding.

Kazuha’s eyes widen at the fact that he said yes and seems happy about it, but his shock doesn’t
last long before the urge to ravish the man returns. So, he leans down in their hug, Heizou giving
them some more space as their lips lock gently. Kuni’s lips are a lot thinner than Heizou’s, but
they still feel just as right as his. Kazuha only deepens the kiss a little, not wanting to go too far and
push Kuni away. So, he just tilts his head a little more and hums happily against his lips. When
they pull away, Kazuha is momentarily shocked by how flustered Kuni looks, but he finds that to
be more of a compliment to him than anything.

A sniffle sounds from Kazuha’s left and both Kuni and him turn to find Heizou on the verge of
tears. In a panic, both of them spring up and lean into his space, but the redhead just laughs, wiping
what little tears pooled in his eyes as he sniffles. “I’m fine guys,” he says, his laugh wet with his
crying, “I’m just so happy,” Heizou finishes, a smile gracing his lips as he looks at both of them
with watery eyes. Kuni and Kazuha look at each other, giving small smiles of their own before they
look back towards Heizou. Kazuha leans forward, wrapping his arms around Heizou’s middle as he
plants tons of kisses to one side of his face. Whereas Kunikuzushi leans forward and wraps his
arms around Heizou’s neck, planting one singular, but drawn out kiss to his cheek before shying
away. The actions make Heizou giggle and the noise sounds like music to Kazuha’s ears. His
favorite kind, of course.

They spend the next hour just snuggled up with each other, talking. Kazuha gets to be in the middle
while Kuni is on his right and Heizou is on his left. The guitarist’s arms are wrapped around both
of them as Heizou and Kuni’s hands are linked together and resting across his stomach. There are
moments where it goes quiet, all of them just basking in each other’s presence and there’s moments
when all of them are laughing uncontrollably, recounting past memories. Kazuha can’t believe he
didn’t confess sooner, he could have gotten all this sooner. Then again, maybe he couldn’t have. If
none of this happened would he still have fallen for Kuni? If none of this happened would Kuni
ever have fallen for Heizou and, Heizou for Kuni? These are questions that can’t be answered, so
he brushes them aside. All he needs to focus on is his here and now. And his here and now is with
the two men he loves the most in the entire world .

He doesn’t know when it starts happening, but at some point Heizou begins humming a melody.
One that has never been heard of or made before and Kazuha starts humming right along, the two
of them completely in sync. They add bridges and a chorus, high notes and low notes, drawn out
and slow notes and fast and staccato notes. The whole nine yards. Together they create a song
without words, one that expresses so many emotions with only the pitch of the note to tell a tale. A
verbal manuscript that brings their thoughts and feelings into being. It’s peaceful. It’s melodic.
And it’s a good way to wind down after everything that just happened.

Kazuha’s heart feels so full and the weight of Heizou and Kuni in his arms is a dream he thought
would have never come true. He was wrong, though, despite the roundabout way they went about
things, it all worked out in the end. All three of them lay cuddled close on a bed originally meant
for two, happy as can be with aspirations for the future. From here on Kazuha promises not only
himself, but his lovers as well that he will stop being afraid of losing them. They aren’t going
anywhere, especially not anymore. He knows that now and it’s a euphoric feeling he wishes to live
out the rest of his days experiencing.

That being said, they still have the rest of their day here in Sumeru before they leave for their flight
to Inazuma. So he figures they might as well make the best of it. “Is there anywhere you guys want
to go before we leave?” he asks and his boyfriends hum. If they don’t have an idea of where they
would like to go, he has one in the back of his mind, though he doesn’t know if they’d make it
there in time. “If not, we can see if we can get Beidou to hook us up with a quick boat ride over to
Guyun. We can climb the cliffs and watch the stars,” Kazuha explains, absentmindedly rubbing his
thumb against Kuni’s arm.

“Depending on the time we leave for that we could, but we need to get back before midnight, our
flight leaves at 1AM and we’ll be arriving in Inazuma around noon,” Kuni says, being the manager
that he is supposed to be, “Also— this is off topic but, I didn’t know you were such a crybaby,”
their manager speaks, lifting his head from Kazuha’s chest and looking at him with a smirk. Heizou
giggles from his place in Kazuha’s arms as well, as the manager looks away with a blush coating
his cheeks. Remind him never to cry in front of these two again!

“Zuzu’s always been a cry baby. One time us and the rest of the gang went out for some boba,
y’know? Just a casual outing with friends, but then he dropped his Boba Tea and it exploded onto
the cement,” Heizou laughs, causing Kazuha to cover his face with his hands to hide his
embarrassment. He knows the next part of the story and he’s sure that it’s going to bring out even
more laughs. Kuni snorts as well, letting the percussionist finish his story, “and then he turns to me
and his face just looks heartbroken! He’s holding onto his straw because that was the only thing he
could catch in time and he has tears in his eyes— he looked exactly like a little kid who just
dropped their ice cream!” Heizou laughs and that gets Kuni roaring . Their loud laughter fills the
hotel room as Kazuha groans, dragging his hands down his face as he looks at the ceiling in
anguish.

“I was really excited, okay, and I slept badly the night before, so I was looking forward to some
nice boba with friends and then it was ruined. I was just really not having it that day. What made it
even worse is that you laughed at me, Heizou!” Kazuha shoots back, exasperated. This only fuels
his boyfriends’ laughter more, Heizou clutching his stomach as Kuni wipes a tear from his eye.
Kazuha remembers the way Heizou laughed at him and then slowly walked toward him trying to
regain his breath to give him a hug. He obviously pushed him off and then picked up his broken
cup and threw it in the trash, pouting.

“Yeah and then Venti punched me for laughing! I can’t help it, man, it was funny! Oh my archons!
And I bought you another boba afterwards as well as a cute keychain to go with it! I made up for
it,” Heizou justifies, turning to Kuni with a look of expectancy. Kuni nods along with him, shaking
his head with a smile to show him that this is such a ridiculous story. “See! Kuni agrees that I made
up for it! You can’t be mad anymore, that was ages ago!” the redhead states, leaning forward to
give him a kiss on the cheek, “don’t be mad, Zuzu.”

“I still have that keychain, by the way, it’s in my suitcase attached to a belt I have yet to wear. I
remember I wore it once on stage and the fans went wild,” Kazuha explains, tucking some hair
behind his ear before folding his arms across his chest and he recounts the story, “since it’s rather
cute looking people thought my girlfriend gave it to me. If only they knew; but to be honest I think
they would have freaked out more had they known you were the one to buy it for me,” he
considers. Heizou tilts his head out of curiosity, but his smug smirk remains permanent. Kuni just
looks normally curious, eyes blinking at him to continue.

“How come?” their manager asks. Kazuha flicks his gaze over to Heizou, looking him over before
promptly turning away. From his peripherals Kazuha can see the way Heizou immediately frowns,
puzzled by the action. Looks like when his smugness and sassiness is returned to him by Kazuha
he doesn’t know what to do. Guess he’s not used to being on the receiving end of dismissal and
being put in place. Kazuha can work with that. Later, though.

Turning back to his other boyfriend, he smiles, “our fans have a tendency to like to pair us together
all the while wanting us to themselves. It’s so contradictory that it’s funny. We know a lot of our
fans would be supportive of us if we ever came out, but it’s our contract to our record label that
disallows that. And also.. being in this band is already pushing my limits with how much attention
it brings me. Sure I appreciate it, but if they were to know I’m.. y’know, I’d just become their gay
icon or something. While it’s great to have that kind of representation, they should give that title to
someone who deserves it, not someone who stresses at the mention of labels,” he explains, looking
down at his feet on the bed as he begins growing anxious. Labels are one of the things Kazuha
hates the most. Being labeled as gay or bi or whatever isn’t for him. He just loves whoever without
any label— not even pan. He feels more comfortable in his own skin if he just exists as himself and
himself only, no sticker with what he is displayed across his chest.

“That’s fine,” Kuni says, surprising both Kazuha and Heizou. Kazuha had expected Heizou to be
the one to comfort him or say something, but Kuni? “I totally get that; for a while I was stressing
out about labels as well and I kept changing them over and over and it just.. was such a nuisance. I
get how people find unity in labels and such, but it kept making me frustrated because I didn’t
know. Eventually I just found I liked men and men only so I stuck the ‘gay’ label on myself and
went with it. Even though I’m labeled now, I do understand the stress of labels, I guess,” he
finishes, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. Heizou and Kazuha look at him with surprise, not
knowing that he could be so open about such things. “What, why are you looking at me like that?”
he backtracks, looking at his boyfriends with a frightened expression.

“I’ll be honest when I say I didn’t expect that from you, but I’m happy you said it,” Kazuha replies,
smiling at him. Kuni just shys away, looking anywhere but them as Heizou adds onto what was just
said as well.

“Right? I didn’t expect it either, but I’m so proud of him for opening up like that,” Heizou replies,
smiling softly at Kunikuzushi as well. That seems to make the manager fold as he sighs heavily
and his shoulders sag. He gives up on trying to hide the very prominent blush on his cheeks as he
just glares at the both of them. They just laugh back, happy he’s already showing his willingness to
try for them.

“Relationships require openness, right? I was just trying to do that, I want this to work too,” he
admits, crossing his arms over his chest seemingly because he doesn’t know what to do with them.
Kazuha and Heizou both coo, sharing one brain cell as they get up and go to embrace him. Heizou
doesn’t ask for permission, but Kuni doesn’t seem to mind, though not thinking he has the same
privilege, Kazuha still asks. He understands that Heizou and him have built up more trust between
each other than himself and Kuni. The guitarist knows he’ll have to work with him to gain the
same amount of trust— and that— he is willing to do. So, Kuni opens one eye at him, looking him
up and down before biting his bottom lip, “you can,” he says, looking embarrassed. Kazuha just
smiles softly at him, leaning in to hug him gently as well. They all cuddle close with Heizou
planting kisses to Kuni’s neck and Kazuha asking to run his fingers down Kuni’s arm to interlock
their fingers.

Their relationship is a work in progress, but it’s a project of a lifetime that he’s not willing to drop.
And by the time they’re all done having their second cuddling session, it’s already too late in the
afternoon to go catch a ride to Guyun. So— after the mentions of boba— Kazuha decides he wants
some and coaxes both his boyfriends into going out to get some. But he has a little surprise! While
they’re preoccupied getting boba (Heizou knows his order by heart) he’s going to see if he can stop
at the little shop next to the place and grab a last minute lantern. He remembered seeing Heizou
have one in his hand back at the festival and his heart was crushed when he realized that Heizou
wanted to light it together. So, to make up for it, he’s going to buy another lantern that they can all
light together. It’s not that big of a thing, but it’s the least he can do on such a short notice.

“Let’s go then! Does anyone know where my red stockings are? I haven’t seen them,” Kazuha
questions, scooting over on the bed, letting his legs hang off the side. He watches as Heizou’s face
lights up with joy before he turns around and begins rummaging through their clothes, messing
everything up. “Heizou, stop it, I literally just folded all of that,” he chides, getting up and walking
over to Heizou. He brings a hand down to chop his head, causing the drummer to wince and a
laugh to sound from Kunikuzushi who is already ready to go. Both of them are, it’s just Kazuha
who still looks like a mess.

“I’m sorry, Zuzu, but those stockings do things to me,” Heizou says, expression mortified before it
morphs into something more suggestive. Kazuha can’t help the way he swallows thickly at the
implication before playfully kicking Heizou over from his crouched position on the floor. That
action totally wasn’t because the statement made him flustered and he didn’t know what to do
about it. Yeah.. totally. Crouching down as well, Kazuha spots his red stockings and picks them
from the now messed up pile of clothes as he gives Heizou a glare. The redhead just scratches the
back of his neck with a little nervous laugh which causes Kazuha to huff.

“Here, let me,” Heizou says, pushing Kazuha back on the bed gently and taking his socks from
him. The drummer then crouches down and gently takes one of his legs in hand before slipping his
red stockings up his leg slowly. Kazuha can tell that he’s enjoying this a lot more than he should be
for someone who is simply just dressing their lover. But then he feels the weight of lips being
pressed against his inner thigh, right above the top of the sock and Kazuha instinctively closes his
legs on Heizou’s head, sandwiching him. The shiver that ran down his spine from such an
experience was too strong for him to be able to hold back. “Ouchie!” Heizou whines, prying his
head from between Kazuha’s thighs, “hey, why are you laughing?! You aren’t even helping!“

“Because you said you wanted to, genius!” Kuni replies, a smile on his lips, while his tone is
exasperated. This makes Heizou scrunch up his face and go ‘oh yeah’ before rubbing his temple.
This makes both Kazuha and Kuni laugh even more, so the man brings down a hand to Heizou’s
on his temple and brushes it away. He leans forward and plants a kiss there with a small apology
before leaning away and pinching his cheek. Heizou looks at him with complete betrayal because
he was just leaning into the soft kiss only to be pinched as punishment two seconds later! Of
course, this draws more laughs from both Kazuha and Kuni as Kuni sits down behind Kazuha and
hesitantly wraps his arms around his middle.

The guitarist tenses at first before softening and placing a hand on where Kuni’s rests around his
stomach, leaning his head against his when the manager plants his chin on Kazuha’s shoulder. It
may not seem like that big of a deal to other relationships outside of theirs, but only they can
understand the significance of Kuni initiating something first and it makes Kazuha’s heart swell.
Together, the two of them watch as Heizou diligently slides Kazuha’s other sock up the length of
his leg before dramatically shoving it open so he knows what is going to happen next, then finally
planting a kiss on his inner thigh. The shudder that runs through his body again is even more
intense with the weight of Kuni at his back and he finds himself having to control his lust. A rare
occurrence.

Kuni lets go of him then, leaning back and scooping Kazuha’s hair up in his hands gently before
taking a few strands and braiding it. He asks Kazuha to hold onto that small braid as he braids
another small piece before bringing both of the sections together with his loose hair and tying it
into a ponytail. Heizou has already finished up putting Kazuha’s shoes on as well as tying his laces.
He didn’t even give the man a chance to change his clothes! Guess he’s going out to get boba in
knee length black jean shorts, a t-shirt, and a sweater he’s going to throw on. Or so he thinks, but
then Heizou grabs a belt and loops it through the belt loops in his shorts and yanks him up from the
bed by his belt. Kazuha gasps, bracing his hands against Heizou’s chest, who just gives a smug
chuckle as he completes his belt around his waist.

Kazuha glares unheatedly, a light blush coating his cheeks as he huffs and to make up for it Heizou
plants a kiss to his cheek and a squeeze to his ass before running behind Kunikuzushi for
protection. Kuni just elbows him in the gut for trying to hide behind him which makes Heizou
wheeze. “Thanks, Kuni,” Kazuha says, smiling, “also I didn’t know you were so skilled with hair,”
he inquires, grabbing the sweater he said he was going to be grabbing and throwing it over his
shoulders. Heizou stops hiding being Kuni now in favor of looping and arm through Kazuha’s and
sticking close to him as they leave the hotel room. Kuni’s more shy about pda, but he still stays
closer to them than the average person.

“I have a sister,” Kuni replies, “and you’re welcome,” he finishes. From the way he sounded when
he said he had a sister, Kazuha decides not to ask. He sounded solemn about it, upset even. It’s
probably a topic for another day, he’d rather not ruin their reunion with a sad story. So instead, he
just nods and gives him a compliment on his skill before they head out the hotel lobby and hail a
cab. The boba shop is just outside of walking distance, so a cab is what they unanimously decided
on. It also gives them all more time to be cuddly with each other because once they’re in the public
eye they’ll have to be strict about the pda. In the hotel it wasn’t so bad, but anybody could see them
out here. Anybody includes TV scouts and reporters. Crazy fans are the worst, though.

Speaking of crazy fans, as soon as they step out of the cab and head into the boba shop, they get
recognized. “Oh my archons! Is that Heizou and Kazuha from 4NEMO?!” the fan says excitedly,
running over to them. Kazuha braces himself with a gentle smile, Heizou already doing the same.
From a glance to his left he can see Kuni doesn’t exactly know what to do with himself, so he takes
a chance and snakes an arm behind him, shielding Kuni behind both him and Heizou. Luckily,
their manager doesn’t say a word, staying behind them and as out of view as possible.

“Hi there,” Heizou starts with a little wave. Kazuha forgets how precessional the redhead can be
sometimes and it’s honestly super sexy. Watching Heizou work over these years has always been a
shock to him no matter how many times he sees it or is right next to him while doing so. Outside of
the stage he’s such a goofball full of happiness, energy, and excitement that seeing a work facade
has grown weird, but oddly sexy.
“Oh my archons! Are you two on a date? I’m so sorry, but could I get a selfie real quick?” they ask
and Heizou turns to Kazuha for help. His Liyuean isn’t as polished as Kazuha’s considering before
he joined the band he stayed exclusively in Inazuma. The guitarist, on the other hand, lived in
Liyue for quite a while before joining the band so his Liyuean is a bit above average for a
foreigner.

“They asked if we’re on a date, apologized, then asked for a selfie,” Kazuha translates to Heizou.
While Heizou has enough knowledge of the language for basic speech, slang words like ‘selfie’
always tend to escape him. “We’re not on a date, just came to get some boba. Also, if you would
like a picture, then sure. I’m sure Heizou would not mind,” he replies to the person, smiling over at
Heizou who tilts his head curiously at his reply. He knows Heizou could have spoken for himself,
but sometimes playing it like he’s dumb is better. It keeps conversations short when only one
person can speak.

“Yes! Thank you! Oh, who is that man behind you?” they ask, trying to swerve around Kazuha and
Heizou to see Kunikuzushi. The both of them step in front of him, though, luckily they’re both
taller than him as well, so they work perfectly as shields. Unfortunately, they must have debunked
who he is from the small glance they got at him. “Is that your new manager?! Wow! I’m going to
brag to my friends about this! Can he be in the picture too?!” they ask and Kazuha frowns, but
Heizou’s reply is immediate.

“No,” he says sternly with a smile. The fan falters at this, face falling for a moment before they
snap back into their hyper personality. “Go sit over there and wait for us to deal with this,” he
mutters to Kunikuzushi who nods and walks away, sitting at a table that faces away from them and
out of view. Kazuha watches him go, frowning at the fact that this fan had the nerve to ask such a
disrespectful question. He doesn’t scold them, though, he would get in trouble with their record
label if the fan took their interaction and spread bad things about it online.

So, they quickly snap a picture with the fan, making sure to stay professional. This means, they
can’t stand too close, can’t touch, can’t look anywhere but the camera, and can’t be disrespectful.
Once the picture is finally taken, both him and Heizou hold their breath as they rush through their
‘goodbyes’ and head back over to Kunikuzushi. Turns out he already ordered his own boba and
was sipping on it while he waited. “Sorry about that, fans get a little excited sometimes,” Kazuha
apologizes, but Kuni just brushes him off. Even if he does so, it still worries him about whether or
not the exchange truly bothered their manager or not.

“I don’t mind, it’s to be expected when going out with two famous people,” Kuni shrugs, biting the
straw of his boba. He then stands and walks with them both up to the counter and that’s when
Kazuha’s plan must get set into motion. He makes an excuse about going to the bathroom, but
sneaks off outside, telling Heizou to order for him and then wait for him. Both of his boyfriends—
too smart for their own good— look at him skeptically, but he keeps the act up and sneaks away
successfully. The shop he saw is only two stores down so he makes his way in and quickly
purchases his items. A lantern, a lighter, and a pen. He doesn’t make his visit more than five
minutes before he’s running back over to the boba shop and trying to school his breathing so he
doesn’t look suspicious.

When he returns, his boyfriends are both sitting idly as they chat and wait for him. Heizou has his
boba resting on the table, drinking from the straw without even holding onto the cup. The boba he
ordered for Kazuha sits between the both of them as they wait for the guitarist. Once he reaches the
table, Kazuha picks up his boba and resists the urge to lean down and give Heizou a kiss on the
cheek as a ‘thank you’ instead opting for a nod of his head and a smile. “Ready?” he asks, his
purchased items hiding under his sweater. Heizou and Kuni both nod, standing up from their spots
at the table and pushing in their chairs. “Follow me, I’m going to take you to one of my favorite
spots here in Liyue,” Kazuha explains, a soft smile on his lips, “I say ‘one of’ because we can’t
head to Guyun for now.”

“Sure, just don’t drop your boba this time,” Kuni jokes, drinking from his own as they walk.
Heizou laughs as Kazuha rolls his eyes and then they’re all off to wherever he intends to take them.
They don’t hail a cab this time, choosing to walk in order to stall time and let the sun set more. By
the time they left the hotel room it was only three in the afternoon, by the time they left the boba
shop it’s only four-thirty. Sunset is at 5:16– he checked. So, he’s trying to set it up perfectly where
they can watch the sunset and then release their lanterns.

Kazuha leads them through the streets, idle chatter following them wherever they go as the street
lamps slowly begin to flicker on. The people start to disperse and traffic becomes more apparent as
shops begin to close their doors instead of leaving them open because of the chill the night air
brings. The smell of food wafts through the air all around them as they all sip their boba, stealing
loving glances at each other as they walk. Things between them have never been so peaceful before
now, always stressing over the deal or over a misunderstanding. It feels much better to just be open
and honest about his feelings rather than afraid of the reply that might come from them. He should
have known to trust Heizou and his instincts because he always had a sneaking suspicion Heizou
liked him back. That said, if he did just confess, Kuni never would have come into the picture.

Kazuha turns around then, having been leading the two of them that have been dutifully trailing
behind him. He looks Kuni up and down, his baggy pants being held around his waist by a thick
fabric belt, his oversized shirt layered over a turtleneck, his oversized sweatshirt that is beginning
to look more and more suspiciously like Heizou’s, and his basic ass sneakers with his socks
peeking over the edge. He knows if he ever told Kuni his shoes looked basic he’d probably get one
nasty glare, so he just huffs out a laugh to himself and gives Kuni a small, gentle smile. The man is
clearly confused by the way he scrunches up his face and looks at Heizou for a translation, but the
redhead just smirks with a shrug. This makes Kazuha giggle again as he takes in the sight of a lone
piercing in Kuni’s right ear.

“Have you always had that piercing?” Kazuha asks, facing front again as he sips on his boba. He
can’t see what’s going on behind him, but from the way there’s a pause, he can assume Heizou
never noticed the piercing until now either. Funny considering all the kisses he likes to give him.
Or maybe it was a recent addition? Who better to crack the case for them than the man in question
himself?
“No, I got it here in Liyue actually,” he says, “Kazuha you were out somewhere I think and
Heizou.. you and I weren’t on speaking terms then. I guess my hair kind of hid it. It must have
gotten a bit longer over this trip,” he thinks, pulling at a strand of his hair. They stop at a crosswalk
and Kazuha turns to see Heizou brushing hair behind Kuni’s ear to admire the piercing, genuinely
curious. The redhead’s eyes light up when he sees it and he gives Kuni a wide smile who in turn
blushes slightly. Kazuha admires the way they’re so soft with each other, it fills his heart with so
much joy seeing them both happy again.

“How come I didn’t see it that night then?” Heizou questions, a frown on his face as he blinks over
at their boyfriend. Kuni just shrugs, biting the tip of his straw as he’s the first to walk the
crosswalk when the light changes. Kazuha and Heizou trail after him, Heizou stealthily brushing
his fingertips over his palm in a tease as they follow. The guitarist just smiles at him, shaking his
head.

“Dunno, guess you’re blind or something. Sort of like how you were blind to Kazuha’s love for so
many years, but I guess the same could be said about him as well,” Kuni chides lightly, turning
around with a smirk across his lips as he waits for directions from Kazuha. Both Heizou and him
roll their eyes at Kuni’s jab as they give each other a bashful look and an embarrassed laugh. Their
manager isn’t wrong, though, they must truly be blind to have completely missed the hints from
one another. Thus, Kazuha tilts his head, a gentle smile across his lips as Heizou tilts his head the
other way, a matching smile of his own. They take a moment to just be in the moment with each
other before Kuni clears his throat with crossed arms and they both look over to him.

“Awh, is our princess jealous?” Heizou coos, earning him a glare from Kuni and an elbow to the
stomach. The redhead wheezes before turning to Kazuha with a look of exasperation. The guitarist
just shakes his head in a means to say ‘you brought that upon yourself’ as he goes back to the head
of the line and continues leading the way to one of his favorite places.

Kazuha takes them down a back alley and through a clearing before heading up some abandoned
steps that are really overgrown. Sounds of water can be heard in the coming distance as they make
their way across a cement platform and to a view that overlooks the city. An old bamboo bridge is
built across rushing water, a waterfall behind their backs and below their feet as they look out over
the ocean of city lights and to the actual view of the sea just beyond. Though the sun cannot be
seen since they are facing east, the skies still paint rays of oranges and yellows all across its
canvas, decorating the once baby blue, a mush of warm colors.

Kazuha watches his boyfriends’ faces light up at the view, walking over to the edge of the bridge
and looking out at the sleepy sky. A huge sense of calm washes over him as he rests his left
forearm on the railing, his right arm resting atop that one as he puts his chin in his palm. Heizou
comes up beside him and Kuni beside Heizou as they all watch the sunset together. It’s been a wild
ride to get to where they are, but it was worth it to say the least. To say the most would be to go on
for hours about how outrageously happy he is with this arrangement. A story of
misunderstandings, confusions, and deception brought them here, but what awaited them at the end
is a story of euphoria, tranquility, and love.

Heizou leans into his space then, nudging his shoulder causing Kazuha to look at him. The redhead
tilts his head with a smile and— just as they did before— Kazuha does it back, just the other way.
And then they’re both giggling, releasing sighs of happy contentment before Kazuha’s eyes flick
down to Heizou’s lips and back up to his gaze. The redhead holds his eyes there, a smirk dancing
on his lips as Kazuha blinks at him nervously. He wants to kiss him, but he’s still so nervous. They
only finally just got together this morning and so he doesn’t know when or how to make the first
move on some things, but it looks like he doesn’t have to.

Suddenly, Heizou’s face is shoved into Kazuha’s, but not by his doing seeing as the way the
redhead’s eyes fly open and when he tries to pull back he can’t. The guitarist looks past Heizou to
find Kuni with his chin in his palm, resting against the railing with a soft smile to his lips. His eyes
are filled with a warm feeling, glistening in the afterglow of the sun. And it’s then that Kazuha
realizes his other arm is against the back of Heizou’s head, fingers digging into his hair to keep
him against Kazuha’s lips. “You guys have been pining for so long I don’t understand why you
don’t just go for it. Consider this a favor,” Kuni answers both of their silent questions. This causes
the two of them to chuckle against each other’s lips, finally closing their eyes and letting
themselves enjoy their kiss.

Heizou cups his face, deepening the kiss the moment Kunikuzushi lets go. Kazuha doesn’t mind,
though, falling right in sync as his manager takes his boba cup from his hand so he can cup
Heizou’s cheeks as well. Kissing like this makes them feel like a teenage relationship, but Kazuha
finds that the euphoric feeling this intimacy brings him can be perfectly described as a teenage
fever. Heizou hums against his lips, the sounds of their lips smacking together barely audible over
the rushing water beneath their feet. The sun sets a perfect backdrop for such an occasion and he
can’t help getting lost in its warmth. Everything about this is more than he ever could have
dreamed of. Finally having Heizou in his arms after so many years is something he never knew he
couldn’t live without. Now that he has it, he never intends to let it go. Yet, letting irony do its
thing, he lets go.

The two of them pull apart, their breath intermingling as they rest their foreheads against one
another. They stare into each other’s eyes for a second before the moment catches up to them and
they’re both a giggling mess. They pull each other into their arms and hug tightly as Kazuha closes
his eyes just as tight. No hug he has ever received before this has ever felt this damn good. The
way the feeling of Heizou’s arms wrapped around him fills his heart with so much love that he can
physically feel it is insane. He loves Heizou. He loves him so much and one day he will be able to
tell him as such, he swears on it.

When they pull back from their hug again, the two smile at each other before thinking the same
thing and looking over at Kuni. Their boyfriend still has his chin propped in his hand, Kazuha’s
boba cup in his other hand seeing as Heizou and him finished theirs on the way up. He’s turned
away from them, giving them privacy even though he doesn’t have to and it warms Kazuha’s heart.
Silently, both Heizou and him move to either side of their boyfriend before caging him in,
squeezing him in a tight hug that surprises him and almost makes him drop Kazuha’s drink. The
responding curses they get in return only fuel their laughter over the situation until their giggles
eventually subside.

“Right, you guys, I got something for us,” Kazuha says, pulling out the lantern, lighter, and pen
now that the sun has fully set. Even if their faces are barely visible to one another in the moon
flight, they’ll make it work somehow. “While you two were ordering boba I got us a lantern. I
noticed one in your hand that night and I thought you wanted to light it with us,” Kazuha says, guilt
lacing his voice, but then Heizou hooks a finger under his chin and smiles at him, leaning in to
peck his lips. This makes the guitarist feel a little better, but he’ll never forgive himself for the
entire situation— the deal and everything.

“That’s over now, don’t look so guilty after you already apologized. Also, I have a gift for you as
well; I already gave Kuni his,” Heizou says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a jade
necklace. The red color of the red fabric chain is stark against the vibrant green of the jade. Even if
he can’t see it well in this light, Kazuha touches the jade bead gently and admires how beautiful it
is. Heizou then takes that opportunity to move behind him and unhook the clasp before sliding it
around Kazuha’s neck. He moves his own hair out of the way so Heizou can get a better view in
the darkness and once it’s done, Kazuha adjusts the jewelry around his neck and admires it on
himself. It feels weird next to the promise rings from him and Tomo, so he does the only
reasonable thing and takes off the old thing.

Heizou watches him closely, eyes wide before he understands the moment. Reaching into his
pocket, Heizou pulls out his wallet and the small green pebble he has taken with him everywhere
for the past years. Kunikuzushi seems to have a valuable item of his own, taking out a small, red
ribboned keychain with a ball of fur and a golden feather attached to it. The three stand at the
railing of the bridge and silently write down their wishes on the lantern, using the lighter as a better
light source than the moon. Kazuha makes sure to include aspirations for a long future together
with these two as well as their mates back at the hotel. And once they’ve all completed writing
down their desires, they light the lantern and hold it each with one hand. All of them smile at each
other, understanding the hurt and anguish they will finally be letting go of today once and for all.

Thus, they let go.

They let go and watch as the lantern with all of their hopes and dreams written on it files away.
Flies high into the crisp night sky to be read and blessed by the gods. It’s the only light other than
the moon in their view, the only light they need to hold onto from now on because from here on
out, they will be together. It’s said that standing together has always proven victorious over
standing alone, so together the three of them are willing to challenge that fate and see if it proves
true. So with a final kiss goodbye to his promise rings, Kazuha and his boyfriends draw back their
arms before unanimously and simultaneously tossing all the hurt, anguish, regret, anger, fear, and
loneliness out in front of them to be caught and washed away by the flowing waters of Liyue thus
bringing closure to them at last.
 Heizou is the first to scream, letting go of all the pent up emotions he’s harbored for years and
years followed by Kazuha and then a hesitant Kunikuzushi. The sounds of their voices bring
anguish and at least a decade long worth of suffering. No words are spoken, but noise is made and
yet so much is said. All of them release every bit of tension they have in themselves until they
physically can’t anymore, panting heavily as they all lean into each other, seeking the comfort they
desperately wished they had years prior.

This is it. This is the beginning of them.

Chapter End Notes

I appreciate all of you so much. The ones who comment, give kudos, follow my
twitter— even the ones who just read this. You mean the world to me for real. I hope
you enjoyed and I’ll see you next week,

Mika.
 A Moment to Remember
Chapter Summary

Heizou and Kazuha begin taking baby steps.

Chapter Notes

Sorry for the delay! Please check my Twitter for important updates
(@MikaelasMayhem)! Enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

——————

[Cyno, Married Guy] So everything worked out then?

[Me] I mean I got both of my BOYFRIENDS in my arms right now as we speak so I’d say so yeah

[Cyno, Married Guy] Well that’s great then. You’ll be in Inazuma soon right?

[Me] Yeah, why?

[Cyno, Married Guy] My kids are actually fans of yours, especially Collei. We decided to take a
family vacation and come out to see your performance in Inazuma. The Meet n Greet too.

Seen 03:22

—————————

At this Heizou can’t help but gasp, jolting with excitement which earns a groan of protest from
Kazuha and a displeased nuzzle to his chest by Kuni. He apologizes quietly to both of his lovers as
he carefully begins texting Cyno back. He’s so excited to get to see him again! He told Cyno about
everything that happened and how they got here and to be honest, it’s been very therapeutic. Him
and Cyno have grown closer as friends over the course of Heizou hitting him up and giving updates
about the band and his personal life as well as Cyno telling him about his life with his husband and
kids.

Heizou has never considered kids— doesn’t want them at all— and Cyno’s horror stories about his
children’s younger years only add fuel to the fire. That being said, he’s also shared some really
cute photos as well as cute stories about his children and aside from their younger years, they
sound lovely. He’s also talked about his husband, Tighnari, a lot and he sounds like he’d get along
with Ms. Jean pretty well. The two of them are both very hard working people who care deeply for
their friends and family. They sound like they’d be the best of friends! All in all this is good news
to Heizou because he can finally introduce Kuni and Kazuha as his lovers to Cyno and his family
as well as Kuki.

Archons, he can’t wait to see Kuki. It’s been far too long since they were able to talk in person
considering both of them are very busy. They’ve chatted a bunch over text, though, with Heizou
giving nothing but positive feedback. ..See the problem here? He never told Kuki about anything
that happened between himself, Kuni, and Kazuha. Damn, lots of names with K. Maybe he just
attracts people of the K variety. Kuki, Kuni, and Kazuha. He kinda likes it. Anyways, he has no
idea how he’s going to tell her about their history, one it’s embarassing because he’ll have to reveal
his bad sexual habits, two she already knows Kazuha and knows he’s had a crush on him, and three
he doesn’t know how she’ll react to Kunikuzushi. He’s sure it won’t be anything bad, but he can’t
help but still be worried. He wants all his special people to accept them.

Speaking of his special people, the two loves of his life are both in his arms. Finally. It almost feels
surreal that the both of them are actually his boyfriends. It took only his blood, sweat, and all of his
tears to get here, but he did it— they did it. His heart is overwhelmed with so much warmth
because of the two currently asleep in his arms and at his sides that he feels like if he wants to, he
could jump out of this plane and fly. He’s not going to test that theory, though, he chooses life. He
just got all he ever wanted for archons’ sake! Heizou couldn’t be happier that Kuni decided to try
with Kazuha for both of them and so far— even though it’s only been a couple hours— the two
have been getting along in a relationship dynamic pretty well. He finds that even when he isn’t
around for a couple minutes or so, that when he returns, it isn’t awkward between them at the very
least. Which is a good sign if he’s ever seen one.

Oops, he forgot to respond to Cyno.

——————

[Me] Really? I’ll be sure to give each of your children an extra special experience at the meet n
greet then! I’m excited to meet them!
[Cyno, Married Guy] As they are you.

[Cyno, Married Guy] I have to go now, Tighnari needs help with the kids and unpacking. Have a
safe flight, I’ll see you in Inazuma.

[Me] No problem. I should probably get off the jet wifi anyway, take care. See you then!

Seen 03:27

—————————

And with that he shuts off his phone and lets himself get some much needed rest before arriving in
Inazuma. He has a lot he wants to do while he’s visiting his homeland and he can’t do any of it if
he’s not awake. So he snuggles himself into Kazuha and Kuni’s arms, closes his eyes, and drifts
off to sleep.

————

A light kiss to his cheek and a brush of a hand through his hair is what wakes Heizou up when they
first arrive in Inazuma. When he opens his eyes he sees that it’s Kazuha who gave him such gifts
and who is smiling down at him gently. Heizou smiles right back, reaching up to wrap his arms
around Kazuha’s neck and bring him down for an actual kiss. The pair’s lips lock and the kiss is
slow and smooth, nothing too outrageous for just having woken up. And when they part they gaze
into each other’s eyes with a small giggle and a smile. It’s then that Heizou sits up and stretches
with a yawn, noticing Kuni who is on his phone probably texting away to make sure everything is
in order for their concert tonight as well as the meet n greet tomorrow.

Wanting to greet him as well, Heizou stands up from their little makeshift bed and wraps his arms
around Kuni’s waist before kissing his cheek and then his shoulder. The manager just hums in
reply, patting Heizou’s hand on his stomach before going back to texting. Whoever he’s talking to
must be important so Heizou doesn’t mind the dismissal. Thus, all of them grab what carryon items
they have and head off the plane and take a secret way through the airport. They let the airlines
know in advance that they were coming so that they would have security in place and a different
route for them to choose once they arrive. That being said, it’s a mystery to Heizou as to why he
sees Kuki Shinobu standing there waiting for him upon his arrival back home.

His face immediately lights up, “Kuki!” and he drops his things before making a beeline straight
toward her. She gives him a small wave and a smile before her face turns horrified as Heizou
sprints into her, bending low before scooping her up by her thighs and hugging her while her toes
dangle in the air. People tend to underestimate how strong Heizou actually is, but he took martial
arts for years because his father forced him too and it ended up working in his favor because he
works out regularly now and he can easily lift people like this. He spins her around with Kuki
shouting at him to put her down because she’s afraid she’s going to fall, but he doesn’t, laughter
over taking him with joy before he actually does set her down.

Heizou puts Kuki back on her feet before holding her at arms length by both of her shoulders and
looking her over with a wide smile. Then he immediately brings her back in for a bone crushing
hug to which she groans and hugs him back tightly. To say he just missed Kuki is an
understatement— no, he is starved of Kuki. This woman right here has been with him almost his
whole like and he couldn’t be more thankful. She is his best friend in the whole entire world
besides Kazuha formerly and he wouldn’t replace her with anyone. He loves Kuki to death and
she’s like family to him now. He can’t believe she showed up at the airport! How even?! “Heizou,
please, your friends are staring and I can’t breath,” Kuki wheezed, gasping when Heizou lets go.

“Oh, sorry! How did you get here? Did the guards not give you a hard time?” he asks, releasing
Kuki from his hold and brushing a stray hair from her face. She then fixed the hair herself because
she apparently doesn’t like the fact that Heizou tucked it away. Tch, women and their love for their
hair. He can’t blame her, though, her hair is absolutely beautiful.

“They tried, but I pulled my reputation with you on them and they cracked. All I had to do was
show them the tons of scandal articles about us as well as my ID and your interview addressing the
articles stating we’ve been friends for years. They let me in after that— I wanted to surprise you
after all,” she says. She’s wearing her usual mask, but her eyes show her smile as does her posture.
She’s wearing a crop top that just barely covers her black bra as well as some short shorts and a
leather jacket. A very Kuki-like choice of clothing. “I also got a gift for you, here,” she reaches into
her backpack that fell on the ground when she seen Heizou approaching and pulls out a decently
sized box. She then hands it to Heizou as the others arrive behind him. “Hello, Venti, Xiao,
Kazuha, Ms. Jean, Ms, Sucrose, and you are?”

“Kunikuzushi; their new manager,” Kuni says, nodding his head in Kuki’s direction. He sounds so
professional when he introduces himself like that, it’s kind of cute to see him in work mode. Maybe
Heizou just had a thing for wanting to ruin Kuni’s professional exterior. He means.. who wouldn’t
want to make someone of such high dignity cry underneath him? Is that too shameless to say?
Maybe.

“I’m Kuki Shinobu. I’ve been Heizou’s friend since we were kids,” Kuki replies, “open your gift,
Heizou,” she demands, putting her hands on her hips and who’s to say no to that? So, he unties the
ribbon on the box and lets the bands fall loose in his hold before picking off the top of the box and
gazing inside. He’s first met with a card on top of tissue paper, so he hands the box to Kuki to hold
as he reads the letter in his head: Heizou, good to have you back in Inazuma. It’s embarrassing to
admit it but I’ve missed you dearly. The gang— especially Itto— also has missed you even if you
did give him a fake beetle, Itto still likes to hang out and duel you in beetle matches. If you’d like
we can all hang out at my place and have a little welcome back party; I’d like you to attend if you
could. We’ll be at your performance tonight, cheering you on as always, so we better get to
congratulate you after the show. In the box is a pricey magnifying glass to add to your collection
that all of us pitched in to get. We also gave you a little tassel charm to go on the end of it as well
so every time you look at it you think of us. I love and have missed you, Heizou, welcome home.

Heizou thinks he might just start crying— might. Instead he gives Kuki the most endearing look he
can muster and wraps her in his arms again. “I love you too, Kuki, and I’ve missed you dearly as
well; it’s good to be back home,” he whispers against her ear, as she rubs his back with one hand,
holding the gift box in the other. Kuki Shinobu is like a sister to him and one of the very few
people he’s able to say ‘I love you’ to. He struggles with saying the phrase a lot, but he knows he
will be able to say it to Kazuha and Kuni soon enough. He’s promised himself that he will because
he does love them and he wants to tell them that verbally. When they pull away again he takes the
gift box from her hand and unwraps the magnifying glass. He’s bigger than he expected it to be as
he holds it up to his eye and looks at Kuki through it who gives him an unimpressed look. Heizou
just giggles before placing it back in the box alongside the card and closing it carefully.

He then turns around to grab his own backpack that Kazuha had kindly picked up for him when he
dropped it and puts his gift inside. He’s going to make sure that it stays safe and sound inside his
backpack until they arrive home where he can add it to his shelf of magnifying glasses. He doesn’t
remember when he started collecting them, all he remembers is that one kid told him he seemed
like a detective in his younger years and he’s been obsessed with the title since. He feels like
magnifying glasses are very detective-esct so he likes to collect them. The oldest one he had in his
collection is actually from 1324 because he’s lucky enough to have had the money to buy such an
item, but decided to donate to a museum instead and only collect ones with cool fancy designs or
the like.

That being said, they all head off towards the exit of the airport, parting ways with Kuki with the
promise of seeing her after their performance. Since it’s already past noon, they have to check into
their hotel and quickly get a move on to do touch ups before the concert. “Kazuha, Heizou, you
two will be the center of attention tonight seeing as you’ll be singing your duet. All eyes will be on
you so don’t fuck it up,” Kuni helpfully supplies as they arrive at said hotel after taking the van
that was waiting for them outside the airport. The group laughs at his statement as they check in
which makes the atmosphere lighthearted. They didn’t come out and say it, but everyone now
knows the three of them are on good terms. Heizou isn’t even sure if he wants to be open enough to
share the full story with them. It’s not like he has to anyways.

“Oh don’t worry, we’ll be sure to put on a great show. Right, Zuzu? ” Heizou asks, turning to
Kazuha with a sultry smile. The second guitarist smirks back nodding his head as he picks up his
bags from the floor and waves goodbye to his bandmates. “See? We got this. Relax,” Heizou says
to Kuni who is clearly more nervous about their performance than they are. Or perhaps.. he’s
excitedly nervous? Xiao and Venti as well as the two women in their group wave goodbye to them
as well as they all part ways to find their hotel rooms. They couldn’t get hotel rooms on the same
floor this time, so they’ll have to make do.
“I know you do. I’m just saying..,” Kuni trails, pocketing his phone. Heizou just huffs out a laugh,
Kazuha coming up beside their boyfriend and playfully nudging his arm. Kuni glares over at him,
but a light blush can be seen spreading across his cheeks. He’s been caught red handed caring for
them and it’s the cutest thing in the world. Heizou can tell just by the look in Kazuha’s face that
he’s thinking the same thing.

“We’ll be alright, Kunikuzushi, you have no need to worry about us. But if it really bothers you..
you could patiently wait for us backstage and come running to us with hugs and kisses for our good
performance afterwards,” Kazuha jokes which makes Heizou snort and Kuni shove Kazuha to the
side. The guitarist just laughs, his voice feathery light as the blush on Kuni’s cheeks remains
prominent. It’s so cute watching the two of his loves interact; it really warms his heart.

Thus, they finally make it to their hotel room and unpack their things. They push the two beds
together to make one big one and stuff one of the blankets in between the crack so the crack ceases
to exist. This way all of them can fit on the bed comfortably. They would have been able to do so
before with just a normal bed, but a big bed is a lot more fun, don’t you think? Heizou thinks so.
Speaking of, he has to quickly shower before heading out because his hair has seen better days. So,
he grabs a new outfit and heads into the shower, teasing his boyfriends to behave while he’s gone.
They both just laugh at him, but Kuni jokingly tells him that they’re going to do it while he’s gone,
which has Kazuha sputtering. And now with the mental image of Kazuha’s face gone tomato red in
his head, Heizou closes the bathroom door and heads in for his shower.

His showers usually take a little longer than normal considering the length of his hair, but he
doesn’t mind at all because he loves his hair. It’s one of his favorite things about himself (and also
maybe because Kazuha likes playing with it so much teehee). That being said, he takes extra time
to make sure his hair is nice and clean before washing his body and shaving his under arms. He
gets that hairy pits may be for some people, but for him? No thank you. He finds it annoying, in
fact, so he gets rid of it at first sight of it. Sort of like an armpit hair sniper. The thought makes him
giggle to himself as he finishes up with his shower.

Stepping out after shutting off the water, Heizou towels himself down before doing the same to his
hair. He makes sure his body is completely dry before he slips his reading glasses on (sometimes
he gets a headache if he doesn’t wear them to read things like he did earlier) and dresses himself.
The mirror is still fogged up so he dries it with a towel before looking over his appearance. Aside
from his messy hair, he looks crisp and clean— exactly what he wanted. Thus, he cleans up his
bathroom mess and tosses his clothes to the side to start a dirty laundry pile before opening the
door and jokingly going, “you guys better not be doing anything naughty right now,” before
stepping out to gaze at his lovers.

The both of them are cuddled together on the bed, looking down at a book In Kazuha’s hand.
They’re reading together. THAT’S SO FUCKING CUTE, WHAT?! His boyfriends are the cutest,
for real, nobody tops them! How did he get so lucky?! Kazuha has an arm wrapped around Kuni
while the manager snuggles close, head against Kazuha’s chest. The guitarist holds their book low
enough for both of them to still read comfortably as he absentmindedly rubs his thumb against
Kuni’s arm. When said boyfriends notice his presence, they look up at him and blink. Kazuha
gives a small smile while Kuni just stares at him before looking back down at the book. “‘You
ready to go? Don’t make us fall behind schedule,” he questions, sitting up in bed when Kazuha
closes the book and does the same. “the others already texted me that they’re at the stage,” he gets
up, grabbing a leather jacket and tossing it over his shoulders before walking over to Heizou and
looking him over, “you look sexy in glasses,” he comments and this makes Heizou blush before he
schools it into a smirk. His stutter gives him away, though.

“You— You think so?” he stutters, cursing himself in his head for doing so. Kuni just snorts,
grabbing his chin in order to pull him down into a kiss. Heizou’s eyes widen before they close at
the feeling. It’s sort of awkward to kiss with glasses, but if it makes him hotter.. the glasses might
just stay on during sex. That’s all he’s got to say about the matter. Then they pull away, Heizou in
a dazed state as he looks over Kuni’s face. “I know you said I’m a good kisser, but if only you
could taste yourself,” Heizou murmurs, a smirk dancing across his lips when Kuni’s eyes widen.
The manager glares at him with embarrassment, shoving his face away before heading to the door.
Heizou giggles before chancing a glance at Kazuha who had been patiently waiting for them the
entire time and waves him over.

Kazuha makes his way over curiously before being swept up in Heizou’s arms and kissed just as
passionately. His glasses accidentally knock against Kazuha’s face within the deep kiss, but he
doesn’t seem to mind much. Then one of Heizou’s hands falls to Kazuha’s lower back as does one
of Kazuha’s hands to Heizou and when they part, Kazuha smiles. “You didn’t have to do that, you
know. I wasn’t jealous or anything, just waiting,” he says and when Heizou responds to him with a
frown, going to speak, Kazuha continues, “I still appreciate it, though. You taste like Kuni and he
was right; you do look sexy in glasses,” he comments, a smirk forming on his lips as he pecks
Heizou’s once more before kissing his cheek and heading out the door after Kuni. He yelled for
them to ‘hurry their asses up lest they want their pay docked’ so they figured it better to get moving
immediately.

“Well jeez, Kuni, you interrupted my turn to have sex with Kazuha,” he jokes, earning him a roll of
his eyes from Kuni and a laugh from Kazuha. Then the three of them head out of the hotel and
hitch a cab ride to the city center; scary, right? They’re going to be performing in the town square
which means their music will not only be heard by those in the place, but outside of it too. They get
a free show just with terrible seats. Actually, speaking of concerts, Heizou has never been to one,
only performed in them. Isn’t that weird to think about? He thinks it is at least, so when the
buildings become more dense and the people begin to thicken Heizou knows they’ve made it to
their destination.

Stepping out of the cab, Kuni is immediately wearing sunglasses while both Kazuha and Heizou
are on either side of him wearing business smiles. The fans and reporters being held back by
security shout and scream their names, some throwing things. When one particular fan throws an
item in their direction, Kazuha bats it away before it can knock Kunikuzushi square in the jaw. The
crowd swoons, but Kazuha’s smile morphs slightly downturned and Heizou has to hum to remind
him to wear a smile, even if he doesn’t like the situation. The guitarist obliges, of course, moping
over the fact that that video will be all over online tonight in edits, video compilations of him, and
in articles. Seriously, sometimes people really make a big deal out of nothing; Kazuha was just
protecting their (secret boyfriend) manager.

And with that they head into the back of the stage and are immediately swamped by staff.
Kunikuzushi swiftly side steps them, heading off to go check in with the others while Kazuha and
Heizou are swept away to go get their makeup and costumes done and situated. They start with the
makeup first, being sat down in chairs by their artists as their faces are poked and prodded with.
They add light eyeliner as well as a slight hue of eyeshadow. They don’t go light on the sparkles
because their staff’s goal is to make them be resemblant of a disco ball as much as they can. In all
seriousness though, they do say the sparkles add a charming touch to their features when the lights
shine on them at just the right angle. It’s also an excuse for any sweat on their faces from those
same scorching hot lights. They can just say their sweat is the sparkles! Pretty good marketing
tactic he supposes.

Once they’re finished there, they’re thrown into their costumes and set free. What they’re wearing
isn’t much of a costume per say, more like clothes that match a little too well to be considered
normal. It allows them good movement and such because not only will they be performing their
duet, they’ll also be performing that song. The one where he and Kazuha get all touchy feely?
Yeah. He doesn’t know how he controlled himself on stage before now because they’ve done
worse and actually having Kazuha as his now makes Heizou want him ten times more. It’s so
difficult to have self restraint when your boyfriend is just way too hot for his own good. He’s going
to need time to mentally prepare for this and luckily they have some time left before the actual
performance to go over things and make sure everything is correct. So, the four of them meet up
and talk.

“Good luck guys, eyes on you tonight,” Venti says, a smile across his lips. His eyes sparkle with
glee as he almost seems proud of them which he could definitely one hundred percent be proud of
them. That just feels like a Venti thing to do. Xiao is at his side, nodding along with him. Part of
his hair is pushed back and out of his face and glitter is high on his cheekbones. The usual red eye
makeup he wears even out of concert is as ever present as always. A microphone is attached to his
cheek, the wires hidden well in his hair and clothes. He looks really good, especially next to Venti
who matches him almost perfectly.

“Right, same to you,” Kazuha smiles back, hair in a high ponytail as his bangs frame his face. His
soft crimson eyes are so warm Heizou could swim in their warm red waters forever and never want
to leave. His gaze is so alluring he gets trapped in it everytime and it seems his friends are no
different. Venti nods to him as does Xiao before it seems that the lead singer has to tear his eyes
away from the man before looking over to the curtain. It makes Heizou laugh in his head, but—
feeling generous— he spares Venti the embarrassment of calling his gawking out and instead
focuses his attention to Kunikuzushi who walks their way.

“On in five,” he reminds them and they all nod, heading over to the curtain. The group waits
patiently, scanning what little of the crowd they can see from where they stand until they get their
cue to head on stage. Venti and Xiao go first, but Kazuha and Heizou linger behind when Kuni
speaks again, “..good luck out there,” he cheers and then as if he’s compensating for his
embarrassment he adds, “don’t fuck it up or I’m gonna laugh.” This makes Heizou and Kazuha
laugh instead, the both of them giving Kuni a kiss before heading out on stage. Heizou looks back
at their manager one last time to see his expression frazzled and arms crossed as he leans his weight
on one foot. The sight makes a breathy laugh leave his lips once more before he focuses his
attention back to where it’s supposed to be. The crowd. Their fans.

The entire vicinity erupts in cheers and screams as Heizou, his boyfriend, and friends all wave their
hands in greeting. Their smiles are wide and welcoming except for Xiao’s who’s mild and modest,
a small wave coming from him as well. Venti runs through the introduction as he does every time
with a few words from Heizou himself this time as well as Kazuha at the mention of their duet and
then they’re off. Music starts playing and all of them dance moving their limbs and the like in
perfect coordination to each other. Then one song drifts into another and eventually they reach the
part of said song that Heizou has been mentally preparing himself for this whole time. That’s when
he remembers that— oh shit— he never took his glasses off. Oh well, he’ll just stage it like part of
the costume at worst.

In synchronized movements, each pair parts from each other before returning to one another to
place a hand on their partner’s cheek, letting it slide from their turned faces as they glide past the
other. Heizou can already feel the butterflies forming in his stomach the moment Kazuha’s eyes
land on his. Their gazes lock and a smirk forms on Kazuha’s lips as he sings. Heizou can tell he’s
being extra sultry in his movements and it’s driving him mad and they barely even started their
routine yet. He doesn’t know how he’s going to survive the rest of the song if his boyfriend keeps
acting like this.

They circle around each other before coming together with hands around waists and arms around
necks. The leading role in each pair dramatically removes their partner’s hands from around their
neck to spin them around and forcefully bring their back against their chest. Heizou can feel the
way Kazuha intentionally leans as much of his weight against him as he can, even going as far as
pushing his ass right against Heizou’s groin. What is he doing?! What if the crowd thinks he’s
getting a little too into the dance?? But to be fair, that’s not far from the truth; the only difference is
that between them there is no ‘too far’. This leads them to the part Heizou has been anticipating
and preparing for the most as he runs a hand down Kazuha’s chest, his other gripping his waist
tightly. He can feel the way his boyfriend’s boy works with him in sync, drinking up the pleasured
feeling of Heizou’s hands on his body so desperately.

Then Kazuha further adds fuel to the fire, bringing an arm up to wrap around Heizou’s head while
he leans his own back against the redhead's shoulder. Before this action would have left him horny
with no place to vent to it, but now he can reciprocate the action as Heizou turns his head to hide
his face in Kazuha’s neck when he does this. He actually feels the shiver that runs through his
lover’s body in response, thriving off the way he bites his lip when they part ways. They dance
around each other, gazes locked with matching smirks before Kazuha spins away from him to
become dance partners with Xiao instead.
Venti is in his arms down, smirking at him with a knowing look. Heizou can’t help but let the
embarrassment of his knowledgeable show as red dust across his cheeks. Venti just giggles,
shoving Heizou away roughly to put his hands on his shoulders at an arm’s length. He then flicks
his head up and down before parting his legs to be a little wider than his shoulders. Venti turns to
wink at the crowd before releasing Heizou and walking behind him to the part where they feign his
legs getting swept from underneath him by Venti. The lead singer catches him when he pretends to
fall before shoving him up right again and moving back over to Xiao. He passes by Kazuha when
he does this, the two of them stopping in the middle of the stage to rest their palms flat against each
other before interlocking fingers and throwing the other in the opposite direction.

Kazuha pretends to stumble back over to him and Heizou gets ready to catch him, but the guitarist
just stands up straight and dusts off his shoulders. He then walks over to Heizou and places his
forearms on his shoulder, crossing his right ankle in front of his left one as he leans his weight to
one side. Kazuha then blows in his face teasingly and Heizou recoils even when his eyes are
protected by his glasses, the song coming to a close just as it should. Their gazes are stuck on each
other during this short period of no sound and Heizou can see the way Kazuha is panting and out of
breath, a smile across his parted lips. Even after all that dancing and acting, he still remains
insanely beautiful even with sweat dripping down his forehead. And to be honest he had no idea
how his glasses didn’t fall off, but his hair is a complete icky mess, threatening to stick to his beads
of sweat as it falls in his eyes.

They hold their poses until the music completely stops and once it does, they break their positions
and part immediately to a ‘friendly’ distance. The crowd’s cheers are insanely loud and Heizou
doesn’t blame them, that is a fan favorite song after all and he thinks that’s the best they have ever
performed it. Not surprising that the best time for them to have ever performed it is when Heizou
and Kazuha are now in an established relationship and have the real chemistry that the dance and
lyrics are trying to portray. But that’s thinking a little too logically for just a dance for fun. And
with the close of that song, brings their final performance by Kazuha and Heizou. Their duet.

Venti stays on stage, talking with the crowd and working them up to the final act as Xiao, Heizou,
and Kazuha run off stage to get fixed up. They’re all handed bottles of water that they graciously
drink from as Xiao steps to the side and lets the staff take off Heizou and Kazuha’s mic packs in
favor of them using handheld microphones to sing. Once they’re free from the tangles of the cords,
they’re handed the aforementioned microphones and are instructed to wait for Venti’s cue. Both of
them are super focused on this moment, Heizou bringing a hand to rest against Kazuha’s lower
back as they wait. The feeling is comforting and it grounds his nerves just to simply have a hand
on him like this. The guitarist looks over at him and smiles softly, leaning over to kiss his cheek
encouragingly. Heizou guesses he could sense his nervousness and he definitely appreciates the
gesture.

When they get the cue from Venti, they walk on stage with soft smiles and more waves, the crowd
cheering once more. Stools are placed for them on stage, but they’re a little too far apart for
Heizou’s liking, so he moves his closer to Kazuha’s. They both take a seat and Heizou speaks.
“Hey guys, big crowd tonight and we’re so excited to be able to be the ones delivering the special
performance for you all,” he says and they all scream. Heizou’s laugh fills the microphone and he
can swear he hears a soft laugh of Kazuha’s own leaving his lips. “Kazuha and I will be singing a
duet song that we wrote together actually. It’s been a fun process so we hope you all enjoy it,” he
finishes, looking over at Kazuha who nods to him with a smile of his own.

“It is truly an honor to be the ones delivering you the special part of today’s concert in our
homeland,” the guitarist speaks and then he switches from the common language to Inazuman, “we
appreciate you all! Please enjoy, thank you,” he concludes, bowing his head. Heizou does the same
and the crowd cheers before dying down when the music starts gently filling the area around them.
The two of them look at each other, laughing lightly with nerves. Heizou’s heart is pounding, he
can’t believe they’re finally debuting the song they worked so hard to piece together. He never
thought something like this would become so nerve wracking for him. Kazuha being here next to
him relaxes him immensely, though, that’s part of the reason why he moved their stools closer. The
other part is simply because he wants to be next to his lover when they sing together.

Thus the music starts and the two begin nodding their heads to the rhythm. Heizou can feel the air
get caught in his lungs, nerves taking over before he glances at Kazuha who gives him a gentle and
encouraging smile. The action makes Heizou calm down as he releases his breath and begins
singing. The notes flow easily from his mouth as he listens to his own pitch while looking over the
dark crowd. The lights shining in his face prevent him from seeing people clearly, but that’s
honestly for the best. The way the light reflects off his glasses doesn’t do him any favors in that
department either.

Heizou adjusts the microphone in his hand as the other rests upon his thigh. His nerves are still
getting to him but he refuses to let his voice show it, so instead he closes his fist tightly, digging his
nails into his own skin. He isn’t used to being the center of attention. Sure he can sing, but it’s
always been short solos in a song where they all sing or he’s just been back up vocals. This is the
first time in his music career where he’s singing solo with this much attention on him; not a three
word phrase, not back up vocals— a lead vocalist. The feeling is as thrilling as it is chilling and he
is trying his hardest right now not to mess things up for both him and Kazuha’s sake.

Speaking of, the lyrics then shift over to Kazuha’s and his voice comes out even and smooth. It’s a
lot more flowy than Heizou’s but that’s to be expected because Kazuha does have more experience
with singing solo. He used to write his own music and perform on streets for extra cash, that’s how
he was scouted for their agency. His voice also happens to be a fan favorite because of how
calming and gentle it is, so there really is no possible way for Kazuha to mess this up other than
maybe singing the wrong lyrics. Heizou doubts that would happen, though, they practiced a lot and
they practiced hard because he was too afraid of messing this all up for them. Kazuha even told
him repeatedly that he would do just fine, but Heizou was too paranoid.

That being said, Kazuha decided to make Heizou sing the rise of the song, making his part the
most important. He’s used to being in the background— just a silly side character because he
knows his bandmates are all wildly more popular than he is, so having a moment like this is huge
for him. He’s never really let the fact that his bandmates are more known than him get to him
before because he’s the type to keep that stuff out of mind, but now that he is with Kazuha and
Kuni he wants to be better for them and show them he isn’t unworthy of the spotlight as his
bandmates have. He wants to be recognized and cherished by their fans too.

Thus, the song reaches its rising point and Heizou is belting out the notes, tipping the microphone
back as he clutches onto the front of his shirt. The crowd is cheering wildly— cheering wildly for
him! This is the first he’s ever experienced of this kind of thrill and he loves it. He looks over to
Kazuha as their parts begin to blend and they sing together. His boyfriend has a smile on his lips
and his eyes shine with so much pride for him. Heizou can’t help but feel his heart swell and a
wide smile appear across his face as he sings into the eyes of his lover. Right now he doesn’t care
about the allegations that may come from this, he’s living in the moment and oh archons if he isn’t
thriving in it.

When their voices slow and lower in pitch, the lights dim to only them in the spotlight until their
voices fade and the lights shut off completely. There’s a few seconds before the crowd erupts in
cheers and claps and Heizou takes a chance and quickly places his hand on Kazuha’s thigh,
squeezing it in thanks for believing in him before pulling away. The lights are back on them now
and they’re both laughing, overjoyed with how well they performed. The two thank the crowd and
give their bows before being tackled by Venti on stage. Their lead singer is so proud of them that
he runs out on stage when he isn’t supposed to and hugs them both in his arms. Xiao isn’t far
behind as he too comes to join them for a group hug, though he just rests his hand on their
shoulders encouragingly.

The crowd goes even more wild at this before they all make their way off the stage and off work
for the night. “Holy shit, Heizou, you were amazing! I know we’ve heard your voice before, but I
can’t believe you just did that!” Venti rambles excitedly, he cups Heizou’s cheeks in his hands and
squishes them together which causes the drummer to laugh before he lets go. “I’m so proud of you,
Heizou, you as well, Kazuha. You both did amazing. I’m sure everyone is going to be streaming
your song in no time!” he encourages, moving over to squeeze Kazuha’s shoulders before taking a
step back and smiling at them. He’s like the proud parental figure Heizou wished he had as a child
and the thought makes him laugh.

“Thank you, Venti, I was super nervous out there but I think I did the best that I could,” Heizou
smiles, looking over at Kazuha bashfully who nods his head and places a hand on his lower back.
The action feels comforting, but it makes his face become heated with embarrassment at such PDA
after all that. Then he looks up from their little group to see Kuni respectfully and shyly waiting for
them to finish their conversation with their bandmates. Xiao follows his gaze and it lands on Kuni
as well, so he lightly taps Venti’s shoulder and nods in Kuni’s direction. The lead singer glances
over his shoulder with curious eyes before a soft smile graces his features and nods. Taking the
hint, the two of them walk away to give them some alone time with their partner.

Not so subtlety, does Kunikuzushi saunter his way over to them awkwardly. His eyes don’t meet
theirs, looking anywhere else but them, but they can clearly tell what he’s trying and wanting to
say. So, Heizou and Kazuha patiently wait for him to work up the courage to compliment them and
it takes a second, but he does. With a deep inhale and a heavy exhale, Kunikuzushi speaks: “you
guys were really amazing and your voices really fit well together. I knew Kazuha could sing but
you, Heizou? I had no idea; I’m truly impressed. You should.. sing more in the future,” he says, but
then, “I would love to listen to it.” Heizou feels his heart melt as he lurches forward and wraps
Kunikuzushi in his arms tightly, kissing his cheek when he wheezes from having the wind knocked
out of him. He reaches back and grabs Kazuha, yanking him into their embrace as well.

“He’s right, Heizou, your voice is too good to go unheard. Sing more for us in the future,” Kazuha
agrees, kissing Heizou’s cheek before leaning down and kissing Kuni’s as well, “and thank you.”
Kunikuzushi just nods, a light blush on his cheeks from being so soft with them, but they both love
it. Getting to see this soft side of Kunikuzushi has got to be Heizou’s favorite thing about having
ever gotten so close to him. The fact that he took the time to break down his walls and the fact that
Kuni let him in and continues to let him in makes Heizou crumble every time. He can’t believe he
scored so big with Kuni and with Kazuha. Heizou knows he’s said this like a million times already,
but he will never ever understand how he got so lucky.

With the night over with, he and his bandmates plus Kunikuzushi all get everything settled
backstage before heading out to leave the vicinity. Heizou has yet to see Kuki again, so they
definitely have to go find her. She’s probably waiting for them at one of the back exits and his
guess is correct when they round the corner and see five men and Kuki Shinobu herself standing
there waiting for them. Itto’s face lights up immediately and Heizou braces himself for what he
knows is bound to come as he gets picked up right off his feet and hoisted into the air by Itto. The
big guy nearly crushes his entire structure until Kuki smacks him on the back of the head and tells
him to put Heizou down. Heizou just laughs, though, and watches Xiao attempt to hide behind
Venti before Itto spots him. The action is a failure, though, as he walks over and claps the guitarist
right on the back. It knocks Xiao off balance and Venti reaches out a hand to catch him in case he
were to fall. He doesn’t, though, just stumbles a bit.

Heizou isn’t sure why Itto has such an attachment to Xiao ever since he first met him a while back,
but the guy has taken up calling Xiao ‘little dude’ and it makes all of them laugh. It’s funny how
the two of them work surprisingly well together, sort of how Itto’s optimism balances out Xiao’s
pessimism. The pair make an oddly good duo.

“Hey, the gang just wanted to say ‘hi’ since we haven’t seen you in way too long. Also, they’d like
to know if you’ll stop by our place sometime soon? Maybe after all your hustle and bustle here?”
Kuki asks, eyeing Itto over his shoulder. Heizou turns around and sees that he has taken up playing
a game of rock, paper, scissors with his friends. Currently he is playing Kunikuzushi and he loses
within the first two rounds. Itto immediately says the shorter is cheating to which Kuni sticks out
his tongue at him. Kazuha— being the peacemaker that he is— steps between the two to
deescalate the situation. “Men,” Kuki sighs.

“Men,” Heizou agrees, causing Kuki to laugh, “I’m stoked to be able to say ‘hi’ to them all again
and yes I can stop by anytime. Just me or..?” Heizou asks out of respect for Kuki and her struggle
to babysit five grown men. Well, Takuya isn’t so bad, but sometimes he gets swept up in the
group’s antics. Not by choice, though, he quite literally gets swept up and taken to go be reckless.
It’s what he gets for being one of Itto’s best friends. Also, he’s asking because he doesn’t want to
invite more people if she’s already going to be exhausted from dealing with their friends all day.
He’d hate to run her social battery dry by bringing his bandmates and such.

“Your choice. You sang beautifully by the way and..,” she glances over at the group before pulling
Heizou aside. “You and Kazuha..?” she trails curiously. Ah, so she noticed. Nothing ever slips past
Kuki Shinobu. Well, to be fair, they did make it pretty obvious to anybody that knows them so he
wouldn’t call it much of a secret. But still, this is it. This is the moment he is going to tell Kuki
about him, Kazuha, and Kunikuzushi. He’s praying to the archons right now that she doesn’t strike
him down. He doesn’t believe she will, but you know.

“Me and Kazuha,” he confirms, then his eyes slide over to Kunikuzushi and he nods in his
direction, “..and Kuni,” he finishes, hoping she’ll get it and she does. Her jaw immediately drops
and her eyes grow wide. Heizou can’t help but feel his heart begin to race. He can’t tell if that
reaction is a good or bad one and her little laugh of disbelief is not helping.

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“Heizou!” she exclaims punching him in the shoulder. He winces, grabbing said shoulder and
rubbing the soreness away. “Congradu-fucking-lations! Why didn’t you tell me?! You got the guy
and another guy!” she says excitedly, a smile clear in the way her eyes sparkle for him. All of his
fear floods out of him in waves as he sighs heavily in his mind. Crisis averted successfully. He
seriously thought she was going to run him into the ground just then. He had hope at the beginning
but her words make him think twice and then think thrice. Luckily the last thought turned out to be
for the best. She’s happy for them.

“The way it all played out and came to this wasn’t the best. Honestly,” he inhales, looking away in
shame, “I felt embarrassed and ashamed over it and I didn’t want you to see me like that,” he
admits bashfully. He scratches the back of his neck, looking anywhere but her. Kuki is like a sister
to him so admitting this fact is highly embarrassing. It’s not that she could go tattle to either of their
parents about such a situation that he’s afraid of. It’s her being disappointed in him and his choices
he makes when he’s being an idiot in love. Disappointment from Kuki? He doesn’t think he could
ever live that down.

“ Tch , don’t be ridiculous. I’ve caught you with your pants down before measuring your dick
when I came over to hangout. I don’t want to hear anything about being too ashamed or too
embarrassed to tell me something,” she reasons and the reminder makes Heizou laugh. Listen,
every teenage guy does that type of thing, so who is he to be the exception? He just wanted to
know how much he was packing to see whether or not he had bragging rights! How was he
supposed to know she was going to walk in at that moment unannounced?! (She was, in fact, not
unannounced having texted him and even called him multiple times). Kuki slammed the door shut
and asked if she could come back in when his pants were back up and he said yes. When she came
back in she just smirked and said ‘nice cock’ in that one funny voice. It made Heizou burst out into
laughter and made the entire situation a lot less awkward. Plus he can count that as a compliment
from her right? In that case, he took more of a win than a loss that day because if it’s a compliment
from Kuki you know it has to be good.

Speaking of embarrassing moments, there was a time where Kuki was heading out somewhere and
she was in a rush. Heizou was staying the night in her room because he didn’t feel like having to
deal with his father’s relentless need to push him into martial arts. But anyways, in her haste she
stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel on and forgot Heizou was sitting right on her bed, so
she dropped the towel and immediately started changing. Heizou went ‘whoa!’ and Kuki screamed
and picked the towel back up to cover herself. He just laughed and complimented her tits to which
she blushed and thanked him before he respectfully turned around and shoved his face in her
pillow. Heizou won’t lie when he says Kuki has an outstandingly wonderful body. She’s a very
beautiful woman and only deserves the best of the best and anyone who messes with her gets a two
for one deal with Heizou coming to knock their teeth out for even trying. The point of even sharing
that story was to prove Kuki’s point that he really shouldn’t have been ashamed or even
embarrassed to tell her about everything.

“You’re right, but I was going through a lot and couldn’t think straight. I’ll tell you when I get the
chance, yeah?” he smiles, bumping her shoulder with his. She nods, smiling back with her eyes
before rounding up the five rowdy men that Itto likes to call the ‘Arataki Gang’ and letting them
say their ‘hello’s’ to Heizou. Takuya is the most normal about it whereas the other three plus Itto
all are wild and drown him in hugs. And let him tell ya’ hugs from big muscular men are a
different type of hug. Being shoved in man tiddies is a different kind of dopamine he swears it. So
he gladly accepts all the hugs and compliments on their performance before waving them all
goodbye with promises of seeing each other again soon. Itto almost cried at having seen him again,
but Heizou quickly cooed him so he wouldn’t. That dude is such a big lover. For a man with quite
the frightening appearance he tends to be very misunderstood because he’s actually a huge softy.
What a guy.

Now with their little greeting and meeting out of the way. All of the members of the band wave
their goodbyes and head out to the limo. Once again fans are waiting for them, cheering and
screaming. Kuni slips on his sunglasses and stands in the middle of all four bandmates in order to
be shielded from the public eye as much as he can be. Compliments and screams— even
declarations of love fly their way and Heizou laughs awkwardly, putting on his charming business
smile. Kuni is the first to get into the vehicle followed by Kazuha, Heizou, Venti, and then Xiao.
The sky has fallen dark now and the air is crisp, a slight breeze can be felt as well before they’re
pulling away and back to the hotel.

The drive is surprisingly quiet and Heizou supposes it may be because of all the traveling and
moving around and, y’know, the whole concert. Venti is resting his head against Xiao’s shoulder,
holding his forearm in his lap as he runs his fingers absentmindedly across Xiao’s skin. The
guitarist doesn’t seem to mind, though, leaning his head atop Venti’s and closing his eyes. The both
of them look very tired or at least very relaxed and one look at Kunikuzushi tells him the same. It’s
just him and Kazuha who don’t appear to be tired in the slightest and maybe it has to do with the
fact that they could still be riding their euphoric high from the whole concert. That would make the
most sense wouldn’t it? So when they arrive back at the hotel it only makes sense for them all to
part their separate ways quietly, the women of their group having arrived at a different time earlier
than them.

Kunikuzushi is quiet, eyes clearly droopy and movements sluggish. He must be very tired; maybe
he didn’t sleep well on the flight? He probably didn’t considering how tired he is right now. It’s
okay, he and Kazuha will be sure to let him rest up. That being said, they arrive back at their hotel
room and immediately Kunikuzushi calls dips on the bathroom so he can change and head to sleep.
Kazuha and Heizou make no protest against this patiently waiting for him to come out again. “Hey,
wanna chat on the balcony once he falls asleep?” Kazuha asks, nudging Heizou’s shoulder with a
smile. The redhead lets out a breathy laugh, a matching smile adorning his features.

Heizou leans over and kisses him, savoring the way they stay there for a moment before pulling
away. “Of course. Not tired either?” Heizou asks, a tilt to his head. Kazuha nods, leaning against
the redhead. Heizou gladly accepts him into his arms, swaying them gently where they sit on the
bed waiting to wish Kunikuzushi a goodnight. No words are said as they just bask in each other’s
presence, the comforting weight of Kazuha against him and in his arms is like soothing water
running over the bumpy rocks that make up Heizou. He really admires the way Kazuha calms him
so.

When Kuni is done changing and comes out in shorts and an oversized long sleeved shirt, he makes
his way over to the two of them. He stands in front of them, looking down at them before Heizou
releases Kazuha and moves to wrap his arms around Kunikuzushi’s slim waist. The redhead
squeezes him tightly in a hug before looking up at him expectantly. Kuni leans down and gives
him what he’s asking for in the form of a goodnight kiss and when they part Heizou whispers to
him of his hopes for their boyfriend’s sweet dreams. Kazuha does the same as Heizou except he
pulls Kuni down so he can wrap his arms underneath his and pull him down with him on the bed.
The two fall with Kuni landing on Kazuha’s chest and Kazuha pulling him towards him for a kiss.
The action makes Heizou chuckle at their cuteness and Kazuha does the same before saying
‘goodnight’ to Kuni as well.

Their boyfriend bashfully returns the gesture before getting off of Kazuha and climbing into bed
properly. It doesn’t go unnoticed how he plants himself on one side of the bed instead of the
middle. He’s so silly, he could have taken the middle if he really wanted to, Heizou and Kazuha
would have just cuddled him together to make a boyfriend sandwich. But oh well, whatever the
princess desires, he gets. That being said, Kunikuzushi tucks himself in and shuts off the light
making the room too dark for them to see in. So, they stumble their way to the balcony of their
hotel room with a spare blanket and cuddle up close on the basket woven bench with cushions
adorning it.
The stars can ever so slightly be seen from where they sit, the city lights blocking out a majority of
them. The soft breeze runs through their hair and sets a calming atmosphere between them. Heizou
slips his hand into Kazuha’s and brings it to his lips, kissing it gently before Kazuha parrots his
action. Their eyes meet and the sparkle in them makes them both giggle. Heizou feels like a
teenager all over again having a silly little crush on a boy he met in some music group assigning.
“Heizou,” Kazuha speaks and he hums, “promise me.. you won’t leave me like Tomo did,” he
whispers, biting his bottom lip as his eyes glisten. Heizou feels his heart crack at the image before
him and he can’t help but squeeze his hand a little tighter.

“Oh, Zuzu,” Heizou coos, kissing the corners of his eyes to prevent the tears from falling, “I’m not
going anywhere, not ever. It’s you, me, and Kuni for the long run. We’ll be together long enough to
let you heal with us. Don’t worry, I love yo—“ he pauses, slapping a hand to his mouth while
Kazuha’s eyes blow wide, eyes puffy from unshed tears, but brows raised in surprise. Heizou
panics, not knowing what to do. Isn’t it too soon to say that to him? Or is it not since they’ve
known each other for so long and he’s been sure of the fact that he’s in love with Kazuha for some
time now? He doesn’t know but he sure hopes he didn’t just royally fuck up their relationship.
“Zuzu, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to rush anyth—“

Kazuha is on him immediately, cupping his cheeks and smashing their lips together. Heizou
reciprocates, heart beating rapidly in his chest as their lips smack together and their tongues collide.
Heizou rests his hands on Kazuha’s wrists, adhering to the way his hands move his face in order to
deepen the kiss. Kazuha tilts one way and Heizou tilts the other, small moans leaving their lips as
they do so. Then Kazuha’s hands are in Heizou’s hair and Heizou’s mind draws a blank when he
feels a knee in between his legs. His boyfriend then moves from kissing his lips to kissing his
cheek down to his neck and back up again. They’re both a panting mess now, foreheads pressed
together as they catch their breath.

“Can I suck you off?” Kazuha asks breathlessly and Heizou’s breath gets caught in his throat. Tell
a guy you love him and he asks to suck your dick. The more you know! Being unable to verbally
respond in fear of his voice not coming out right, Heizou just nods, nervousness and anticipation
swimming in his gut. Kazuha smiles, kissing him once more before sliding his body down
Heizou’s until he’s on the ground between his legs. He looks incredibly hot like this and the
redhead finds himself growing excited as he waits for everything Kazuha is about to do to him.
Then his boyfriend gropes his clothed cock, drawing a small moan from Heizou before he unzips
the zipper and slides his pants down his legs.

Heizou’s glasses threaten to fall from his face, but he stubbornly pushes them back up, wanting to
see his pretty boyfriend suck his dick in HD. If only he had remembered his contacts he wouldn’t
have had to have these stupid things on. But alas, it’s all he has to work with so he sucks it up and
deals with it. Speaking of sucking, Kazuha immediately grasps Heizou’s cock, licking up the shaft
before putting it in his mouth. The redhead is surprised at how quickly he manages to make Heizou
fully erect, but he has a feeling that he shouldn’t be.

A hand falls into Kazuha’s hair, undoing his ponytail as Heizou spreads his legs further. The white
haired man graciously accepts this new room and scoots forward more. He looks so pretty like this
on his knees for Heizou, yet the aura he’s radiating makes the redhead almost cave in on himself.
No matter, Kazuha gets to work straight away, fondling his balls as he takes in almost half of his
cock. The guitarist hums around his shaft, bobbing his head in a rhythmic pattern that stimulates
Heizou perfectly. So perfectly, in fact, that he grips Kazuha’s hair just a little bit tighter, only
slightly aiding him in his movements.

Kazuha continues to suck on Heizou’s cock like a popsicle before getting frustrated that he can’t fit
it all in his mouth from this angle. The guitarist then wraps his arms underneath Heizou’s thighs
and pulls him forward so he can fit more into his mouth. Heizou moans loudly at this, one leg over
Kazuha’s shoulder as the man uses one hand to help himself deepthroat him. Much to Heizou’s
delight, Kazuha is able to take him fully into his mouth, moaning around his shaft as he lets his
tongue glide over the tip. Heizou’s head falls back and his back arches off the seat, Kazuha’s
mouth on him feels insanely good. It’s so hot and wet and somehow he manages to keep his teeth
from grazing the drummer. He has to resist the urge to move his hips in fear of hurting his
boyfriend, but it’s okay because Kazuha begins bobbing his head once again.

He makes sure to breathe through his nose, tasting Heizou’s precum on his tongue as he takes a
hand and caresses his body. Kazuha pulls almost all the way off before going back down on him as
if he doesn’t have a gag reflex at all and Heizou loves it. He brings a hand up to his lips to stifle his
moans in case he were to wake up Kunikuzushi or any other person that happens to be sitting out
on their hotel balcony on this fine evening. All the while looking down at his pretty boyfriend with
lust filled eyes. Kazuha’s eyes meet his as well and they’re just as heated as Heizou’s as the
drummer brings his hand back down to Kazuha’s hair once more.

Feeling himself grow closer, he warns Kazuha who refuses to move. Instead, he continues his
movements causing Heizou to whine and arch his back. Kazuha has to hold his thighs out of his
face as he stimulates his boyfriend lest he wish to get squished and Heizou can feel his climax
approaching quickly. Not wanting to come down his throat, Heizou grips Kazuha’s hair and yanks
him free from his cock. At that same moment, Heizou comes with a groan, launching his seed all
over his pretty boyfriend’s face. When he comes back down from his high, he gaspes and begins
wiping away his own come as the both of them pant heavily.

Kazuha seems to be in a daze as Heizou cleans him, looking up at him with hooded and lustful
eyes. He’d dare say he looks cute like this— fucked out without even being fucked. “My turn,”
Heizou smirks, pulling up his own pants before helping Kazuha to his feet so he can sit right where
Heizou was. “Sorry about coming on your face, I didn’t want you to have to take in all that stuff,”
Heizou murmurs against Kazuha’s lips, tilting his head back so they can kiss. The guitarist just
nods, seemingly still in a daze, cheeks flushed red and breath heavy as he goes along with Heizou’s
movements. This just makes him chuckle, kissing him deeply before sliding down to his knees and
pushing Kazuha’s up and out of the way.

The guitarist does him a favor by taking off his own pants before lifting his knees again and
holding them out of the way. Heizou thanks him with a kiss to his thigh and one look at Kazuha
can show him just how aroused he is right now. His erection is incredibly hard, already leaking
precum from the tip as Heizou takes it into his hand and gives it a couple strokes. Kazuha is
already moaning softly, closing his eyes to focus on the pleasure and Heizou finds him so cute right
now, presenting himself to him like this. So, he does his boyfriend a favor and takes his shaft into
his mouth.

Kazuha tenses at the action, sucking in a sharp inhale as he feels Heizou’s hot mouth around him.
The drummer takes his time, working his boyfriend up with vibrations from his throat as well as
soft caresses from his hands in various places. Heizou pops off his dick only to lick down it and all
the way back up it again, looking up at Kazuha who is biting his bottom lip with a strained
expression. His eyebrows are creased in pleasure and his eyes are heated, looking down at his
boyfriend with such hunger that makes Heizou feel bad for teasing him. So, he gets back to work
and picks up the pace, bobbing his head as he does so.

Kazuha’s back arches off the seat, his head falling to the side with the intense amount of pleasure.
Little moans and mewls leave his mouth as Heizou keeps on working him. Kazuha almost loses
grip of his own legs, but he adjusts his hold and even spreads them up and out even more. Heizou
tries his best not to become aroused again at such a beautiful sight, moaning around his boyfriends
cock as the he files the taste of his cum away in his memory.

Feeling himself grow closer, Kazuha’s moans increase in speed as his eyes shut tightly. Heizou
takes this as his cue to heighten the intensity as he continues his pace, intent on sucking Kazuha
dry. The guitarist’s back arches and his grip on his thighs slip as he lets them fall to either side of
Heizou, coming deep into his throat with a loud moan. Heizou accepts the fluid gracefully and
drinks it all in, despite not letting Kazuha do the same. Speaking of his boyfriend, he’s panting
heavily, the back of his wrist over his eyes as he doesn’t even move to cover himself up. So, after
swallowing his load, Heizou gets up from his knees and reaches over to take the wrist from his
face. “Kazuha?” he asks and what he sees beneath his wrist is making it really hard not to pounce.

“Ye—.. yes?” he pants, tears of pleasure rimming his eyes with cheeks flushed a brilliant bright
red. Heizou’s breath catches in his throat as he bites his bottom lip before leaning down to capture
his boyfriend in a kiss. Kazuha leans his head back in order to meet Heizou’s lips which are
basically completely above him while Kazuha runs a hand down into the collar of his shirt and
back out and up to cup his cheek. When they part, their faces are mere centimeters apart as their
breath intermingles. They gaze into each other’s eyes for a moment before Kazuha speaks: “I.. have
always wanted to do that. I had fantasies and dreams about it sometimes,” he admits, “but the real
thing was even better than I had imagined it to be.”

Heizou’s heart flutters in his chest. He had dirty fantasies about himself and Heizou? For how
long? Was it only just exchanging blow jobs? Did they ever fuck in those fantasies? He wants to
know so bad, but now is not the time. So instead, he admits to having done the same. “Me too. I
also had fantasies about us like this,” he reveals, glancing down at Kazuha’s lips and back to his
eyes. “I’ve been waiting for so many years to do this together. I can’t believe it actually happened,”
he says, feeling exasperated. After four long years of waiting, he finally got to take Kazuha in some
way. Sure they didn’t go all the way, but they went some of the way which is a pretty huge step for
them. Any doubts that they may have confused platonic love for romantic for each other flies out
the window with this. They’re actually together. For real, no doubts, no questions, no worries.

“Heizou,” Kazuha whispers, blinking up at him slowly. His lashes are so long when they fall
against his rose tinted cheeks and his skin looks incredibly soft. His crimson eyes are sparkling
with past exhaust of lust and anticipation for such dirty actions. It makes Heizou stop for a moment
to admire the way Kazuha’s eyes look at him like this.

“Hm?” he hums in question, brushing a stray strand of Kazuha’s white hair from his face. The
guitarist leans into the affection, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath before
exhaling with newfound confidence.

“I love you too,” he whispers, opening his eyes and locking onto Heizou’s gaze. And the
drummer’s heart stops, his breathing stops, his everything stops as the sky’s in his world become
crystal clear with not a cloud in sight because.. Kazuha just said he loves him. He said it back! He
loves him back! It’s not a fantasy anymore— it’s not a daydream— it’s real! Kazuha loves him
back and he just said it with his own voice.

So, with a surge of emotions, Heizou leans down the rest of the way between them and connects
their lips in a deep kiss. Kazuha’s giggles can be heard any time they part and reconnect which only
makes Heizou happier. “I love you too, Zuzu. I love you sooo much,” he says between kisses.
Kazuha continues to giggle, eventually pushing him away so he can finally pull up his pants. His
dick is getting cold, don’t blame him for pausing the moment! Heizou doesn’t mind, though,
because as soon as he’s situated again, they go back to kissing and cuddling.

The two of them spend some more time just being with each other before it gets too late for them to
take showers. Now only one of them will be able to take a shower tonight and Kazuha kindly hands
it over to Heizou, but he declines saying that ‘Zuzu is the one that got cum on his face’ to which
Kazuha agrees. So, they make their way back inside with Heizou changing for the night and
Kazuha heading off to the shower. This is only after kissing each other goodnight, though. And
once they part, Heizou is crawling into bed and sliding up behind Kuni in order to spoon him after
taking off his glasses.

He’s not met with much resistance from his sleeping boyfriend and in fact, Kuni even shuffles
himself back against Heizou in his unconscious state. He’s so cute when he isn’t awake to glare at
you. This makes the redhead smile as he kisses his neck and snuggles his face there before falling
asleep to the sound of the running water from Kazuha’s shower. And though his phone dings with
the sound of a notification, he ignores it in favor of sleep.

Tonight will be a core memory for him for the rest of his life.
Chapter End Notes

For those of you who don’t follow my Twitter: normally this story updates every
Thursday, but I will be starting a new medication soon therefore chapters may be
delayed/ late. Sorry for the inconvenience! I hope you enjoyed,

Mika.
 A Family of Foxes
Chapter Summary

The meet n greet ensues a lovely dinner with Cyno’s family.

Chapter Notes

Hello everyone! Welcome back! This chapter has a lot of fluffy bits and some Xiaoven
fluff as well. We finally get to meet Cyno’s family! I hope you enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

A soft breath of air and a leg over his waist is what greets Heizou upon waking up in the morning.
Blinking awake slowly, the redhead can register that he is wrapped up in the arms of Kazuha, his
head on his chest while Kunikuzushi has his leg thrown over Heizou’s waist. He’s sandwiched
between the two of them who are still peacefully sleeping away until Kazuha registers Heizou’s
slight movements and whines in his sleep about his disapproval. Kazuha then pulls Heizou’s head
back to his chest and nuzzles his cheek against the top of him before relaxing once more. And
Heizou has to resist the urge to coo at the action as he grabs Kuni’s thigh and brings it higher on
his waist to be more comfortable.

Though when he does this, Kunikuzushi does not like it and huffs angrily in his sleep before taking
his leg back and actually kneeing Heizou in the ass before turning around. Once again Heizou
finds himself resisting the urge to make any type of noise, the noise this time being laughter. His
two boyfriends are so different that it’s actually pretty funny. One will get angry and kick you in
their sleep while the other will get upset and glue themself to you in their sleep. Guess he has to
pick his poison with this one.

“Kazuha,” he whispers, bringing a gentle hand up to stroke his cheek. When he doesn’t stir, the
redhead then takes that same hand and brushes his bangs from his face before blowing on it gently.
That seems to do the trick as Kazuha wakes up calmly, blinking his eyes slowly at him. “Good
morning, beautiful,” Heizou smiles, looking into Kazuha’s still focusing eyes, “sleep well?” he
asks. The guitarist just blinks at him again before yawning and rubbing his eyes from sleep,
nodding as he does so. Though, he immediately closes his eyes again and snuggles his face back
into Heizou, seeking out more rest. Thus, Heizou lets him, wrapping Kazuha back up in his arms as
he closes his eyes and relaxes his body. He won’t be going back to sleep, just laying here with
Kazuha until he decides to fully wake up and process things. He knows his lover isn’t asleep
anymore, he’s in a state of being that he always is when he first wakes up.
See, when Kazuha first wakes up, he never gets up and snaps into action unless he absolutely has
to. Thus, when there are days where he doesn’t have to do that, he lays in bed for a little bit and
thinks. He lets his mind run over past events as he listens to the sounds around him and focuses on
his being. Once he’s fully grounded and present in the morning, then he’ll physically get up and
start moving. It’s sort of like morning meditation, but laying down. Heizou isn’t sure why he’s
made this into a habit, but if it allows him more time to be conscious while they cuddle, then so be
it. He knows Kazuha won’t fall back asleep unless he relaxes too much which is why Heizou is
here to make sure he remains conscious. On top of this all, Kazuha is a very light sleeper, so the
fact that he didn’t stir when Heizou initially called out to him shows his amount of comfort
between the three of them. If it weren’t them he is sleeping with, Kazuha would already have been
awake before Heizou even had to blow in his face.

So, the redhead apologizes for moving before reaching over and grabbing his phone. Kazuha
scrunches up his face in displeasure before calming back down as Heizou squints at his screen to
read the time. It’s only 8AM and the meet and greet will be at 2PM and last for about five hours?
He thinks so at least, he’ll have to ask Kuni to make sure. Speaking of, the little shit snatched his
blanket when he rolled over to his other side so now Heizou has to cover himself up with Kazuha’s
blanket even more. The guitarist doesn’t seem to mind at all though, he’s just peacefully resting.
He should have grabbed his glasses when he grabbed his phone, but it’s too late now, he doesn’t
want to disturb Kazuha anymore than he already has. Not to expose him or anything, but his
boyfriend isn’t the sweetest when his rest is disturbed without good reason.

When the redhead unlocks his phone he finds a notification from Cyno so he clicks on it and
begins reading. It’s nothing bad, just him greeting him and letting Heizou know their plans for
today. He speaks of the time they’ll arrive at the meet and greet to when they should be seeing
each other again. Heizou even offers to meet them separately from the entire event so they can
actually hangout, but Cyno politely declines saying that it would be unjust to use their friendship to
get special treatment. He also stated that his kids want to experience the whole event for
themselves, including the treacherously long waiting line. Heizou reassured him it wouldn’t be
unjust, but Cyno doesn’t budge therefore he lets it go and by the time he’s done messaging him, a
knock sounds at their door.

Heizou doesn’t want to get up and disturb his boyfriends, but announcing their arrival would be
just as disruptive. Torn between what he should do, he simply waits and tries to listen to who it
could be and when the door opens slowly Heizou knows it must be one of their friends. They are
the only other ones who have keycard access to this room and lo and behold it’s none other than
Venti and Xiao in the flesh. “Hey guys— aww—“ Venti starts, voice a whisper before it grows
slightly louder when he sees the three of them cuddled together on the bed. Xiao is quick to
casually slip a hand over his mouth to silence him, though. “Ah, sorry,” he apologizes, removing
Xiao’s hand from his mouth and interlocking their fingers instead. “We just came to say good
morning and.. congratulations,” he smiles, looking over at Xiao who nods in agreement. Heizou
looks between the two of them, phone still in hand as he observes their expressions. They’re being
sincere, not mocking him or judging him at all. Thank the archons.

“We didn’t want to say anything before in front of Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose, but we figured now
would be a good time,” Xiao explains, “and Heizou.. I’m sorry for teasing you when this all
started. I didn’t know it was so messy,” he apologizes, a red tint to his cheeks as he looks away
from him. Heizou can’t help the dopey smile that spreads across his lips at this, having Xiao
apologize is like having an archon admit their rule is wrong. Xiao is a very stubborn person, but if
there’s one thing he’s good at— ironically— it's developing. Venti and Xiao have been together
since before the band even got together, but Venti used to tell tales of how aloof and closed off
Xiao was before having met him. Xiao is primarily still like that nowadays, but he’s a lot softer and
more compliant. Venti says he’s always been soft at heart, though, and he still remains rather
reserved. After all, you can change the leaves, but you can’t change the trunk of the tree.

“It’s fine and thank you,” Heizou whispers back, shutting off his phone and tossing it behind
Kazuha to give his two friends his full attention. “Ready for the meet and greet?” he asks, pulling
the blanket over Kunikuzushi more. He remembers that he has an issue with being too vulnerable
in front of people he doesn’t trust very much. No offense to Xiao and Venti, but Heizou and
Kazuha are his boyfriends. Thus, he tries to give Kuni’s unconscious state as much security and
privacy as possible without disturbing him.

“We are, it’s always nice to meet everyone,” Venti smiles, swinging his and Xiao’s clasped hands
back and forth. “How is it?” he asks, gesturing to his two sleeping boyfriends and Heizou smiles,
snuggling in closer to Kazuha. He doesn’t need to share the details of just how great it’s been so far
considering last night, but he can at least share the fact that he’s happy and content.

“It’s been wonderful. Kuni’s as princess-y as always and Zuzu is still as cuddly as ever if not even
more so,” he muses, “but I bet that one’s pretty obvious, huh?” he laughs lightly, causing Kazuha
to hide his face in Heizou’s shoulder to escape the embarrassment. Like he said, Kazuha is awake,
he never fell back asleep so he’s just been silently listening to their quiet conversation. It’s not like
any of them mind that, though. And this action makes Venti coo and Xiao let out a huff of a laugh,
a small curve to the corner of his lips.

“Genuinely glad you guys finally figured your shit out. It was torture having to watch you guys
dance around each other for so many years,” Xiao says and Heizou doesn’t know whether to feel
pleased or offended. The confusion clearly shows on his face and it makes Xiao’s smile turn into a
smirk, his eyes playful which means he meant for those words to come out confusing. The little shit
can’t be too nice for a moment nor can he be too mean for a moment; he has to have both. So,
Heizou just pops an eyebrow at him and flips him the bird of which makes Xiao let out a small
laugh, Venti as well. His friends are such teases sometimes.

With their small conversation carrying on a little while longer, eventually it does come to an end
when Xiao explains how they need to go get ready for the meet and greet. Though it’s not for a
few more hours yet, they both have to eat and get ready before they head out which is completely
understandable. By the time those two leave, their hands never having come undone from the
moment they were conjoined, Kazuha decides to finally open his eyes again. They’re as beautiful
as ever, blinking at him with tiny sparkles sprinkled about them as Kazuha seems to take his time
admiring Heizou’s appearance. His chin rests on Heizou’s chest now, looking up at him as
Kazuha’s arms wrap around his waist. Heizou looks back at him, a small smirk on his lips as he
also admires his boyfriend.

Soon— when they’re done eye-fucking— they actually get up and start getting ready. Heizou
never got to take a shower last night and speaking of which, a freshly showered Kazuha smells
lovely. He smells like seasalt and flowers, an odd combination that somehow fits. Before he gets in
the shower Kuki texts him at that time as well, asking when he’ll be coming over and Heizou
replies telling her he will when he’s free which most likely means tomorrow. The meet and greet is
going to take a lot out of him and he also wants to invite Cyno and his family out to dinner
regardless of what the other says. Cyno listened to his boy troubles this entire time and helped him
keep his head on straight, Heizou owes him big time and this is the least he can do. Thus, he hops
in the shower and begins cleaning himself off.

Heizou runs his hands through his hair, pushing all of it back and out of his face. He has really
thick and silky hair which can be a blessing and a curse sometimes and when Heizou was in his
teen years he struggled with acne. Kuki somehow never got acne and she didn’t even use any
products! Heizou tried everything under the sun and he still got acne. He will never not loathe her
for that, but it’s fine because as he got older it slowly went away. Now he only gets a few spots
here and there that are quick and easy work. This is a good thing considering a lot of his career
also rides on his appearance even if he isn’t the most popular in the group. Speaking of, he’s been
too scared to check any social media after last night. That duet at the concert was like him standing
on top of an archon’s statue and yelling ‘hey, pay attention to me!’ and thus he’s been too scared to
know what the fans think of this.

Will they be proud of him? Will they be disappointed or unamused? He has no idea and he,
frankly, does not want to know. He’ll cross that bridge when he cas the courage to do so which
might not be for a while unless he’s talked into it. Either way, he doesn’t doubt that there’s at least
a certain amount of mixed emotions coming from their fans, but even so he doesn’t regret any of it.
He smiles to himself in the shower, washing out his hair before finally washing off his body and
stepping out. He towels himself off, checking himself out in the still thawing mirror. He seems
happier even in the way he stands, his posture even exposes the fact that he’s been riding on a
euphoric hard high for a hot minute now. Maybe Xiao and Venti were right and he really does
make things obvious through his body language without knowing it. Oh, well, can’t be helped.
What’s done is done even if it was a roundabout way of doing so.

Thus, Heizou rinses himself off and steps out of the shower before brushing his teeth. As much as
he loves the taste of Kazuha on his tongue, he’d rather not have cum-breath. Speaking of Kazuha
on his tongue.. last night was a fever dream; did any of it even happen? Yes, it did. That’s why he’s
brushing his teeth right now. When imagining what Kazuha would be like all heated and lustful,
Heizou imagined something more reserved and quiet, but Kazuha was outright and blunt with it.
Honestly, it shocked Heizou at first, but that’s definitely not a complaint. Being told what his
partner wants in bed is incredibly hot to him whether it be a command or a plea. Maybe he should
tie him up one day and see what happens, but that’s for future reference. Heizou doesn’t know if
Kazuha is into all that; he knows Kuni is for sure— that kinky brat. So he doesn’t want to rush
anything and potentially scare Kazuha away. The last thing he’d want to do is have Zuzu be
uncomfortable when they have sex. That’d be his worst nightmare, honestly.

As he’s brushing his teeth he hears a soft knock at the door and so he turns around, toothbrush still
in his mouth and towel around his waist. He opens the door to be presented with an exhausted
looking Kuni and immediately Heizou is worried. He invites his boyfriend in before closing the
door behind him and going to the sink to spit out the tooth paste. Kuni takes a seat on the closed
toilet as Heizou rinses out his mouth before putting away his toothbrush neatly and leaning against
the sink, arms crossed. “What’s up, princess, why do you look so blue?“ Heizou asks, concern
written all over his facial expression. Kuni just rubs his eye in response, a yawn leaving him as he
leans back in a slumped position.

“I woke up and neither of you were there,” Kuni explains and Heizou immediately goes to
apologize, but he keeps talking, “I think Kazuha went to go get food for us and the bathroom door
was closed so I assumed you were in here and I was right,” he finishes, but Heizou can’t shake the
feeling there’s something else bothering him. Ever since they got to Inazuma he’s been exhausted.
Even last night at the concert he seemed a little out of it and sure it may be because of getting used
to the new timezone, but he should be used to it by now, right? Oh, what if he ended up hearing
them last night because they were too loud despite trying to be quiet? That must be it.

“Sorry, did we disturb your sleep last night? We were trying to be quiet,” Heizou apologizes and
Kuni quirks an eyebrow at him. Heizou does the same back, mirroring his expression. Guess this
means they didn’t wake him up which is good, what’s not, though, is the heavy eye bags
underneath Kuni’s eyes.

“No, you two didn’t— well, one particularly loud moan did reach my ears but it wasn’t enough to
keep me awake,” Kuni explains, rubbing at his eyes again. Heizou can’t help the frown that crosses
his face. His boyfriend looks extremely exhausted and drowsy and not in the ‘he’s just tired’ kind
of way. It’s concerning him, so Heizou walks over and rests a hand against his cheek, tilting his
head so he looks up at him as he rubs a thumb across his eye bags. And as if he already knows
what Heizou’s going to say, Kuni speaks: “I’m fine, Heizou, Inazuma just brings back bad
memories is all,” he explains and that’s when it all clicks for him. His face morphs from realization
to sympathy as he leans down to kiss the corner of his boyfriend’s eye and then his lips before
ruffling his hair. Kuni leans into every touch, seeming to take in as much positive energy as he can
and it makes Heizou smile.

With the problem at hand at least acknowledged, Heizou steps aside and begins getting dressed, not
caring that he’s going from a towel, to completely naked, to fully clothed in front of Kuni. This
man has seen every inch of his body, so he sees no reason to be shy about it when he’s just
innocently changing. He’s not embarrassed over himself or afraid Kuni might snap a picture and
post it online or anything, so there’s no need for him to worry. Heizou trusts him and that’s all that
matters. And speaking of Kuni, he’s been warming up to Kazuha a lot faster than he did with
Heizou and it makes him smile knowing that he maybe possibly helped Kuni learn to trust easier.
He’s glad he was able to show his boyfriend that there are good people out there who don’t intend
to hurt him and it seems as though he took the lesson to heart. He’s gotten used to Kazuha’s touch
and being around him quickly which is such amazing progress. He’s still shy about his scars, but
Heizou knows that just like with himself, Kuni will learn to let Kazuha see every part of him. After
all, they do say time is the best healer.

After he’s done changing, Heizou turns around and immediately goes to give Kunikuzushi a hug.
His manager accepts it graciously, sinking into his arms before Heizou lets go and kisses his cheek.
“Have you been waiting for me to finish this entire time so you can go to the bathroom?” Heizou
asks, a smirk on his lips. Kuni matches his smirk, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Finally noticed, eh?” Kuni jokes, a huff of a laugh leaving his lips. Heizou laughs as went tapping
his cheek after planting a kiss to his lips and pulling away.

“I knew your visit was too good to be true,” he sighs dramatically and Kuni just shakes his head
with a smile. Heizou laughs again before exiting the bathroom when Kunikuzushi makes a shooing
motion with his hand as he gets up to lock the door behind Heizou. He’s so cute; so unbearably
cute. And when he closes the door Heizou hears shuffling to his right and notices Kazuha
struggling to carry their food through the door by himself so Heizou quickly rushes over and takes
some of it from his arms, kicking the door shut.

The two of them then set the food down on the table out on the balcony and sit down next to each
other while waiting for Kunikuzushi. “Smells like you got traditional Inazuma cuisine. Missing the
taste of home?” Heizou asks with a teasing smile, pulling out the boxes of food and setting them up
on the table. Kazuha even went through the trouble of labeling each of them. Speaking of, how did
he know what Kuni would like? Oh, right, Kuni was the one who told him Kazuha went out to get
them food in the first place, so he must have told him then.

“There is no need to miss the taste of home when I have two halves of it with me always,” Kazuha
smiles, a playful glint in his eyes as he uncovers his own food. He glances over at Heizou who is
smiling at him is the most adorable and dumb looking way possible which can only be described as
lovesick. This makes the both of them huff out a laugh before they lean in and peck each other on
the lips.

“Thank you, Zuzu,” Heizou says, uncovering his food as well and breaking apart the wooden
chopsticks that came with it. At that moment Kunikuzushi comes back from the bathroom and
looks them over. Both Heizou and Kazuha smirk when Kuni realizes there is no room for him on
this two person woven bench. The only way for him to be able to sit with them is on the floor or in
their laps. Their manager has to sit with them.

“Really? What? One cheek on each lap?” Kuni deadpans and Heizou and Kazuha burst out
laughing, Kazuha placing a hand over his mouth to remain humble as he does so. This has even
Kunikuzushi laughing at his own joke, but regardless he does exactly what he just asked and places
himself right between the both of them. He turns to Kazuha and gives him a kiss before doing the
same to Heizou. “Assholes,” he mutters, picking up his own box of food and breaking apart his
chopsticks as well. The two bandmates just giggle once more, digging into their food after going
about the proper Inazuman customs.

“I’m going to ask Cyno’s family to dinner tonight, would the two of you be down to come along?
Their kids really like our music,” Heizou asks, taking a bite of his food. Kazuha hums as he chews
before swallowing his food. He then wipes off his mouth with a napkin before speaking.

“I wouldn’t mind; would the others be coming as well? You said the children like our music so I
assume it’d be best if all of us came,” Kazuha asks, tucking a strand of Heizou’s loose and still
drying hair behind his ear. Heizou nods, still chewing his food, “okay, have you even asked either
of them yet?“ he asks and Heizou nods again, still chewing his food. “And they said—?” Kazuha
asks, one last time and Heizou gives him a thumbs up as he swallows his food. The guitarist nods,
turning back to his own food and digging in again.

“Kuni you’re coming too,” Heizou says after swallowing his food completely. This causes Kuni to
choke on his own food and in turn causes both Heizou and Kazuha to panic and smack his back.
Kuni only groans and glares at the both of them, clearly having already solved the problem before
they smacked him in an attempt to dislodge the food. Guess that means he was fine, then. Whoops.

“But I’m just your manager,” he reasons, grabbing somebody’s (Heizou doesn’t know whose)
drink and taking a sip from it to help wash down the food. Oh right, he forgot. These two don’t
even know how he met Cyno and became friends with him right? Does that mean Kazuha just
agreed to have dinner with a stranger purely because Heizou said their kids are big fans of theirs?!
He swears this man would definitely be taken advantage of if he wasn’t reminded how dangerous
the world is sometimes. Most of the time he is aware, but sometimes there’s times like this. Unless
he just agreed because Heizou knows Cyno and at least Kazuha can trust Heizou. Yeah, that makes
the most sense.

“Yes, but you see uhm,” Heizou starts nervously, clearing his throat, “Cyno.. knows about us three.
He was the one I turned to for all of this because Venti and Xiao had already taken enough care of
me. I want.. to repay him for that,” Heizou says, guilt playing on his features for outting his
boyfriends like that. He knows for the most part Kuni isn’t in the closet, but Kazuha? He genuinely
has no idea. Technically he’s forced to be in the closet, but if he wasn’t famous then..? “Ah, but
don’t worry! Cyno is accepting and even has a husband so—“ he starts frantically when neither of
them answer him.

“That’s fine, as long as you’re happy,” Kazuha smiles, picking up a piece of meat between his
chopsticks. Heizou is dumbfounded for a moment, blinking over at his boyfriend before Kuni nods
along with him. Wait, this is fine? They’re not mad at him for unintentionally outting them to a
stranger? Well, he supposes the matter is a lot easier to accept considering Cyno is accepting and
to top that off, also has a male partner. It makes the pill easier to swallow when you already know
the outcome is smooth sailing.

Dumbfounded, Heizou just nods, thanking them both for understanding, yet still apologizing. It’s
Kuni that tells him off this time causing Kazuha to laugh and Heizou to whine. Even if they say it’s
fine he still feels bad. He was hurt emotionally and didn’t know what else to do. People do stupid
stuff when they’re hurt, they all know that better than anyone. That being said, they finish up the
rest of their food before Kunikuzushi is in manager mode telling them they need to start getting
ready for the meet n greet. Of course, Heizou and Kazuha heed his order and begin getting dressed
immediately.

All of them clean up their mess on the table before Kuni calls dibs on the bathroom to change.
Heizou and Kazuha just throw on whatever they think is decent looking enough for a meet n greet.
For Heizou that means a dark collared shirt with the top buttons undone, tight fitting pants and a
belt-looking choker for a necklace. Kazuha also helpfully supplied him with a couple rings to
complete the look, also telling him to leave his hair down instead of pulling it back into a low
ponytail. For Kazuha that means a modest white turtleneck with brown pants that show off his cute
cat socks from above his sneakers. He gave Heizou some matching rings that are subtle between
them so the fans won’t notice too much. It’s just for tonight anyways. Heizou helped him pull his
hair back into a half up half down type style, letting Kazuha’s bangs frame his face.

When Kuni re-emerges from the bathroom he’s momentarily shocked by their all too good looking
appearances before he hides it behind an awkward cough. Unfortunately for him, both Heizou and
Kazuha already saw the effect they have on him. “Let me paint your nails,” Kuni requests—
demands— holding up a couple different nail polishes. He seems to have dressed up more than
usual. His black clothing is more layered in a planned out way and his oversized sweatshirt is
hanging off one of his shoulders, exposing a potential tight fitted black, sleeveless tank top? Damn,
not to mention his baggy cargo pants somehow make him look even sexier. His hair also seems to
be messier than usual. Maybe he messed it up a bit and sprayed some hairspray in it to make it
stay. Maybe he should tell Kuni that he’d look super sexy with a lip piercing.

“Sure. You want yours done first or mine, Heizou?” Kazuha asks, kicking off his shoes for the
time being and crawling onto the bed. He sits down and crosses his legs, patting the bed for his
boyfriends to join him on, which they do. Heizou crawls up next to Kazuha and sits down while
Kuni sits in front of them for easier access to their nails. It crosses Heizou’s mind that the fans may
question why their nails are painted, but he brushes that aside as he reminds himself that their nails
have been painted plenty of times before. This is nothing new to them or their fans.

“Either or,” Heizou smiles, leaning back against the pillows as he makes sure there isn’t anything
under his nails despite having just taken a shower. Kazuha looks back to Kuni at this who just
shrugs and takes one of Kazuha’s hands in his, placing it on his knee. It seems she’s deciding on
the color he should give Kazuha and it’s between white or black. “Why don’t you just paint the
majority white and then one accented black nail. Then we can paint the majority of mine black and
have one accent white nail,” Heizou suggests and both of his boyfriends hum, pleased with this
decision and they show that by praising him for his good idea. Heizou silently preens at this as he
patiently waits his turn for his nails to be painted.

The redhead watches as Kuni gently picks up Kazuha’s hand and brings it up to where he can see it
easier, gently taking the brush of the nail wand and sliding it across his nail in even strokes.
Kunikuzushi has Kazuha holding onto the small glass bottle for him whenever he has to dip the
brush back in to get more nail polish. First, he’s going in with the white — skipping a nail like
suggested— before going back to fill in that nail with black. Then it’s Heizou’s turn as Kuni let’s
Kazuha’s first coat of nail polish dry to have his nails painted. This time Kuni starts with the black
and skips a nail to go back to later and add white to it. Once Heizou’s nails are all finished, he goes
back to Kazuha’s nails for a second coat. Both of them are warned very strictly to not move a
muscle as they let their nails dry because Kuni doesn’t want to have to redo any of them. Luckily
for him, they are used to this. So once he’s done adding Kazuha’s second coat, he adds Heizou’s
second coat and then caps the bottles to let their nails dry. He must not have any topcoat which is
completely fine. Now their nails will be looking super fresh for the meet and greet and for dinner
with Cyno’s family.

Eventually when their nails dry, they get up from their places on the bed and put their shoes back
on before grabbing their essentials and heading out. From here on their night will be very busy and
very draining. Don’t get him wrong, he loves seeing their fans, but sometimes it can become too
much if dragged out for so long. That’s why they had to limit the amount of time a fan can spend
conversing with each of them. It kind of sucks, honestly, because he feels bad for all those people
who paid so much to see them only to be able to talk to them for like a couple minutes. It feels like
a rip off and he wouldn’t blame anyone who called such a thing ridiculous. Even so, he still loves
each and every one of his fans very dearly. That being said, it’s time to head off to the meet and
greet!

———

Upon their arrival, people are already lining up to see them and as soon as their ride shows up, it
becomes chaos. Immediately people attempt to begin surrounding the vehicle with their
bodyguards yelling and shoving them back. Screams and shouts can be heard coming from the
crowd around them when their door opens and out walks Xiao, Venti, Kuni, Kazuha, and then
Heizou. They immediately get into their usual formation of keeping Kuni in the middle, but this
time they’re met with a little surprise as one crazy fan breaks past security and makes a beeline
straight for Xiao. Xiao is turned the other way at first and is unable to see the fan coming and so
Heizou tries to warn him, but it’s too late. By the time his voice reaches Xiao’s ears, they’ve
already got their arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.

All of their group's eyes fly to Xiao and then to Venti who stands frozen staring at the scene. Xiao
looks back at him, expression just as surprised as his own and that’s when Venti’s fake business
smile comes on and the group tenses. Gently, Venti rests a hand on their fan’s shoulder and tries to
direct them off of and away from Xiao by being nice. And though Heizou doesn’t know exactly
what Venti says to them because of the loud shouts and shutters of cameras, clearly the fan does
not like it seeing as they smack Venti away by shrugging his hand off their shoulder and then quite
literally backhanding him across the face. Multiple gasps can be heard, even from their own crew
as they attempt to take a step forward to comfort Venti who is holding his face with a bewildered
expression. And when his eyes fall on Xiao’s, something seems to snap in the lead guitarist as he
seems to forget all their protocols and shoves their fan aside with so much force that they land with
their ass flat on the ground.

Even more gasps can be heard from the crowd and Kuni— being their manager— calls out to him
to calm down, but it falls on deaf ears. Xiao reaches forward and gently cradles Venti’s face in his
hands before frowning and snapping at security to ‘get this degenerate out of here!’ before
wrapping his arms around Venti and leading him inside. Everyone in the crowd is now screaming
for a different reason while Heizou, Kazuha, and Kuni stand there completely shocked as they
watch security drag their ‘fan’ away from them. Their manager turns around to look at them with
his jaw dropped, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, but they both share his surprise. Even with all of
this said and done, Heizou doesn’t blame Xiao for breaking protocol in the slightest. Heizou would
have done the same exact fucking thing if Venti were to have been either Kuni or Kazuha.

Security is now tight around them as they too make the rest of the short distance into the building
as Heizou sincerely hopes that that fan gets banned from any future events involving them. And
when they finally reach the inside, Venti is being doted over by Xiao who is checking over his
entire face for injuries. He looks below his chin, on both cheeks, checks the top of his head, and
then looks Venti back in the eye again. This seems to work in cheering the singer up as he giggles
with his face smooshed in between Xiao’s hands. He even leans forward and kisses him on the
nose to reassure his boyfriend that he is, in fact, doing just fine. That’s good news then! That means
they can still continue on with the meet and greet with Venti alongside them.

“Venti are you all right?” Kazuha asks him with a gentle voice as they slide up next to the two of
them. The pair’s attention is now removed from each other and placed on them as Xiao slides a
hand around Venti’s waist who rests a hand on Xiao’s waist as well. Xiao seems to look a lot less
pissed off now, but he’s definitely still in his overprotective boyfriend mode. “And Xiao, are you
okay as well?” he asks him.

“I’m fine, more worried about Venti,” Xiao states with a certain type of venom lacing his voice
directed at their fan. The group nods and Venti giggles, hip bumping Xiao to get him to stop
making a grumpy expression. The lead guitarist just looks over at him with concern and worry,
biting his lip nervously as his arm around his waist tightens. “What if they had poison on their
hand or something,” he argues and then their group bursts out into laughter because Xiao really is
dumb deep in love. Only people who are lost in love think and worry the way Xiao is about Venti
right now.

“Baobei I’m fine,” Venti says, dragging out the vowels, “their hand wasn’t poisoned and I barely
feel where they hit me anymore. You’re working yourself up for nothing! I promise I’m okay,”
Venti reasons, looking over at Xiao who pouts at him in response. Then Venti raises a challenging
eyebrow at his boyfriend and immediately Xiao huffs and drops the topic. This makes Venti smile
in victory, leaning over to kiss the cheek of his pouting boyfriend.

“Right then, let’s get moving. That set us behind schedule a little bit so you guys are now set to go
out immediately once you’re ready,” Kuni explains, checking the time on his phone. All of them
nod in understanding before following Kuni out to the stage. As their manager, Kuni will be
speaking for the first time publicly tonight. Sure all he’s doing is introducing them, but it’s the first
time he’s ever spoken publicly for them. Both Heizou and Kazuha can tell he’s been stressed over
it, but they both know trying to comfort him right now will only make him worse. It’s just how
Kuni works.

So, that being said, they all walk out on the stage of their meet and greet, the whole thing being
started off with a decently sized panel that only the ones with big money can get into. This panel
will be broadcast on live TV and then afterwards they will open the doors and let those who paid
for their meet n greet come in to say ‘hello’ and get autographs and pictures. Kuni slips off his
shades and hands them to Kazuha who hands them to Heizou because he has nowhere to put them,
who clips the sunglasses to the front of his partially unbuttoned shirt. Kunikuzushi then takes a
microphone from one of the stands on the table as the members of their band sit down and wait
patiently. Once everyone is ready, Kuni begins speaking.

“Hello, I am 4NEMO’s new manager and I will be introducing them tonight,” he starts, clearing
his voice afterwards as he moves to stand in front of Heizou, but slightly off to the side so everyone
can still see him. “This is our percussionist, though, mainly just the drummer: Heizou. He’s been
with the group for four years,” he explains. Speaking of, a lot of people don’t know this, but for a
while it was just Xiao and Venti. The two of them sang together before deciding they wanted to
form an actual whole group. It seems Kunikuzushi had to do his research for this one.

He moves down the line to Kazuha who is sitting next to him. “This is Kazuha, the second
guitarist and also keyboard player. Even if a lot of songs don’t require him to play keyboard, when
he does, he’s amazing at it. He has also been with the group for four years,” Kuni speaks, nodding
his head at a little girl who waves to him. Her parents must adore her greatly to spend so much
money just to let her come to their panel.

Once again, he moves down the line to Venti who is sitting next to Kazuha. He gives the crowd a
small wave and a smile of reassurance when he sees some worried expressions. “This is Venti, the
lead vocalist, but he can also play a big variety of instruments alongside his own voice. Venti is
one of two founders of the group and has been working on it and with it for six years,” he explains,
swallowing thickly when he feels a wave of nerves coming on. That’s correct, Venti and Xiao
debuted as a duo for two whole years before stating they wanted to become a full team and here
they are now.

One last time Kuni moves down the line to Xiao who is sitting next to Venti. Heizou can tell he’s
trying very hard not to glare out at the crowd for what happened earlier. “Lastly, this is Xiao, the
lead guitarist as well as co-founder of 4NEMO. He had been with the group for six years,” Kuni
explains before moving back to center stage. Cameras shutter and red dots on top of some of them
show them that they are live. “We thank you all for coming out to this panel and hope you enjoy
your time here,” he says, inclining his head ever so slightly before turning around and handing the
microphone he stole from Venti’s stand back to him. Kuni then scutters his way off stage, almost
speed walking. Usually he wouldn’t mind being the center of attention, but Heizou guesses he
doesn’t like the idea of live television for some reason.

Immediately the questions start flooding in as people begin lining up and waiting their turn at the
microphone placed on the floor for them. And once everyone who wants to ask a question is lined
up, they begin going through everyone. The first person to ask them something is a man with
glasses, his hair is brushed to the side and he wears a gentle smile. A very kind looking person.
“Hello, I just wanted to know what is each of your favorite colors?” he asks, and wow, what simple
question to start them off. Heizou expected something more intricate, but I guess knowing their
favorite colors is a must for this guy.

They go down the line with each of them stating their favorite color. Heizou starts, saying his
favorite color is green followed by Kazuha who says his favorite color has to be some kind of
warm tone like red or orange. Then Venti and Xiao who both say their favorite colors are green as
well. Damn, three of their four really like the color green. Well, Heizou guesses he could also say
he likes purple quite a bit, just not as much as green, though.

The next person to stand in front of the microphone directs her question at Venti specifically who
sits up a little straighter and leans slightly forward to give her his full attention. “Are you all right?
I saw what happened out there and wanted to apologize on your fans’ behalf,” she asks, expression
worried as he tucks her hair behind her ear. Venti just laughs lightly before replying.

“Yes, I’m okay. The other members made sure of that fact, so you don’t need to worry your head
over me,” he smiles softly, side eyeing Xiao before looking back at their fan, “and there’s no need
for you to apologize on their behalf. That person was no fan of ours,” he finishes, sighing. She
seems to take that as enough reassurance because she nods her head and walks off the little podium
with a smile and wave to Venti. It is hard to catch, but Heizou thinks he sees what’s made out to be
a little handmade plush pin of Venti on her backpack. That’s an extremely cute item and Heizou
now wants one for himself as well. It doesn’t have to be of Venti, though.

The next question is there before they know it and it’s asked by a lovely person wearing really
fancy clothes. Expensive looking rings line their fingers and their hair is extremely well kept.
“Hello, I would like to ask that if the group wasn’t formed, what would your other choice of career
be?” they ask and Heizou hums. That’s a very good question because to be honest he might have
just been forced into becoming a professional martial artist by his father, but he can’t be so
vulnerable, this is live television. Thus, he goes with the only other feasible option.
“A detective, probably,” Heizou smiles, “you see I really like mystery and horror and gore doesn’t
easily faze me so I’d definitely have to go with that. Bringing justice to people who think they can
go without punishment— sounds cool doesn’t it? I’d make sure my name got so big that people
stop committing crime because they’re afraid of what ‘Shikanoin Heizou’ might do to them, you
know?” he explains, taking a drink of his water. “Good question! I liked that one,” Heizou smiles
again, looking over to Kazuha who is set to answer next after he recaps and sets his water bottle
down. They were already there before the members even got on stage.

“Hmm, I’d have to say I’d want to be a wandering Samurai or a blade smith. I would get to travel
the world free of any difficulties and maybe forge some swords of my own. I could create my own
kind of technique that would be super neat and write some poetry along the way,” Kazuha
fantasizes, resting his chin in his palm. Then the both of them turn their gaze over to Venti who
thinks for a moment.

“I know this is pretty anticlimactic, but something involving music and storytelling. I started this
career because I love both of those things a lot, so I don’t think I’d have ever stopped participating
in it somehow. Maybe open a music store and call it ‘Four Winds Music Store’ at the very least,”
Venti laughs embarrassingly, scratching the back of his neck. Heizou and the rest of the room
follow along in his gentle laughter, though, not surprised nor minding the answer he gave them.
Lastly, they all turn to Xiao who simply shrugs.

“I just.. sort of follow those who have a greater passion than myself and reassure their dreams
come true. Sort of like a protector of some kind, but that being said I do greatly enjoy music and
dance, so it wouldn’t be far off to do something similar to Venti. Though, martial arts has always
been a fascination of mine as well. Maybe I’d work at a dojo and go visit Venti at his music store
sometime,” Xiao jokes, his eyes sparkling with mischief as a smile plays on his lips. Venti smiles
back at him as the whole room giggles and then the person is kindly stepping off the podium to
allow the next person to ask a question.

The next person at the podium is wearing lucious clothes and their face is extremely beautiful.
They must be an upcoming model with how gracefully and confidently they carry themself. “Hi,
my question is whether you would or can even tell us some funny backstage stories,” they smile
and Kazuha immediately snatches the microphone and clears his throat. Venti groans because he
knows exactly the story he’s going to tell because Kazuha has been dying to make this story public
and now he finally has an excuse to.

“Okay, so there was one time we were getting ready for practice right? Xiao and Heizou were off
doing something— I don’t remember what— but it left just me and Venti alone and so we just
decided to get a head start on stretching and Venti asked me to assist him in his splits and so I did
—,” Kazuha has to stop speaking for a moment, laughter over taking his voice as Venti’s face
grows increasingly more red and he shields his expression behind his hands. “And as I was helping
him slowly go to the floor, Venti—,” he wheezes, “Venti lets out like slowest and nastiest fart ever
recorded in history I swear—,” the room immediately erupts into laughter and Venti bangs his head
against the table from how quickly he attempts to hide underneath it causing the crowd to laugh
even more. Kazuha’s face is red from how hard he’s laughing and he has to set the microphone
down because his laughter is too loud.

“When me and Xiao came back into the room the both of them were sprawled out on the floor,
holding their stomachs as they laughed hysterically. Genuinely, we thought they both went insane.
They were laughing so hard their laughs turned silent,” Heizou laughs, wiping a tear from his eye
as Kazuha leans back in his seat, clutching his stomach from his unstoppable and uncontrollable
laughter.

“What makes it even funnier is when Venti hit the floor he let out one last tiny toot and sent both
of us spiraling,” Kazuha wheezes, “he tried to blame it on the fact we ate spicy food the night
before, but it wasn’t even that spicy!” he laughs, wiping a tear from his eye as the crowd continues
to laugh.

“It was too spicy!” Venti exclaims, popping up from his embarrassment underneath the table. “And
just for that Kazuha I’m going to tell them this story. It’s not as bad but it’s still funny. One time we
were at home and cooking. I was sitting at the counter talking to them while Heizou was playing
video games I think, but Xiao and Kazuha were cooking. Kazuha was chopping up some
vegetables and as he went to go put the knife in the sink, he turned around and smacked face first
into the refrigerator door and then when Xiao closed the door to go apologize— albeit with a laugh
— Kazuha had a huge red bump of his forehead and he looked like if Rudolph had placed his nose
on his forehead. Not only that, but he already said he was going to go to the door and get the rest of
the ingredients being delivered to us and when the delivery person arrived, they were scared of him
because he was still holding a knife and had Rudolph’s nose on his forehead!” Venti fights back,
gesturing to his own forehead in emphasis. The crowd’s laughter only grows with this and Kazuha
is still laughing along with them because even if it was meant to get back at him, it still wasn’t as
embarrassingly funny as Venti’s story.

“Oh, oh, I got one about Xiao since you two did one about each other,” Heizou speaks up and
everyone gives him their attention. “We were playing video games together on the couch, while
Venti and Kazuha were on the balcony writing music and Xiao got a notification, right? So he
opened it and it’s a picture of his glorified toes! Someone literally was able to bypass his no
unmutual DM settings on his socials and sent him a picture of his toes with glitter surrounding
them and stuff. They then proceeded to ask him if he could give them free toe pictures or if he
would send any for money. Jokingly I said that he should say yes and this guy—“ Heizou laughs,
“he actually said yes! So, in a panic I was like ‘no, no it was a joke, delete the message!’ but it was
too late. Our toe enthusiast had already seen the message and was offering to send a boot load of
money for just a single picture of his toe. We were both dumbfounded and it was an experience
trying to glorify his toes for a good picture. And that guy lied by the way! He never sent us the
money, so all you people out there trying to make quick money off toe pictures: don’t do it, it’s a
scam!”

The crowd erupts into more laughter as Xiao hides his face behind his hand in embarrassment.
“You know what makes that story even better?” Venti asks, “that was us,” he wheezes, gesturing
to himself and Kazuha. Heizou’s and Xiao’s jaws drop.

“That was you?!” Xiao shouts, exasperated.

“Yeah!” Venti laughs, wiping a tear from his eye, “we went into your phone and switched off that
setting when you weren’t looking and then we dmed you that while you were playing with Heizou.
Both Kazuha and I worked on secretly snapping a picture of your toes and then making a collage
out of it. It was revenge for the refrigerator incident,” Venti wheezes when Xiao looks at him with
horror. The room continues to laugh now with the full story and Heizou can’t help but find himself
laughing as well. To be honest, he had a sneaking suspicion that it was them, but he didn’t want to
expose or question them in favor of suspense.

“I’ve got one about Heizou,” Kazuha speaks up again and Heizou groans because he knows if it’s a
story from Zuzu it has to be a good yet embarrassing one. “We were in my room setting up some
things when I switched rooms, and Heizou was laying on my bed because he was being lazy!” an
unheated glare is thrown Heizou’s way and he just sticks his tongue out, “and he was watching
animal videos. Thinking nothing of it, I continued to put up this shelf I was working on and when I
finally finished, I stepped back to admire my work. I thought it looked good so I called out to
Heizou to ask him what he thought of it as well and when he didn’t respond I turned around to see
him crestfallen. Like full on kicked puppy mode. And Heizou doesn’t show that he’s upset very
often, so I was immediately worried and when I asked him what was wrong he turned his phone
screen around and showed me a video of a turtle in a tornado bouncing off a trampoline then safely
landing in water only to be eaten by a crocodile two seconds later with an explosion effect. But
that’s not what’s funny,” Kazuha says, a light giggle in his tone.

“What’s funny is that when Heizou checked the comments he found out it was just some kid’s
dumb fake project for their school and his face immediately turned stone cold and he goes ‘it was a
fucking lie!’ and slams his phone down on my bed only for it to bounce right off and fall on the
floor, successfully smashing his screen,” Kazuha laughs and so does the rest of the room, “I told
him that that was his karma for not helping me out and he just whined at me,” he explains.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say chief,” Heizou groans, a pout on his face as everyone laughs at his
misfortune. Then the lovely person steps off the podium and goes to retake their seat, someone else
filling their place immediately, but this time all of them immediately have their guards up. Why?
Because it’s a reporter.

“Greetings, on a more serious note I would like to inquire about your new manager. How did you
find him? Who is he? He seems a bit young and doesn’t dress very professionally. What happened
to Ms. Jean? Did she step down? Get fired?” he asks, a sly look on his face when he sees the
members of their band all clearly tense. What they can say about this topic is very limited because
they are disallowed to share any personal information about their staff members. But obviously
since Kuni is their new manager after four years of Ms. Jean working here, it’s pretty big news to
the drama media.

“Our new manager is a hand selected and very qualified person to fill in the place of Ms. Jean as
she has moved positions,” Venti states vaguely and a smirk appears across Heizou’s face. Leave it
to Venti to be able to put someone in their place when it is needed. That’s the leader of their band
that they all know and love. “Next person,” he sighs, resting his chin in his hand and the reporter
sputters. He claims he has more questions to ask but security is quick to step forward in order to
frighten him from the stand. It works easily and soon enough the reporter is being shuffled out of
the room. He should have known questions like that are off limits for this. This panel and meet and
greet is for fun, not business.

And so with that out of the way they continue on with their panel. More and more people come up
to the podium requesting more funny stories alongside other various questions. Some ask simply
how their days have been and some ask how they were like in their school days. Some ask what
their favorite childhood toy is and some ask if they have a favorite member of their group. The
various questions go on for a while and go on so long that they actually have to cut the panel short
and instead hop right into the meet n greet so they can finally meet everyone. Some of the richer
folk detest this, but they can’t help it and they can’t please everyone. Thus, they all take a few
remaining questions before calling a break so they can eat and prepare for the long night that
awaits them.

It’s at this point that Heizou begins to worry whether or not he’ll be able to take Cyno and his
family out to dinner, but he’s determined and also sure that those kids will have to be hungry by
the time they meet their group. So with new motivation, Heizou scarfs down his food and makes
sure he won’t get indigestion before following his bandmates out to the meet and greet. Their fans
cheer for them as they walk out before them, camera’s flashing and shuddering as they all line up
behind red rope and wait for the people to start coming. It’s a big crowd and now that Heizou is on
the same height as them, he begins to lose his breath a little. It’s not too bad, though, because he
isn't actually in the crowd. He’ll be okay for sure; he can handle this.

One by one or in small groups of friends people begin coming up to meet them, handing them gifts
or cards they made after getting them checked with security. Some want a group photo with all the
members and some only want individual ones. Kazuha and Xiao are getting flooded with people,
so much so that even Kazuha begins looking more worn out than he usually would. The two of
them have always been fan favorites, so the fact that people sometimes skip right over Heizou and
Venti for them is not uncommon. It’s just the way the world works when you’ve got the looks and
a good personality to match it. But that being said, if only these people knew both of them were off
the table and that thought is what keeps Heizou’s drive up the entire time they’re greeting people.
Even if he can’t say it out loud, Kazuha is his, not theirs, and he’s confident in himself and in
Kazuha to let them gush over him as much as they want. Because at the end of the day, it’s Heizou
that Kazuha comes home to and imagine the uproar their fans would have if they knew that not
only are they involved with each other, but their new manager too. Now that story would make
headlines.
“Shikanoin,” a deep voice calls out to him and Heizou looks over from where he’s standing to see a
long white haired man with four children and a man standing next to him. It’s Cyno and his family!
Where are their ears? Oh right, they hide them in public places, Heizou should remember that for
when he books a place for them to eat. He wants his guests to be as comfortable as possible. “It’s
good to see you again,” Cyno greets, holding out his hand for Heizou to shake. Once he does, Cyno
gets right into introductions. “This is my husband, Tighnari, and these are our four children. The
oldest— our daughter— is Collei,” he explains and the green haired girl gives him a shy but
excited wave as Tighnari gives him a smile. “These are our three sons, Elghali, Malyk, and
Moswen,” Cyno says and the three little boys all look up at him with big round eyes.

Their skin is dark in color but their hair is white and their eyes are red, they look exactly like their
father, just smaller and with chubbier cheeks. One of them does have some black in his hair,
though, and that someone appears to be Elghali. Heizou won’t ask any questions on how they
decided to go about having children or how it was even possible because it feels wrong to ask such
things. So, he lets the topic slip his mind and he kneels down to greet them all. “Hello there,” he
says with a smile, holding up his hand. Malyk places a hand on his before his brothers follow suit
and Heizou’s heart just melts. Their tiny baby hands are so small compared to his and they’re just
so cute. That’s when one of them decides they want a hug from Heizou and so he opens his arms
wide for all three of them to fit. His heart melts even more as they hug him back and he looks up at
Cyno with the most adorable look of happiness on his face. Cyno just looks down at him with a
small smile, a hand on his hip and Tighnari and Collei come up next to him to admire the scene.

Once he lets go, Collei comes over to excitedly and shyly greet him. She’s holding a vinyl cover of
their album and asks if he can sign it and he immediately says yes. He even draws her a little
picture of a deer which happens to be an animal associated with him. When he returns it to Collei
her face immediately lights up and she goes in for an unexpected hug that Heizou doesn’t mind at
all. “I’m so sorry for the sudden hug, but I’m so excited to finally meet you!” Collei says, pulling
away. Heizou keeps her hands in his as he squeezes them with a smile, a small laugh leaving his
lips as he is heavily aware that this girl’s parents are watching them right now. It’s not like he’s
going to do anything bad, he just doesn’t want to accidentally say something that her parents don’t
like or possibly make a bad impression with their kids somehow.

“It’s not a problem at all, I was excited to meet you as well. Your father told me so much about you
and your siblings,” he smiles and Collei’s face goes red as she brings her fingertips to her cheeks.
She immediately turns around to glare at her fathers and Heizou can’t help but laugh.

“Which one?!” she asks.

Heizou flicks his eyes over to Cyno who just blinks at him and so he takes that as a green light to
expose him. “Cyno,” he laughs and Collei shrieks.

“Dad!” She exclaims, nearly dropping her signed vinyl, but Heizou catches it for her. Cyno just
crosses his arms and shifts his weight to one foot as he stares her down with a knowing expression.
Tighnari chuckles beside him and elbows him in the side, gesturing for the man to explain himself.
So he does.

“I have been acquainted with him for a while now, you know this. It was only natural we shared
some stories with each other,” Cyno deadpans and Collei huffs, nodding because— really— who
can argue with that? When you meet someone new and become friends with them it’s a known fact
that you’ll eventually talk about your lives together. It’s how people grow and become close in
relationships. It was to be expected, basically.

“Right, that being said—“ Heizou begins, but is interrupted.

“Heizou, who do we have here? Do you happen to be Cyno and family?” Kazuha smiles, making
his way over to them. Collei seems to visible restrain herself from getting even more excited over
meeting another member of their band as she politely takes her vinyl back from Heizou and hands
it to Kazuha. “Ooh, I’ll sign it next to Heizou. Your name, please?” he asks, looking up at her
through his lashes as he is angled to be looking down at the vinyl. She immediately tells him in a
burst of excitement before slapping a hand over her mouth with a blush as realizing how loud she
just was. This causes all of them to laugh, including her parents.

“Kaedehara Kazuha! It’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Collei and this is my family, my three
brothers and my dads!” she says excitedly, taking the vinyl back from Kazuha when he hands it to
her. Kazuha nods before looking down, only just now noticing the small children at his feet. He
squats down and rests a hand on top of one of their heads and ruffles their hair causing the child to
smile and laugh.

“You remind me of an old cat I once had,” Kazuha reminisces, “he had white hair just like you!
And he was just as cute as well,” smiles and the three boys laugh. One of them reaches up to touch
Kazuha’s hair and makes a noise that sounds like an attempt at communication, but Kazuha doesn’t
understand him at all, so Tighnari politely translates.

“We haven’t taught him the common tongue yet, only his native language, we apologize. What he
is attempting to babble at you is that your hair is white like theirs,” Tighnari smiles, squatting
down and holding the waist of one of his children. He speaks to them in their native tongue while
Kazuha and Heizou just listen and suddenly the boy seems to understand and his face lights up
with excitement. The adorable scene makes all of them coo. What an adorable child.

“That is quite all right, I don’t mind. Would you like to meet the other members?” Kazuha asks,
standing up from his squat as Tighnari does the same. Collei nods excitedly and the three little
boys just seem to go along with what their sister wants. So, all of them— except Cyno— make
their way over to Venti and Xiao. It seems Kazuha was able to pick up on the fact that Heizou
needed to speak to him alone. Crazy scary how Kazuha can sense things like that, but Heizou isn’t
half bad himself in that department.

“Hey Cyno. Good to see you in person again,” Heizou smiles and Cyno nods his head back. What
a serious guy. If he didn’t know him relatively personally, he would have never known just how
soft and kind hearted he actually is. Especially for and to his family and friends.

“Likewise, I’m glad my children have been behaving themselves. Thank you for being kind to
them, Collei is very excited about being here,” he explains, unfolding his arms to lay a hand across
his chest in emphasis. Heizou just brushed him off, reminding him that they don’t need to be so
formal. Sure this is only the second time they’ve seen each other in person, but he thinks they’re
too close as friends to still be so formal with each other.

“You don’t need to thank me for that, it’s just me being decent. Speaking of, I’d like to invite you
to dinner. You and your family of course,” Heizou suggests and he can immediately tell that Cyno
is about to decline his offer for the fifth time. Man this guy and his views on what’s just and unjust.
“Think about it, Collei gets to spend more time seeing her favorite band and I get to treat a friend to
a nice dinner because I owe him big time. It’s a win-win, you can’t refuse!” Heizou smiles and
Cyno sighs. He did it! He won him over! It only took him five tries and two weeks or so, but he did
it!

“All right, we will be there tonight, just send me the location and time. I’ll be sure to tell Tighnari
and Collei to dress up nicely,” Cyno says, taking a step to rejoin his family, “and thank you. Collei
will be ecstatic,” he nods and then he’s off. Heizou lets out a little huff of a laugh before he turns
back to the crowd and welcomes in more people. He feels more energized after having met his
friend and his family and so he has high hopes for dinner tonight. Cyno also seemed to eye Kazuha,
sizing him up and seeing whether or not he was anything like he had been imaging through the
texts Heizou would send him. He didn’t seem to disapprove of him, so that’s a good thing! And
with that, they let the hours tick by until dinner time.

———

Heizou books a really fancy restaurant that will allow them the privacy and respect that he wants to
give to Cyno and his family. It’s right in the ocean and they can see the waves coming in from the
north as they eat. He’s not expecting much out of this dinner, just a nice meal with friends to
celebrate all that had happened and to thank Cyno for all his care. He really hopes that this dinner
will do justice to just how grateful he actually is.

“Kuni, come here. Kazuha as well,” Heizou says, sitting down on the floor in front of a full body
mirror. He sits sideways in front of it and crosses his legs as he pants his lap, telling Kuni to sit
down in it. It’s gotten to the point where Kunikuzushi doesn’t even question it anymore and just
obliges. So, he slides into his lap, his knees on either side of Heizou’s hips as he sits facing Heizou.
Kazuha comes up behind him and kneels down as well resting his hands on Heizou’s shoulders.
They both question what this is for, but then Heizou takes out his phone and tells them to face the
mirror and it all clicks into place.

Seeing that this is for a photo, Kazuha leans in more, resting his cheek against Heizou’s head as he
snakes a hand around his chin and uses his fingers to make Heizou’s face face the mirror.
Kunikuzushi leans in as well, resting his Head against Heizou’s as he holds Kazuha’s free hand out
in front of them. Heizou’s free hand, on the other hand, is on Kuni’s ass then the redhead snaps a
picture of them like this in the mirror before Kuni gets flustered about their positions and turns his
face away, but Heizou just snaps another picture. He looks over both photos and sends them to
their group chat and then sets them as his lock screen and home screen. The one of all of them
looking at the phone in the mirror is his lock screen and the one with Kuni looking away shyly is
his home screen. Now he just has to pray no prying fan will see his home saver lest he want to start
some big scandal. Not that he would mind, though, being able to be open about his relationship
would be nice.

So, with a slap to Kuni’s ass and a kiss to his cheek, he gets off Heizou and then he tilts his head
back in order to give Kazuha a kiss on the lips. This was just a last minute thing he wanted to do
before they went out to eat. They had a little time to spare so why not, you know? That being said,
though, they do have to get going now. Thus, they head out the hotel room door and off to dinner.

Like Heizou said before, the place is located at the seaside and will give them enough privacy to
enjoy a very good meal. He just hopes the atmosphere isn’t tense or awkward the entire time, but to
be honest he highly doubts it. Venti will be there and there’s no time where he’s ever made a
moment dull. He’s just such an optimistic and caring person that it’s hard to feel anything besides
happiness and contentment when around him. Xiao is super lucky to have someone like Venti by
his side 24/7 as is Heizou with his boyfriends. They’re all lucky! Also, he invited Ms. Jean and Ms.
Sucrose so they should be coming as well. He hopes that doesn’t surprise Cyno and his family too
much.

When they arrive at their dinner place, they are immediately invited in with ease as they tell the
bouncer they are expecting more people. They describe Cyno’s family to them and they nod,
taking note of the information before shuffling them off to the waitress who seats them in their
private room. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with lanterns hanging from the ceiling and
actual candles lit all around them. A huge fish tank sits in the middle of the place surrounded by
tables and chairs for more common customers. Their waitress takes them passed all that, though,
and seats them down in a much more private location.

Ms. Jean and Ms. Sucrose take their seats next to each other followed by Xiao and Venti and then
Heizou, Kazuha, and Kuni. They all wait patiently for Cyno’s family to get here before they decide
to order. And when Cyno’s family does arrive, they are all dress extravagantly. Collei has her hair
done up, earrings showing while Cyno has his hair half up. Tighnari has some traditional beads and
hairpins in his hair and their three sons all have little baby suits. Their hair is also braided and done
up to help differentiate them. Collei’s dress is a sparkly green that suits her very well as does the
small purse she carries. Her two fathers are both dressed in nice suits to match. They all look
absolutely stunning. What a beautiful family.

“Hey Cyno, Tighnari, and kits,” Heizou jokes, calling their children kits because Tighnari happens
to be of the Valuka Shuna variety. That momentarily startless the father as he frowns, looking from
Heizou to Cyno who just smiles and reassures him that it’s okay that they be themselves here. As
such, Tighnari smiles softly and bows his head in thanks before letting his ears and tail free. His
three sons do the same and they all immediately look a lot more relaxed than they did before.
Heizou supposes that that has to do with the fact that their senses are back in top form, so they feel
less threatened and more safe. The thought makes Heizou smile as he welcomes them to sit down.

Tighnari and Cyno sit with one son on either side of them and one in between them facing Heizou
and his boyfriends. While Collei sits between Sucrose and Kunikuzushi and in front of Venti and
Xiao. She looks very excited to be able to have dinner with them and that makes Heizou pleased to
know. “Thank you for inviting us,” Tighnari smiles, picking up a menu, “Collei was very excited
at the news,” he laughs, massaging the paper between his fingers. Heizou can’t help but gawk at
the man’s very large and very lucius Valuka Shuna ears. They look absolutely beautiful and very
very soft. He really wants to touch them, but that would be improper wouldn’t it?

“It’s no trouble at all, I owe Cyno a lot,” Heizou smiles softly, picking up a menu of his own. Cyno
just hums, as he skims the menu alongside his husband. “It’s nice to meet you by the way. I’m
Shikanoin Heizou and these are my two partners, Kaedehara Kazuha and Raiden Kunikuzushi,” he
explains and then Tighnari waves at them politely. They introduce themselves on top of having
been introduced before he introduced Ms. Sucrose and Ms. Jean to him. Cyno has already met them
before back at the party in Sumeru, so it was no surprise to him at all to see new faces besides
Kunikuzushi.

“Nice to meet you all, I’m glad to be here,” Tighnari grins and then the waitress is returning with a
notepad ready to take orders. Cyno and Tighnari help their three sons pick out what they want to
eat, seeing as they can’t read, while the rest of the table places their orders. As always, Kazuha
gets an extravagant fish and Heizou gets deep fry. Kind of out of character for this dinner, but
Heizou can’t help what he likes! Tighnari ends up ordering a plate of various mushrooms which
surprises everyone who isn’t used to him at the table. He casually explains that while he is a
Valuka Shuna, he is still partially human which makes him an omnivore. That seems to make
enough sense for all of them to drop the topic and talk about anything else.

Luckily, conversation runs smoothly all night long. Tighnari is extremely pleasant to talk to and
their kids are very cute. Some of them even play tic tac toe against Kunikuzushi who seems to like
the company of the children the most. He even pretends to lose on purpose sometimes to make
them happy. It’s cute to watch him interact with the kids this way. Speaking of them, their little
ears and tails are so cute that Heizou could just eat them up. Mind you, Heizou doesn’t want kids,
but who is he to deny a child of just how amazingly adorable they are?! He can’t lie! These kids
are stunning and as he gets to know them more and more he can pick out their stubble differences.
 Elghali is the oldest of the three and has little black accents in his hair every now and then while
Malyk is the second oldest and he has the roundest eyes of the three of them. Lastly, Moswen has
little moles covering his arms and legs and he has one on his chin, cheek, and next to his left eye.
Three beautiful little boys with their own unique characteristics despite being triplets. They come
in handy when telling them apart whereas Collei would be easy to pick out in a crowd of a million.
She’s such a lovely young lady and Heizou remembers Cyno telling him about her illness. She’s a
survivor of a terrible disease called Eleazar and Heizou was completely shocked to hear she
survived it. It’s very rare that anybody can, most of the time it’s 100% fatal.

That just made Heizou even happier to have been able to meet Collei personally and speak with
her. It’s like her dream come true and Heizou is extremely happy to have made it so. Then soon
after, their food arrives and they all dig in. They all take their time enjoying the expensive food
with the bandmates saying that it’s on them and, of course, little kids being little kids, they order
all the desert they want, but none of them are opposed to such things. They each have money to
spare and they’ll happily give it up to make someone they cherish happy. And with that, they all sit
and converse about whatever topic lands on their plates as they eat their fill in expensive rich boy
food. To them!

Chapter End Notes

Thanks so much to everyone who gave me suggestions on questions for the meet n
greet! Also thank you so much for reading and being patient with me, I really
appreciate it! Happy Holidays and see you next week,

Mika.
 The Dare
Chapter Summary

Kazuha gets Kunikuzushi in on a plan— a different plan this time.

Kazuha’s POV —> Heizou’s POV

Chapter Notes

Hello! I’m so sorry for the delay, I fell ill. To make up for it I am uploading a few
hours early. Please enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Kazuha

“Kuni, do you remember that dare I won off of Heizou from the game we all played?” Kazuha
asks, bouncing his leg from where he’s sitting. Heizou is off somewhere doing archons know what
because he just rushed out saying he forgot something. It’s not much to take note of, honestly.
There are more important matters at hand as of this moment, one of those being this.

“Yeah, I think so at least,” Kuni says, a skeptical expression crossing his features, “why?” he asks.
Kazuha tries to contain his smirk, getting up from his chair and going over to his boyfriend who is
casually lounging on the bed, one ankle crossed over the other. He sits down beside his thighs,
placing one of his palms on either side of their manager’s lap as he leans in closely.

“I’ve got an idea, but I need to know if you’re on board and willing,” Kazuha smirks, a playful
glint in his eye. He watches from his peripherals how Kuni’s Adam’s apple bobs when he
swallows thickly and it only fuels his desire to go through with this plan even more. It’s nothing
too evil.. maybe.

“And your plan is..?” He trails, raising an eyebrow at him and schooling his expression back into
nonchalance. This makes Kazuha want to scoff at how cute his boyfriend is trying to act like he
isn’t bothered at all by how close they are. He better get used to it soon, though, because they’re
about to be closer than they ever have been before if Kuni says yes to his plan.
“This,” he says, pulling something out of his pocket and dangling it in front of Kunikuzushi’s face.
The shorter’s eyes blow wide and his jaw drops.

“Is that—”

———

Heizou

Humming, Heizou walks back from Venti and Xiao’s room after having told them Cyno and his
family’s regards. Collei really enjoyed spending all that time with them and so did Tighnari and
Cyno himself, so the guy told Heizou to send his regards. So that, he did. He already let Kazuha
and Kuni know, it was just Xiao and Venti who he had forgotten to tell yet. After all, it’s been a
couple of days since that night. It’s not that big of a deal, though, just as long as he makes sure to
let them know. He’d hate for Cyno’s kind words to fall on deaf ears.

That being said, he strolls his way back to his shared hotel room and unlocks the door, humming as
he does so. Pushing down on the handle, suddenly Heizou gets a bad feeling and his humming
stops. He frowns, listening to the noise around him but hearing nothing. Strange. He opens the door
further and doesn’t see his boyfriends immediately and the bad feeling grows. Clenching his jaw,
Heizou closes the door gently and takes quiet steps further into the room to see that the room is
vacant of any people, but a note lays on the bed with something next to it.

Walking over, Heizou picks up the note disregarding the object because he can’t really tell what it
is yet. The note reads as follows: ‘Be a dear and put this in your ass and on your cock, will you?
Kunikuzushi and I are already waiting downstairs ready to go. You have no out, this is a dare.’
Heizou’s heart stops and his cheeks heat up. He crumpes the piece of paper and tosses it in the
trash bin before picking up the object he couldn’t identify at first and examining it. Ah, so that’s
what this is. A sex toy— a vibrator to be specific— and they want him to put one in his ass and the
other on his dick.. How.. nice..

To be honest, the last thing Heizou expected out of that dare was this. He had no idea his boyfriend
had this kind of kinky situation living in his head rent free and honestly, it’s really turning him on.
At the same time, though, he’s nervous. They’re famous, if they’re caught they’re done for, but he
supposed that’s part of the thrill of it too. Not only that, but it’s been one hot minute before he’s
taken it up the ass and lastly.. He can assume this means he’ll be having sex with Kazuha for the
first time tonight and he’s the one receiving. Oh no, he’s getting butterflies. He thought he’d be the
one giving on their first night, but this is a surprise he isn’t mad about. And Kuni’s going to be
there. Shit. He thinks he might drive himself up the wall just thinking about it.
Thus, he tucks his fantasies away for now and goes to the bathroom to shove this thing up his ass
and somehow attach the other to his dick. He’s not sure how he’ll do that yet, but he’ll figure it out.
He tries to make it quick, too, because he doesn’t want to keep his boyfriend’s waiting nor himself.
Also, he guess that bad feeling was from his appending doom from the dare. Leaving it to his
intuition to keep him on edge when he needs to be. And so, once he’s finished preparing himself,
he awkwardly makes his way out of the hotel room, and down to the waiting room.

A light blush coats his cheeks as he feels the device move inside of him and his heart rate
quickens. It’s not vibrating yet, but just the feel of it brushing up against his prostate every now
and then is enough to make him just a little heated. His eyes glance nervously at anyone who
passes him by and just before he’s about to enter the elevator, he feels a vibration against his
sensitive areas unexpectedly. His knees buckle and he catches himself on the wall just before the
lift, a passerby bracing themself in order to catch Heizou on the way out. They ask if he’s all right
to which Heizou responds to with a nod, an arm across his stomach.

He doesn’t dare lift his head, exposing the hot blush across his cheeks and the glare he is sending
the floor. He makes sure to bite down on his lip hardly as he forces himself to move into the
elevator. The concerned citizen takes one last glance at him before exiting and letting Heizou be by
himself. He uses the wall of the lift as leverage to stand, resting his back against one as he lets his
head fall back to hit the wall. The vibrations don’t stop for a good thirty seconds, but when they
do, Heizou exhales heavily with a breath he didn’t know he was holding. His hands and legs are
trembling already and his heart is beating rapidly inside his chest. He has a feeling he’s going to
give Kazuha a piece of his mind!.. After.. he lets Kazuha fuck him relentlessly. Or is he more of
the gentle type? An in between? He doesn’t know. He’ll find out soon enough anyways.

When the elevator doors chime open, he sees both of his boyfriends standing next to each other and
talking casually before they turn their head in the direction of the noise they just heard. Both of
them look at him with big innocent eyes before they turn to each other with a smirk. Oh, these little
shits. He’s so going to get them back for this, be it tonight or a different, he will . Mark his words!
He walks over to the both of them then, Kuni casually holding the remote Kazuha had kindly given
him while they were waiting. Oh so it was Kuni’s idea to do that shit while they’re still in the
hotel! Of course it was! Heizou still had faith that there’s a little good left inside Kazuha.

“Your ass is mine as soon as I’m free from this. That little stunt you pulled almost got me in deep
shit,” Heizou mutters, glaring at Kunikuzushi. The shorter’s smirk only grows, his eyes widening
with lust as he moves the little dial on the remote, causing Heizou to unintentionally let out a small
little noise, slapping a hand over his mouth as his legs begins shaking again. “You bitch ,” Heizou
spits, glaring at him and Kunikuzushi laughs a cynical laugh that can only be described as evil.

“Ahh, you’re too nice to me, Heizou, I like it when you’re mean to me. You should do it more
often,” he says, whispering the last part as he leans in close, eyes locked on Heizou’s. He can’t
help but glare, the vibrations against and in him causing him to be unable to trust his voice at this
very moment. Luckily, Kazuha swipes the remote from Kuni, shutting it off before resting a finger
against their boyfriend’s lips when he attempts to protest. Kazuha gives him a look and Kuni
immediately submits, scoffing before crossing his arms over his chest in a pout. Ha, serves him
right.

“Heizou, I’m glad you decided to join us,” he smiles and Heizou grits his teeth to stop himself from
making a cocky reply. He knows that if he did, Kazuha would just move that little dial and send
him back into mute mode. He refuses to attempt to speak while they’re out in public and doing this.
He knows that that will definitely be used to their advantage. “We’ll be going shopping for me and
Kuni today. Consider it a future apology gift for you, so no peeking okay?” he asks with a smile, a
glint of mischief in his eyes. Heizou would have never guessed that Kazuha were to have sadistic
tendencies. What you don’t know about a person can be absolutely wild.

Heizou only nods, following his boyfriend’s when they move to the car. He doesn’t understand
how shopping for the two of THEM can be an apology gift to Heizou, but he guesses he’s about to
find out how. He’s sure that whatever they have planned for him will not be smooth sailing and
that point is proven when they get into the backseat of a taxi and the driver greets them. Heizou,
not wanting to be rude despite his no talking rule, greets him back as well and as soon as he does,
his attempted ‘hello’ turns into ‘hell— ah,’ which makes Kuni snort and the driver creases his
brows, asking if he’s okay. Heizou only nods, sitting down and shivering when the position keeps
the vibrator pressed right up against his prostate, his clothes pushing down on the one on his dick.

He tries to make the way he holds a hand over his mouth casual, as he rests an elbow against the
car door and puts his hand over his mouth as he stares out the window. His leg bounces in his seat
as he grips the fabric of his pants with his free hand. Heizou closes his eyes, focusing on trying not
to make any noise as he feels the rise building up inside of him. Then, just like that, it’s gone and
Heizou exhales heavily. He can hear Kuni snickering from the other side of Kazuha while he can
feel Kazuha’s hand lay rest against his thigh. The white haired man politely tells the driver where
they’re going before he takes that hand and slips a finger under Heizou’s chin, making him look at
him.

Heizou glares at him through his lashes, as his cheeks puff up with a pout as they glow red from
how hard he’s blushing. His boyfriend seems to find this amusing and arousing all the same, letting
out a soft chuckle before inhaling sharply and letting go of Heizou’s face. Seems like he’s not the
only one whose restraint is being tested right now. It serves him right for picking such a risky dare
for them to do. He will admit, it’s hot, though, but the edging is going to be the death of him if they
decide to take forever when they shop.

Speaking of, where the hell are they even going? The two never let Heizou in on what ship they’re
going to exactly. He guesses that it’ll be high end of some kind considering that will give them the
most privacy, so something expensive for them will be his gift. This still makes no sense, but
whatever he’s too busy trying not to let his beginning precum deep through his clothes. If that were
to happen, they’d stain and be visible to anybody who looked. And one, shame on them for looking
at his crotch, and two, shame on him for even doing this in the first place.
The car begins moving now and the peace lasts for about a minute before the vibrators are turned
on on the lowest setting. It makes him jump slightly, his hand flying from his knee to his groin as
he sucks in a deep breath. This setting is easier to handle than the others previously done, but he
has a feeling that won’t matter later in this game because he’ll be overstimulated and oversensitive.
And that’s when he feels the vibrations intensify and he shuts his eyes tightly. Kuni still giggles
any time that his turmoil becomes visible which causes Heizou to glare over at him through his
bangs. His body is so hot and he feels so constricted in these clothes, so much so he doesn’t
understand how he’s going to be able to hide his boner.

The taxi driver glances back at them in his rear view mirror, only being able to hear Kunikuzushi’s
little giggles and silence does sound concerning. Heizou tries to make himself seem as calm as
possible, but Kazuha stares straight ahead and out the windshield as he casually turns the dial to the
highest setting. On instinct, Heizou’s knees come together and a hand flies over to grab his
boyfriend’s wrist tightly. It’s then that Kazuha looks over at him in his hunched over position,
trembling hand around his wrist, as he leans down and whispers into his ear. “C’mon, baby, you
got this. Don’t you dare let the driver know or else we’ll get in trouble, hm? ” he hums, before
leaning away and letting Heizou suffer in silence.

The hand around his wrist stays there until Kazuha shuts the device off causing Heizou to lurch
forward and exhale heavily. He’s panting now, trying to keep every breath he takes as quiet as
possible as he feels sweat start to bead on his forehead. Whose idea was this again?! Ugh, this is
torture, but then again that’s literally the whole point. It’s okay, it’s fine, he’ll make it out of this
without making a fool of himself, he swears on it. Then as soon as they get back to the hotel he’s
ripping these things out and off of him and relieving himself if Kazuha and Kuni don’t do it for
him first.

That being said, they arrive at the store they were headed to and it’s revealed to Heizou that it’s a
lingerie store. Oh. So that’s how this gift will be for him. Oh, he’s so excited now. Kazuha and
Kunikuzushi in lingerie just for him? Sign him up immediately because as soon as he sees them in
their sets he’s going to go absolutely feral on their asses. Literally and figuratively. He assumes
that day won’t be today, though, because as soon as they get back, Heizou is waiting no time in
freeing himself from these demonic torture devices.

They step out of the taxi and Kazuha kindly pays the man, handing the remote to Kuni to hold for a
moment. The little shit wastes no time in immediately turning it to the highest setting before
turning it off just as quickly as he turned it on. Heizou jolts where he’s standing, whipping his head
around to glare at his boyfriend. Kuni just sticks his tongue out and when he does this, his pointy
canines can be seen momentarily before his tongue retreats. The redhead finds his anger
momentarily diminished at the sight, finding his boyfriend’s sharp canines very characteristically
sexy.

“Ready to go?” Kazuha’s soft voice asks, taking the remote back from Kuni gently and stuffing his
hands in his pockets. Heizou blinks at him, swallowing thickly, but he eventually nods and they all
begin walking into the store. Immediately they are greeted by high end staff, dressed in suits and
skirts, all black except for the red neckties and bows. The store is a lot bigger than it looks on the
outside, everything in here being laced with the hint of sex, from the red undertones to the main
black setting. On the walls hang various bondage sets, though, when it comes to the actual
garments and accessories, they aren’t all strictly red and black. Some are white and pink even.

Other sex toys such as dildos, paddles, whips, gags, and the like are set out on display for people to
choose from and Heizou’s eyes gaze over them. Maybe he should buy actual cuffs for Kuni at
some point, he said Heizou should be meaner to him, so he assumed a gag, some restraints, and the
same vibrator treatment should suffice until Heizou knows his limits, right?

“Do you happen to be interested in any of these toys here? We have butt plugs and larger size
dildos as well,” a kind woman asks Heizou, snapping him out of his daze. He looks over to her and
blinks before looking back over at the displays and silently walking over to them. He rests a hand
under his chin as he thinks over which would look best on Kuni. He’s mainly thinking of him right
now because clearly Kazuha is pretty vanilla when it actually comes down to the act. His intuition
and just general understanding of how people work is telling him with one glance that his
boyfriend isn’t very interested in the toys, just the lingerie and Heizou can get behind that. It’s cute
even, the best of both worlds from the way Kuni is so arousingly kinky to the way Kazuha is so
sexily traditional.

“I think I’ll have a look,” Heizou manages to get out, snapping his mouth shut as soon as he feels
the vibrations kick in. The kind lady nods her head with a smile and walks away from them, giving
them all privacy to discuss their sex life with each other. Kuni comes up behind him and snakes an
arm around his waist, pressing a hand to his stomach which makes Heizou’s knees buckle as he
grabs onto the shorter for support. “ Fuck you,” Heizou spits, giving him one mean side eye as he
fixes his posture. Kuni lets go of him then, smirking as he reaches to grab one of the ball gags and
feel the leather strap between his fingers.

“Oh, be patient now, Heizou, not yet,” he smirks again, turning to look at his boyfriend before
holding out the ball gag in front of him with the tips of his fingers. “I like this one. You think it’ll
fit in my mouth?” he asks before seductively opening his mouth and comparing the size of the ball
to how wide he can open up. Heizou sucks in a breath, hands and legs shaking from the pleasure
he’s experiencing right now before Kazuha comes up behind Kuni and shoves two fingers in his
mouth. He forces their boyfriend to look back and up at him as he frowns.

“Don’t be such a tease,” he says and Heizou is relieved to hear Kazuha sticking up for him, “you’re
going to make our fun end too soon at this rate,” Kazuha tsk’s and that makes all of the redhead’s
relief fly out the window. He thought Kazuha was going to tell him to knock it off, but he supposes
he should have known that was only wishful thinking considering this whole ordeal was literally
the guitarist’s idea. Another day, another misinterpretation of his dear boyfriend and crush of four
years. One day he’ll have him all figured out, one day.
Kuni swallows hard, but nods and Kazuha releases him. “Are you into any of this?” their manager
asks their boyfriend instead and Kazuha turns to look at everything before them and hums. His eyes
seem to fall on almost everything there with disinterest, like Heizou had assumed. Seems he was
right to think their boyfriend is actually pretty vanilla, but it’s hard to preen at how he was right
when his legs feel like giving out.

“I’d have to say not really. I enjoy seeing what the extent of my body can bring my partner all by
itself rather than the use of toys,” Kazuha ponders, taking out the remote and flipping it to the
highest setting. Heizou nearly falls to his knees, but Kazuha is quick to catch him, an arm around
his waist. “Except for this, this is fun every once in a while,” he smirks before shutting off the
remote when he feels they are going to draw too much attention to themselves, “but if you two
want to go at it in that scene, be my guest. I don’t mind watching or just not participating,” he
explains, pocketing the remote. Heizou tries to file that information away in his brain for later, but
right now his mind is all fuzzy from how good he’s feeling.

“Then Heizou and I will have to come back sometime, just the two of us,” Kuni says, glancing over
at Heizou who is attempting to fix his posture as he stands upright on his own again, breathing
hard, “right, Heizou?” he smirks. Heizou can’t help but clamp his mouth shut, shaky hands
gripping the bottom of his jacket in order to try and hide his erection. He can feel the way the
precum is starting to drip now which means it surely has leaked through his clothes. Kazuha takes
a gentle hand and brushes his hair from the nape of his neck to give it some access to the cool air
which is nice because it helps calm him down.

“Right, Kuni,” Heizou seethes, turning on his heel and heading off towards the lingerie section. He
just wants this to be over so bad. His whole body is on fire and his dick is impossibly hard. The
thought of having his first time with Kazuha being just around the corner is what’s keeping him
fueled right now. If he gets through this, he gets to have his first time with Kazuha and Kazuha
gets to have his first time with both of them. Heizou will do anything in his power to make sure
they all leave that room completely wrecked or don’t even leave that room at all.

When he arrives at the lingerie section, he’s instructed to face away from the sets and sit down to
patiently wait for them. He guesses that means they both want to surprise him with what they pick
out, but he can’t be too happy about that because Kazuha flips the remote back on to its highest
setting. Heizou is now left to press down on his groin pretty hard lest he wish to explode right here
in the store. His toes curl in his shoes and his knees press together. He’s trying his hardest to
control his breathing so it doesn’t seem too unordinary. A worker even passes by and asks if he
needs help finding anything and it takes Heizou a good twenty seconds before he can muster up the
courage to respond without his voice sounding weird. He succeeds, though, and the worker
blissfully leaves him alone.

He can hear shuffling behind him and the two discussing their different opinions about their sets,
but Heizou can’t really make out what they’re saying. He’s too focused on how his ass clenches
and unclenches around the vibrator places there and the way his leg bounces involuntarily. A small
whine escapes his lips when he shifts and the vibrator in his ass presses up against his prostrate. If
he didn’t have more self control than that, he would have exploded right then and there, but he
didn’t. And Kazuha and Kuni seem to be taking their sweet old time with this one because it’s
about five minutes of this torture before the device is switched off again.

Heizou bends forward, resting his forearms on his knees as he clasps his hands together. He
contemplates his life and what brought him here to this very moment as he stares down his shaky
and trembling hands. He can still feel the ghost of the vibrations on his body as Kazuha and Kuni
continue to shop, shuffling through different wracks while giving each other’s opinions on which
would look best on the other. Somewhere in there Heizou thinks he can hear a conversation about
Kazuha being puzzled on how to shave his crotch area and Kuni politely telling him that he can
help him with that. Oh would you look at this, his two boyfriends being so nice and cute to each
other. If only he could appreciate it at this moment!! Ugh, he wants to go back to the hotel room.

Luckily for him, they finish soon after and make their way to the register, checking out their items
and making sure they’re obscured from Heizou’s vision. Once they are sure he can’t peek, they
return to their boyfriend and tell him it’s time to leave. So, preparing himself, Heizou gets up from
where he was seated and begins walking with them out of the shop. All is well until they reach the
front of the store where the remote is flicked to the highest intensity and Heizou can’t help the
moan that escapes his lips. Immediately, he grabs onto the front of Kazuha’s shirt as a free hand
slaps over his mouth. His boyfriends look around them cautiously, but no one seems to have picked
up on what just happened. Archons, this is humiliating.

Even so, Kazuha doesn’t turn down the intensity as he and Kuni help Heizou to the taxi they
called. They all file in, with each of the redhead’s boyfriends being on either side of him as he
keeps that hand firmly pressed against his lips, a hand gripping his pants tightly. His knees come
together as he feels the ride building in him and he leans forward from how intense the pleasure is.
A warm hand slips under his shirt and jacket, causing Heizou to shiver. That hand belongs to
Kazuha as he lets it fall lower and lower until the tips of his fingers breach the hem of his pants.
Heizou wants to whine so badly at the feeling, but another hand slips through the gap of his arms
and underneath the front of his shirt. This time, the hand belongs to Kuni as his well manicured
fingers slip into the top of his pants as well.

Heizou wants to badly for them to go further and just relieve him of this horrid torture, but he can’t
when they’re in a taxi. So, he endures their teasing touches as their hands travel anywhere else than
where he wants them to go. During this, Kazuha even holds a casual conversation with the driver
who seems to be having a pleasant time. Kuni is more so focused on teasing Heizou as he keeps the
bags on his lap from being peeked inside of.

Heizou breathes heavily as he keeps his eyes shut tightly. He wants to come, he really wants to
come, but he can’t. They still have to walk out of this vehicle and walk to the elevator, go all the
way up it, and then walk all the way to their room. He’s supposed to survive that long without
Kazuha turning off the device— or at least most likely he won’t— while trying to maintain a
normal looking appearance. He doesn’t even know how he’s going to walk in the building. He
better think quickly, though, because a tap on his shoulder lets him know they’ve arrived.
Heizou raised his head, clearly sweating from how hot and bothered he is as his cheeks flush and
his pupils dilate. He is so unbelievably horny right now he can barely think straight. Kazuha grabs
him by the waist after paying the driver, while Kuni loops an arm through his as they help him
unsteadily walk inside the building and to the elevator. Kuni is the one to punch in their floor
number before they wait for the doors to open and the people to flood out of the lift. Heizou keeps
his head down the entire time, literally shaking from all the pleasure he is experiencing right now
before he is shuffled inside the elevator and they’re riding up to their floor.

Almost there.

Once the elevator door chimes, his two boyfriends help him hobble over to their hotel room door.
As Kazuha pulls out the keycard, Heizou snatched it from him, thinking him too slow before
quickly unlocking the door and rushing inside with a burst of adrenaline. He tosses the keycard
aside on the dresser before ripping off his coat and yanking off his shirt. He fumbles onto the bed
and his two lover’s are on him immediately as well. Together, they strip Heizou of his last
remaining items of clothing before looking over the mess Heizou had become.

His hair is tousled and messy, bangs sticking to his forehead as precum drops onto his stomach. His
skin is hot to the touch and his cheeks are completely red as his eyes look up at them from his
lying down position with nothing but pure lust. If Heizou’s pupils could be heart shaped from how
horny he is right now, they would be. He almost feels like one little touch from either of them will
send him tumbling over the edge.

Once Heizou’s clothes are completely gone and they’re done admiring him, the two of them begin
stripping as well. Kazuha pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it somewhere on the floor before
undoing his hair and slipping the hair band around his wrist. He quickly loses his pants and
underwear as well, socks and shoes already having been long kicked off. Kuni follows suit, taking
off his pants and undergarments as well, but leaving his long sleeved shirt on instead.

Their manager is quick to lean down, connecting his and Heizou’s lips as the redhead cups his face
with a hand. Kazuha gets busy releasing Heizou from the torture devices before grabbing lube and
condoms from the dresser and slicking himself and his fingers up. The drummer spreads his legs
wide enough for his boyfriend to get easy access to his ass when he feels Kuni trail a hand down
his chest and to his cock. A while leaves Heizou’s lips and he can feel the smirk spread across
Kuni’s lips that stays present when another whine escapes him. This time, the whine is from
Kazuha testing how loose Heizou’s ass is.

“You’re pretty loose, but not loose enough for me to enter you without more pain than necessary,”
Kazuha says, slipping a second finger inside Heizou’s ass. He breaks from the kiss for a moment, a
loud moan leaving his lips before they’re eagerly captured once again by Kuni. Their manager’s
hand works wonders on his shaft as it strokes him perfectly. Even Kazuha watches his skilled
hands as they move up and down, his thumb brushing over his tip and coating his hand with
Heizou’s sticky seed. And while all this happens, Kazuha reaches a second hand behind Kuni and
prods at his hole. It makes their boyfriend jump at first, but once he realizes what’s going on, he
relaxes.

The guitarist then takes great gentleness in the way he preps both of his lovers, making sure they
don’t feel too much pain nor any discomfort. Kuni is a lot tighter than Heizou currently, but that
makes sense since Heizou was the only one who had received any sort of prep prior to this. The
shortest loosens up rather quickly, though, showing just how aroused he is by the situation as he
begins to move up and down on Kazuha’s fingers subconsciously. Heizou’s hand reaches down to
grasp at Kuni’s cock as well, stroking him in time with his little thrusts back onto their boyfriend’s
fingers.

Kunikuzushi moans against Heizou’s lips, his hand gripping slightly tighter around his cock, but
that’s when the fingers in Heizou’s ass leave and something much bigger pressed against him.
Heizou breaks from his kiss with Kuni, looking up at Kazuha with nervousness and lust and
Kazuha stares right back, the same expression filled with the same emotions on his face.
Kunikuzushi decided to busy himself with kissing Heizou’s neck, shoulders, and chest as Kazuha
leans down and connects his lips with Heizou’s. That’s when the redhead feels the tip of his cock
push into his hole and he comes immediately, a loud moan leaving his lips once he is situated fully
inside.

This doesn’t phase Kazuha at all, though, as he just gets to moving straight away, keeping one hand
busy with Kuni’s ass while the other keeps Heizou’s leg out of the way for himself. Heizou lets his
tongue invade Kazuha’s mouth as the two of them engage in a deep heated kiss, eyes closed and
panting. Their breaths mingle together and a loud moan leaves Heizou’s mouth anytime Kazuha’s
pelvis collides with his ass. A small moan leaves Kazuha’s mouth anytime the same happens,
though, their vocals mixing together as Kuni covers their skin with kisses.

“ Ahh.. O-Oh.., ” he moans. Kazuha feels so good inside him, it’s been a long while since he’s
taken it in the ass and he forgot how good stimulation from the prostate feels. His hand around
Kuni’s cock trembles as it jerks him off, his free hand coming up to tangle in Kazuha’s hair as they
kiss. His skin is soft against Heizou’s and it brings a comforting aura to the gentle yet needy way
that his boyfriend thrusts into him. His back arches, their kiss breaking as he clenched tightly
around Kazuha, causing him to groan and bury his face in one side of Heizou’s neck. Then he’s
leaning back, Kuni shuffling himself to seat his ass right on Heizou’s face.

Hot arousal grows in Heizou’s gut at this, immediately getting to work on sedating his cute
boyfriend’s desires as he gets rammed in the ass by his other cute and sexy boyfriend. The best of
both worlds, truly. Kuni leans forward enough so he doesn’t actually suffocate Heizou as he gets to
work, trapping Kazuha’s lips in a kiss that the guitarist gladly reciprocates. He uses the hand that
used to be in Kuni’s ass, to stroke his dick instead all the while Heizou stimulates his ass. Moans
can be heard filling the room from all three of them as the lewd sounds of skin slapping skin keep
their heads feeling fuzzy.

Heizou can feel the way Kuni’s precum drips onto his abdomen as he gropes his ass with one hand,
his free hand being trapped against the sheets by Kazuha’s. Their fingers interlock and they hold
on tightly to each other’s hand as the pace remains steady, egging them all on more and more. Kuni
lets his hands wander Kazuha’s skin, feeling his chest and arms, all the way down to his waist
before reaching a hand back and spreading his ass so Heizou has easier access. With his free hand,
he balances himself with his hand placed on Kazuha’s slim shoulder as their moans tangle together
in their kiss.

It’s then that Kazuha speeds up as does his hand around Kuni’s cock, “ mm.. more.. ” Kuni whines,
biting Kazuha’s bottom lip. At this, Heizou clenches tightly around him and continues licking and
biting at his boyfriend’s ass. The guitarist’s moans increase in speed in volume as he has to break
from his kiss with Kuni to hide his face in the place between his shoulder and neck to focus on the
pleasure. Their manager lets him, bringing the hand that was previously on his shoulder, up into
his hair to run a hand through his long white locks. When Kazuha’s pace becomes erratic and
completely self indulgent, Heizou’s back arches off the bed, eyes rolling back as he holds his
breath. Then their boyfriend comes with a loud and cute moan, Kuni following suit with a whine,
head thrown back and back arched.

They stay like that for a moment, Kuni having moved enough to allow Heizou to breathe better.
Their brains feel fuzzy with lust that won’t go away and they’re panting heavily. Sweat sticks to
their skin and to each other as their white liquids mix together on Heizou’s body. Heizou feels
Kazuha give a squeeze to his hand, face still buried in Kunikuzushi’s next as he does so and he
squeezes back. This lets his boyfriend know that he feels the exact same way he does: enthralled
by how amazing that felt. Sex with his two lovers at the same time was more than what he could
have ever wished for and more. Archons , that felt so good. His body is tingling from the phantom
feeling of their previous actions. Luckily for him, it’s not over yet.

Kunikuzushi moved first, getting off of Heizou and laying down on his back on the bed. His hair
fans out around him and his skin is flushed red as he looks up at Kazuha with complete
bashfulness. “My turn,” he pants, reaching up to grab Kazuha around his neck. The guitarist
happily obliges, never letting go of Heizou’s hand as he pulls out to move in front of Kunikuzushi.
It takes a moment for Heizou to recover from that amazing fuck before he’s letting go of Kazuha’s
hand with a kiss to his wrist and sitting up. His hand rests on his lower back, grimacing at the pain
he feels there before he’s grabbing a new condom and some lube for his boyfriend, tossing the
used condom out.

Kazuha takes the condom from Heizou gently and rips it open, sliding it over himself, but when he
reaches for the lube, Heizou does the job for him. Laying down on his side next to the two of them,
Heizou uncaps the lube bottle and pours some onto his hand before recapping it. He then takes his
lubricated hands and slathers a generous amount of it all over Kazuha’s cock. The white haired
man moans at this, the noise barely audible from their kisses as he lets his hands roam
Kunikuzushi’s body.
Once his dick is all nice and lubed curiosity of Heizou, Kazuha lines himself up with Kuni’s hole
and slowly pushes his way through the ring of muscle and deep into his boyfriend’s ass. Heizou
watches the action, sucking in a deep breath as he feels himself getting aroused again. Props to
Kazuha for being able to go for round two right away because Kunikuzushi is one needy bitch in
bed, so someone with stamina and enough arousal is exactly what he needs. Heizou just hopes he’s
got enough energy for him to put it in. There’s no way he’s letting Kazuha out of this room and out
of their first time together as a throuple without exchanging dick appointments. It’s just unethical
(and unfair and Heizou would totally whine about it for the rest of their lives)!!

So, Heizou uses what’s left of the lube on his fingers to snake a hand around Kazuha’s rear and
poke at his hole. He watches his boyfriend’s facial expressions for any sign of discomfort or
displeasure, but there are none, so he continues. Propping his head up with one hand, Heizou uses
his other to finger Kazuha as he fucks Kuni right in front of him. “ A-Ahh.. hah..! ” his two
boyfriends moan, Kuni looking absolutely lost in the lust as he whines into Kazuha’s mouth with
every thrust. Precum can be seen leaking out of his tip and Heizou licks his lips.

Heizou adds a second finger into Kazuha’s ass now, pushing them in deep enough to hit his
sensitive parts and makes the man mewl. His face scrunches up and he has to break from his kiss
with Kuni in order to keep control. The redhead watches as Kazuha trails kisses from Kuni’s
jawline down to his collarbone, sucking and leaving marks in his wake. Kunikuzushi turns to
Heizou in that moment, eyes hooded with lust and hair bouncing from every hard thrust from
Kazuha. The redhead leans in and traps Kuni’s lips in gentle kisses as his hand keeps working
Kazuha’s ass, a third finger now deep inside him.

He feels the way Kazuha clenches around his fingers and sees the way Kunikuzushi is nearing his
breaking point when they move apart and Kuni reaches a hand down to stroke himself. Heizou
leans forward again to plant gentle encouraging kisses to Kazuha’s pale and creamy shoulders,
loving the way even his shoulders seem to blush in embarrassment as he moans right into Kuni’s
ear. Heizou can tell he’s enjoying this, though, from the way he’s trembling to the way his ass
clenches around his fingers. His body is almost as honest as his words.

Then suddenly Kazuha buries his face in Kuni’s shoulder as his body stiffens, a full body tremor
racking his form as Kunikuzushi’s back arches off the bed. At first their moans are completely
silent, mouths ajar and eyes rolled back before being closed tightly in pleasure. Then follows the
insanely loud and lust filled moans that Heizou has been waiting for from the both of them.
Kazuha’s hole clenches around Heizou’s fingers, but he presses the tips of said fingers harshly
against Kazuha’s prostate which keeps the steady flow of cum shooting out his cock and into the
condom deep in Kunikuzushi’s ass. Meanwhile, Kunikuzushi clenches tightly around Kazuha, nails
scratching his shoulders in pleasure as his eyes shut tightly, back arches.

The two of them then collapse on each other, well Kazuha collapses on Kunikuzushi, as Heizou
lets his fingers slip out of his ass. He wipes them on the already dirty sheets before running them
through Kazuha’s sweaty hair. His two boyfriends are a panting mess, bodies still tangled together
in front of Heizou and he finds it so cute. Their skin is flushed a pretty red and pink, their bodies
trembling from the intense pleasure they just experienced and Heizou gets to admire the after
effects of it all. He continues carding his finger’s through Kazuha’s hair, brushing the side pieces
behind his ear to expose his temple. The redhead then leans forward to kiss said temple before
retreating and chuckling at the way Kazuha turns his head to hide his face even further in Kuni’s
neck out of embarrassment.

Kazuha is probably going through a whirlpool of emotions right now and both Heizou and Kuni
are content to just let him wait it out for a second. Kunikuzushi even starts running his hand
through Kazuha’s long hair, planting a kiss to his forehead as he does so. “You did so well, Zuzu. It
felt amazing, so don’t overthink it,” Heizou murmurs gently, fingers still picking at and playing
with his hair. It’s then that Kazuha decides to face Heizou, keeping most of his face hidden in
Kuni’s shoulder but letting his eyes be seen. They look worried and almost glassy and Heizou can’t
help but coo, leaning in to kiss his forehead. Kazuha has always been the type to overthink in
situations like this (clearly), so the last thing he and Kuni want is for him to think he doesn’t
belong with them in bed because he does.

“If I didn’t like how you did me I wouldn’t still have your dick in my ass, now would I?” Kuni
helpfully supplies, making Heizou laugh. That seems to do the trick, though, and Kazuha’s anxiety
seems to evaporate immediately, replaced by joyous laughter. Sometimes just telling it like it is is
the best way to go about things, especially because their boyfriend can be quite the stubborn knot
sometimes. And with that, Kazuha pulls out of Kuni gently and the manager sits up, resting his
back against the pillows as he brushes his hair from his face and tucks his knees under himself.
Kazuha rolls over back onto Kunikuzushi, the hem of Kuni’s shirt covering his own groin as the
guitarist plants his head in his lap. Their manager stares down at him from above. “Your turn,” he
smirks, rewording his words from earlier. Kazuha’s face just lights up with pink as he removes the
condom from himself and ties it, aiming for the trash can when he tosses it.

Then Heizou is sliding between his knees, condom already rolled onto his cock which is fully erect
and ready to give pleasure. Kazuha stares down at it like he’s seen a ghost and both Kuni and
Heizou laugh, “don’t worry, if it fit in Kunikuzushi, it’ll fit in you too,” Heizou smirks and at first
Kuni is nodding along with a matching smirk before he frowns. His head snaps up to look at
Heizou and he frowns again— deeply this time— with a pout, Heizou can’t help but laugh some
more.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” he challenges, his glare clearly not one to play with. Heizou
just raises his eyebrows and shrugs, glancing away and when he receives a displeased noise from
Kuni, he sticks his tongue out and winks causing Kazuha below them to giggle. Good, he’s
relaxing some more which means their little bantering is working. Heizou can’t blame him, it’s
intimidating to be on the receiving end of two people who have already been together privately
because what if he’s boring and they lose interest or something absurd like that? Oh well, if he
thinks like that, then they’ll just have to make sure he knows just how much his presence is greatly
welcomed and appreciated here.
That being said, Heizou takes both of Kazuha’s thighs and pushes them out of the way, Kuni
reaching forward to hold them out of the way of his own view. Then the redhead lines up his cock
with Kazuha’s hole after having lubed it up before slowly pushing his way inside. The guitarist’s
back arches off the bed and he grips the sheets that are at either side of Kunikuzushi’s thighs. A
small whine leaves his lips when Heizou situates himself fully inside Kazuha and once he is, the
redhead looks down at his boyfriend with a smile. Kazuha can’t help but blush even more, legs
being spread by Kunikuzushi while Heizou is deep in his ass.. something about it is so heavily
erotic, especially the way his two lover’s look down at him with such lust.

And while Kuni continues keeping his legs spread for him, Heizou begins moving, rocking back
and forth slowly to let Kazuha adjust to him. Small breathy moans leave the guitarist’s lips as he
closes his eyes at the pleasure. Heizou feels the way Kazuha’s hole clenches and unclenches
around him like it’s attempting to sedate its own desires and it’s so sexy. His cock is throbbing
where it rests against his abdomen and his chest heaves with his panting. Heizou places his hands
on his boyfriend’s waist, using their placement as leverage for his rough thrusts as he pulls almost
all the way out before slamming back in. The responding loud moan sends shivers down Heizou’s
spine and he decides he’s going to keep doing that, so he does.

In no time at all, Kazuha is letting out a continuous string of moans, Kunikuzushi having let go of
his legs in favor of playing with Kazuha’s nipples instead. It appears that the guitarist’s nipples
happen to be a very sensitive place on his body and Kuni is taking full advantage of it. He leans
down over their boyfriend and bites and sucks on the flesh, using a hand to do the same to the
other. Kazuha’s hips subconsciously move in time with Heizou’s thrusts as he moans loudly
beneath them both, head still resting in Kunikuzushi’s lap.

“ Nnggh.. mm—ahh..!” Kazuha can’t help but moan, back arching off the bed when Heizou’s tip
collided with his prostate and Kunikuzushi bites down on his nipple particularly hard. Kuni then
decides to release his chest, sitting up again and rubbing a thumb against their boyfriend’s cheek.
His face is flushed red and he’s panting hard, beads of sweat make his skin glisten and his bangs
stick to his forehead. His hands are gripped tightly to the sheets on either side of Kunikuzushi’s
thighs and so Kuni decides to slit his hands in both of Kazuha’s instead. The white haired man
happily obliges to having his hands held (down) by their manager while Heizou adjusts his position
and angle.

Heizou situates himself where he can use his body weight to his advantage, putting Kazuha’s
thighs over his shoulders as he completely sandwiches the man between Kunikuzushi and himself.
He pounds into his boyfriend, lust taking over his mind as he relentlessly sets his own pace. The
roughness makes Kunikuzushi giggle with lust as Kazuha’s cries become louder and louder.
Heizou decides to muffle them somewhat by pressing his lips against his and it works only when
their lips are actually connected. Any time they pull apart for a second, a loud moan escapes
Kazuha’s lips. It’s so arousing to hear him being so vocal that it’s driving Heizou insane and
making his brain all fuzzy.
The guitarist’s back arches off the bed as he’s relentlessly fucked into the mattress by Heizou,
hands being held by Kunikuzushi. Heizou can see the way his nails dig into Kuni’s flesh and feel
the way he clenched tightly around the drummer’s cock, practically sucking him in. A stray
pleasured tear slips down Kazuha’s cheek as he turns his head to the side from all the stimulation.
The action makes Heizou chuckle as he kisses down his boyfriend’s neck and shoulders, marking
up that area as he goes. One quick glance down at Kazuha’s groin tells him everything he needs to
know, from the way it’s throbbing against his abdomen, to the way it’s leaking precum as well.

Seeing he’s close, Heizou keeps the same pace and slides an arm under Kazuha’s shoulder, pulling
his body down onto the drummer's which causes the guitarist to scream out in pleasure. Kazuha’s
toes curl as his back arches off the bed, Heizou pounding him into the mattress as Kunikuzushi
keeps his hands firmly held in place. It’s then that Kazuha explodes untouched, white hot liquid
shooting from his tip and onto his abdomen, some even getting onto Heizou in the process. Heizou
doesn’t stop, though, he keeps going until he feels his own climax approaching. He then grits his
teeth and hides his face in Kazuha’s shoulder as he comes fast and hard. Multiple strings of cum
shoot into the condom and Heizou lets himself finish with a few slow thrusts, making sure
everything is out before pulling out of Kazuha.

He pulls back, admiring the way Kazuha slowly blinks up at him, eyes hooded with lust and
cheeks flushed. Remember that heart shaped pupil comment from before? Yeah, Kazuha definitely
would have those right now. He looks so utterly fucked out, heir a mess, skin glistening and dirty,
hot to the touch— he looks so sexy like this as he rests in Kunikuzushi’s lap. The two of them
don’t even bother to let go of each other’s hands as Heizou leans forward and plants a kiss to
Kazuha’s lips. “You felt so amazing inside,” Heizou murmurs, giggling when Kazuha’s mouth
snaps shut from his panting and a hot red blush coats his cheeks. “Let’s do it again, but with that
gift you two bought me,” he paused, looking over the state of both his lovers, “..another day,” he
laughs and they laugh along with him.

“It was sexy as fuck to watch you get absolutely demolished while in my lap,” Kunikuzushi says,
looking down at Kazuha. Kazuha looks back up at him and smiles bashfully, red eyes sparkling
with mischief and some pride. Seems he’s finally taking in the fact he didn’t disappoint them, not
that he even could in the first place. Heizou then leans forward and locks lips with Kuni as well,
humming when he realizes he didn’t get to kiss him during that. “And you looked super sexy
pounding someone from an outsider perspective. Now I’m going to picture that in my mind any
time I’m under you in the future,” Kuni teases and Heizou and Kazuha chuckle. The guitarist then
moves over slightly, allowing Heizou enough room to rest his head on Kuni’s lap as well.

Heizou gladly takes the offer, falling ungracefully onto the mattress and planting his head on their
boyfriend’s lap. He takes of the condom and ties it before discarding it somewhere and laying back
down to face Kazuha. The two gaze into each other’s eyes before they start laughing. They all
begin having a little giggle fest, each of them laughing with happiness at the situation. Though,
Heizou feels completely exhausted after having been edged that whole time in the store to having
come more times than he can count (it was like three times). So, he closes his eyes, Kazuha
following suit as Kunikuzushi runs his fingers through both of their hair soothingly. His nails
scratch their scalps which relaxes both their minds and bodies as they listen to the slow breathing of
one another.

A nap would be so nice right now. Heizou thinks, yawning as his legs tangle with Kazuha’s.
Kazuha yawns in response, shuffling closer to him in Kunikuzushi’s lap. The oldest then reaches
over, shutting off the lamp to let only the sun be their source of light as it peeks through the
curtains just barely. Then with the soothing feeling of Kunikuzushi’s fingers running through their
hair again, the two of them successfully pass out, heads resting in their boyfriend’s lap. Heizou
can’t wait to see them when he wakes up.

———

When Heizou wakes up the first time, it’s to Kazuha being wrapped up in his arms while
Kunikuzushi is in a slouched position above them, now fast asleep. He doesn’t know how that can
be comfortable, his head is lulled to the side and his mouth is slightly ajar as he breathes slowly.
His lap still acts as his and Kazuha’s pillow so his legs must definitely be asleep. Tugging on his
sleeve, Heizou attempts to wake his sleeping boyfriend up but it doesn’t work so he pulls a bit
harder. This time Kuni stirs awake, blinking down at Heizou with a dazed expression before he
rubs his eyes. “Why don’t you come down here, princess,” Heizou asks gently, scooching a little
ways away from Kazuha to allow their boyfriend enough room to slot himself between them.
Kunikuzushi sluggishly, but gladly takes the offer, sliding between his two lovers hugging
Kazuha.

In his sleep, Kazuha cuddles back, nuzzling his head into Kuni’s hair as Kuni sleepily rests his
head against his chest. Heizou can’t help but coo, cuddling Kunikuzushi from behind as he wraps
his arms around both of his boyfriends. He also kicks a blanket over them all so they won’t be cold
while they sleep. They never changed back into anything after they fucked, just stayed as is, no
clothes except for Kuni’s shirt. That being said, Heizou drifts off once more, his pillow being
replaced by an actual pillow as the last thing he sees is some marks left on Kazuha’s skin from both
himself and Kunikuzushi.

———

When Heizou wakes up a second time, it’s to cuddling Kunikuzushi’s back while he and Kazuha
are snuggled together and reading in his arms. The two have made silently reading together a habit
ever since they started that first time while Heizou was showering. There’s been a couple times
where he has caught Kuni sitting in Kazuha’s lap and reading with him or them both being
snuggled together and reading like now. It’s very cute whenever Heizou catches them in the act.

So, the redhead yawns, stretching his legs and nuzzling his face into Kunikuzushi’s shoulder which
draws attention to himself. “Good morning, Heizou, sleep well?” Kazuha asks, flipping a page
even though it isn’t morning. What time is it actually? It has to be some time in the late afternoon
at the very least because Heizou’s stomach is growling with the need to eat. He’ll be sure to get up
right away and get them some food.

“I slept well. You too look like you did the same,” he smiles, planting a kiss to Kunikuzushi’s
exposed shoulder where the collar of his shirt slips down. The action makes Kuni shrink in on
himself, bringing his shoulder to his ear in embarrassment as a tiny blush covers his cheeks. This
makes Heizou huff out a laugh as he playfully squeezes his waist. “Are you two hungry? I can run
out to grab some food,” Heizou asks, rubbing his thumb across Kuni’s skin absentmindedly. At
that same moment their manager’s stomach growls and Heizou thinks he’s found his answer.

“..If you don’t mind,” Kunikuzushi mumbles and the redhead chuckles. With that, Heizou sits up
and gives his lovers each a kiss before sliding off the bed and getting dressed. He’s too lazy to
shower right now so he’ll just throw on deodorant and put his hair up in a messy bun and get on
with it. Oh. Not before he cleans up these dirty condoms on the floor, though. Their aim earlier
must have not been the best, oops.

Okay, now he can leave. He snatches the keycard off the dresser and waves goodbye to his
boyfriends who are still nudely cuddling and reading together and they both wave back, too
engaged in the book to spare him more than a glance. So, with a huff of a laugh, Heizou exits the
room and begins his journey to go get them food. As he does so, the images from the events that
happened earlier in the day replay in his mind over and over.

They did it. They all actually did it. And archons if it wasn’t anything short of heavenly— besides
the torturing. A pout appears on Heizou’s face at the memory. His poor ass and cock, his dick
especially hurt because he was holding back from coming for so long he felt strained. Guess that’s
why when he eventually did come it felt better than anything he’s ever felt before. His boyfriends
maybe little shits for that, but Heizou will be damned if he said it didn’t feel good.

The way Kazuha fucked him slowly only to lose his composure and be kind of rough when he
came to near his climax, or the way Kunikuzushi had Heizou eat him out while the redhead was
being done by their boyfriend. It’s all just so insanely arousing and when it was Heizou’s turn to
fuck Kazuha.. oh he was so excited. The way Kazuha looked so vulnerable and cute laid out for
him in Kuni’s lap. The way the two held each other’s hands while Heizou made sure his boyfriend
would walk away from this experience wanting even more than he first initially did. If that wasn’t
the best fuck of his life, Heizou doesn’t know what was.

Although, he will admit it was pretty taxing to go from railee to railer, but anything to be inside of
Kazuha. Which reminds him that he still has the gift from those two to look forward to. Shit , he’s
so excited. He wonders what those two chose for themselves and for each other to wear. Whatever
the design, Heizou doesn’t doubt that they’ll both look stunning in their lingerie. The two are
naturally beautiful so it’s impossible for them to look bad in anything. They could wear a trash bag
and Heizou would still fold.
With that thought in mind, Heizou exits the hotel and walks just a block down the street to a small
takeout place where he’s surprised to find none other than Xiao himself alongside Venti. The two
of them are chatting idly in line over something Heizou can’t make out, so he walks right up to
them and slings his arms around them to give them a little scare. “What’s up you two?” he asks and
Xiao is quick to push Heizou off, turning on his heel and getting ready to defend himself. Venti
pushes his arm over his head and gets in a defensive stance once he’s out of Heizou’s grasp as
well. When they register who it is who just hugged them, their shoulders drop and a smile appears
on Venti’s face.

“Heizou! Good to see you, were you on your way to grab some food too?” Venti asks, shuffling
forward in line when the customer in front leaves. The two of them look very well dressed as per
usual with Venti’s hair being delicately braided and Xiao’s being styled probably by Venti. If
there’s one thing to know about their lead singer it’s that he really loves to make people smile and
he found that messing with Xiao’s appearance and dolling him up makes him smile and so he’s
done it ever since.

“Yeah, Kuni and Kazuha are reading together and we’re all hungry so I offered to go grab some
food. What are you two up too?” Heizou asks, a small smile on his lips. His hands slip into his
pockets as they take another step forward. With each step they take they get closer and closer to
the front of the line and to their glorious food.

“You look like you just had some wild sex,” Xiao deadpans and Venti backhands him in the chest.
Xiao doesn’t even flinch, let alone bat an eye. Heizou just stands there shocked at first before he
begins awkwardly laughing. This makes the lead guitarist smirk, “what happened to ‘not liking him
like that’? ‘Something change your mind?” he laughs as Heizou grows increasingly more
embarrassed. He did not expect to be exposed like this by Xiao in a small little takeout place.

“Listen,” he starts and Xiao verbally laughs this time, catching both Venti and himself off guard. It
seems that this situation is brining the man much joy for whatever reason. “Stop laughing, okay.
First of all,” Heizou starts, pointing a finger, “we were already dating. Second of all, I have always
liked him like that, we both know this so don’t even go there. Third of all, fuck you because I
never called you out when you looked like you just had a wild night with Venti,” he concludes
crossing his arms with a pout. This makes Venti blush and Xiao recoil a bit but ultimately keep his
composure. A small scoff of a laugh leaves Xiao’s lips before he turns to face the front of the line.

“Yeah, fair point, but that’s also because I’ve never looked as messed up as you. Maybe try hiding
that hickey on your neck next time,” Xiao smirks and Heizou immediately slaps a hand over his
neck. Uh oh, he sure hopes that no paparazzi or any fans saw that and snapped a picture of it.
Pulling his collar a little bit higher, Heizou attempts to hide the hickey left by one of his
boyfriends. This exchange happens to make even Venti laugh as he moves up with Xiao and
Heizou looks so betrayed.
 “Okay, he’s got you there, but at least I tried to be polite and not mention it,” Venti says, jabbing
Xiao in the side with his elbow. This only makes the lead guitarist chuckle some more. “Also,
Heizou, Xiao and I were wondering if you guys felt like watching a movie or something with us.
It’s been a bit since we were all able to do something together, just us as a band and Kunikuzushi
too, of course,” he smiles and Heizou blinks. Now that he thinks about it, Venti is right, it’s been a
while. So, without any further hesitation, Heizou agrees.

“Yeah I’m down. Just let me text those two and see what they think about the idea. Is today a good
day for you guys?” Heizou asks, glancing at Venti through his lashes as he texts his lovers in their
little group chat. He nods, moving up in line and Heizou moves with them, so he sends the text
asking if those two want to watch a movie with them to which they both reply that they’re willing.
Thus, Heizou shuts off and pockets his phone before looking up at his friends who are waiting for
their reply expectantly. “They’re down,” Heizou smiles and Venti and Xiao smile back, it will be
nice to all hang out together again. And by the looks on their faces, his two bandmates think so too.
He wonders what movie they will be watching.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you all so much for your patience when I was sick! I appreciate it a lot, so
thank you for reading and happy New Year! See you next week,

Mika.
 One Last Time
Chapter Summary

A visit to an old partner.

Chapter Notes

This next chapter is a little shorter than usual, but there’s not much to be done since
we’re reaching the end. Also, just a heads up, next chapter won’t be uploaded next
week, it will be uploaded the week after. I’m still debating on how to end it so I need a
little more time. Enjoy,

Mika.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Upon arriving back at the hotel, Kuni and Kazuha are now fully dressed in comfortable clothing
with new sheets on the bed and any trace of their little fun time together completely gone. Xiao and
Venti look at each other skeptically before huffing out a laugh and shaking their heads as they
make their way into the hotel room after Heizou. “What’s up you two, fun time I presume?” Venti
decides to tease seeing as the cat’s already out of the bag. Immediately Kazuha’s cheeks flush pink
and he scratches the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. Kuni just coughs into his fist before
looking away. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” Venti laughs, crawling on the bed and sitting down next to
Kazuha with Xiao coming to sit next to him.

“Did Heizou tell you?” Kazuha asks shyly, taking his food from Heizou as it’s handed to him.
Seems that they ordered Mondstadtian take out this time because it smells very much like the
country he’s used to. Heizou then hands Kunikuzushi his food as well before sitting in between the
two of them simply because he feels like it. Neither Kuni nor Kazuha mind, though.

“No, they saw the little gift on my neck that one of you left me,” Heizou laughs, opening his box of
food and grabbing the plastic fork and spoon that come with it instead of chopsticks. Back in
Mondstadt they still use chopsticks to eat and since the main cooks of the house are Xiao and
Kazuha, the food is often of the Liyuean or Inazuman variety. Also, when Heizou first arrived at
the apartment and everyone had their first meal together, he was surprised to see that Venti could
handle using chopsticks very easily. He explained to Heizou that he picked it up over the years of
dating Xiao and being around his culture which makes sense. Venti still prefers your stereotypical
spoon and fork, though.

“Oops,” Kuni laughs, taking a bite of his food before grabbing the remote and turning on theTV.
“Thanks for the food by the way, what are we watching?” he asks, pulling up a popular movie and
TV show streaming network. Heizou hums for a moment, chewing his food before swallowing it.
He honestly has no idea what he wants to watch. He would say horror or mystery films, but he
knows Venti would punch him in the arm for saying that. At the same time, though, he doesn’t feel
like watching something too kid oriented.

“We should watch a classic,” Kazuha suggests, reaching over and asking for the remote from
Kunikuzushi. The manager hands it to him so he can scroll through the picks, eyes glancing over
the screen. “Any recommendations or opinions?” the second guitarist politely asks, looking from
left to right to see his friends’ and lovers’ answers. When nobody seems to have any ideas, Kazuha
keeps on scrolling with a shrug to his shoulders.

The search for a movie to watch continues as they all watch the screen move in case they see
something they like. So far, no one has spoken up and said anything until Xiao asks Kazuha to go
back because he saw something. “Wait, go back, I don’t know if this counts as a classic, but me
and my sisters and brothers used to watch it when we were younger. It’s kind of cheesey and cliché,
but a movie is a movie, right?” Xiao explains as Kazuha clicks on a movie about a car that drives
itself and seems to have a mind of its own. It’s a little beetle car with the number fifty three on its
front and sides.

“Seems cute, I’m in,” Venti says, reaching down to bring the blankets over himself as he snuggles
closer to Xiao. The rest of the group ends up agreeing on this option as they all cuddle close and
turn down the lights. The warm orange hue of the sunset shines through the curtains of the hotel
room providing enough light alongside the TV for them all to be able to see their food.
Kunikuzushi seems to have been the hungriest considering a quarter of his food is already gone and
missing from his plate. Heizou, coincidentally, happens to be the one with the least food gone at
the moment.

The movie begins and everyone is immediately entranced. Only the melody from the TV and the
sound of them all chowing down on their food can be heard as they watch. It’s nice to finally be
free from the chaos of struggling through relationship issues. It feels nice to just be able to sit down
and relax with his friends because Heizou misses the times where they were able to do so before so
many feelings got involved. Thinking back on it, it would have been a lot simpler to confess and
see what happens, but Heizou and Kazuha were both kind of dumb in decision making. That being
said, maybe if they had just asked their friends for advice.. maybe things would have turned out
differently. Then again again, if none of this all happened, Kunikuzushi wouldn’t be here with
them.

Speaking of, Heizou is so immensely proud of his boyfriend. He’s really warmed up to Kuni quite
quickly and he was even able to have sex with them both. It’s really such a big milestone for him
and while it may seem kind of weird to celebrate such a thing, Heizou is celebrating it privately in
his head. He may not have been able to take off his shirt just yet, but that’s to be expected. The
redhead doesn’t expect him to be able to reveal such a thing about himself just yet and he nor
Kazuha are going to push him to do so. Well, Kazuha kind of can’t since he’s not even in the
‘know’, but you get the point.

Taking a bite of his food, Heizou feels a weight on his right shoulder so he peels his eyes from the
screen to see Kunikuzushi resting his head against his shoulder. The redhead smiles, cheeks full of
food as he rubs said cheeks against his boyfriend’s head for just a moment before straightening out
again to continue eating his food. It’s gotten to the part of the movie where the problem is first
initially introduced. The car seems to be a bit old and.. moody? What a funny little thing. Well—
not that little, he supposes. So far the film seems to be enjoyed by all the bandmates and their
manager which is a good thing.

Xiao is the next to finish his food, setting his trash aside and motioning for Venti to sit in his lap.
The lead singer happily obliges, picking himself up and placing himself sideways in Xiao’s lap,
letting his legs stretch over Kazuha and Heizou. Neither of them mind, though, Heizou even tickles
Venti’s feet and gets a near kick to the face because of it. That only makes him laugh and feign
fear of his food being knocked over. “Hey, watch where you swing those weapons, I paid for this
food and I’d like to eat it,” Heizou laughs, stuffing his face with more food. Kazuha and Kuni
giggle along with him, Xiao even popping a small smile.

“Maybe keep your evil worms away from these divine weapons and you’d have no reason to fear
for the loss of your food,” Venti harrumphs, causing everyone to laugh again. The singer even
smiles at himself, leaning more into Xiao as he continues to eat his food. The lead guitarist slides a
hand up his thigh to rest right before the bend of his joints and squeezes before planting a little kiss
to Venti’s cheek. Oh, how sweet, and cute, and mundanely soft they are. Heizou thinks to himself,
smiling at his adorable friends.

Heizou then finishes his food alongside Kazuha and he politely takes his box from him and sets it
on the other side of Kunikuzushi. Kazuha then snuggles up closer to him as Kuni did as Heizou
throws his arms around them both and squeezes them tightly. Kazuha pulls the blankets over them
more, being mindful of Venti’s legs as he does so, eyes still somehow on the TV screen. The girl in
the movie and the car seem to have faught or reached a difficulty that seems to be the end of the
road for them. Yet, Heizou can easily deduct that that is far from the truth as he has already made
predictions of how this could all end. Leave it to him to try and solve even a simple movie mystery
such as this one. This movie isn’t even listed under the ‘mystery’ category!

A calm silence falls over all of them except for Venti finishing up the rest of his food as they all
continue to walk the movie. Heizou can tell without even having to look at him that Venti is
already growing tired. His movements as he eats are sluggish and he’s barely even touched his
food since the last bite he had. Seems Xiao can tell too because he gently takes the box from his
boyfriend and closes it, setting it aside before Venti retracts his legs from them and curls up in his
boyfriend’s lap. The lead guitarist then plants a kiss to his temple and Heizou has to resist the urge
to coo. The two of them are so cute, almost like they’re made for each other.
Kazuha slips his hand in Heizou’s and the redhead rubs little circles into his hand with his thumb,
resting his cheek atop Kazuha’s head. The three of them all snuggle close as it reaches the climax
of their movie where the time has come for them to finally race. Obviously, as Heizou predicted,
they win and it’s a happy ending. He can’t be all smug about it though because he knows he’ll just
heft eye rolls from his friends. Maybe not Kuni because he isn’t used to him deducting movie
endings, but he definitely will from Xiao, Kazuha, and Venti.

Speaking of, Venti is now fast asleep in Xiao’s arms. “Do you two want to have a sleepover over
here?” Heizou asks, voice just a whisper. Xiao seems to ponder that thought, looking from the TV
to his sleeping boyfriend in his arms before frowning. Seems he’s puzzled on how to answer. “You
don’t have to if you don’t want to,” the redhead smiles softly, Kazuha nodding along with him.
“Besides, we all know you’re the possessive type,” he smirks, getting back at Xiao for pointing out
his hickey to him earlier that day.

The lead guitarist rolls his eyes, giving Heizou a deadpan look as he giggles. “It wasn’t him I was
thinking about, I was more concerned with what our manager would think,” Xiao reasons and
Heizou pauses, “clearly he’s not used to being so close with his friends— if he considers Venti and
I friends, that is,” he finishes and yeah, that does make sense. So, Heizou looks down at Kuni who
is snuggled up to his arm. The shorter isn’t looking at him at all so the redhead squeezes a tiny bit
to get his attention, when it doesn’t work Heizou leans down to get a better look at his face. Oh,
he’s sleeping.

“Kunikuzushi is dead asleep, I don’t think it matters to him. Plus you’re all the way over there,
Kazuha and I are in between him and you guys,” Heizou explains, making sure to keep his voice
down so he doesn’t wake Venti or Kunikuzushi. Seems that the little squeeze to his body rendered
the man uncomfortable so Kuni adjusts his position against Heizou, bringing his arm underneath
his own to cuddle his forearm. How cute he is. Wait, where’s his little hedgehog Heizou gave him?
Oh right, Kuni threw it off the bed during their sexy time and when asked about it later he said he
didn’t want the plush to be traumatized by what they were about to do. Kazuha and Heizou laughed
but then Heizou asked how being thrown off the bed and having to listen to them is any worse than
sitting there and witnessing it to which Kunikuzushi just huffed. Checkmate.

“As long as he won’t mind,” Xiao says, probably because he knows what it’s like to be
uncomfortable sleeping close to someone he doesn’t know that well. The two of them are pretty
similar in that sense, very closed off at first. He remembers that Xiao didn’t even talk to him nor
Kazuha at all when they first met, whether that be because he was too shy or too skeptical of them
could be a fifty fifty guess. It didn’t bother Heizou, though, because eventually they all got another
and they really became a family in a sense. Heizou didn’t grow up with the best of families, so
having these guys be his found family means a lot to him. He loves them all dearly, even if he
struggles saying it.

“If he has any complaints in the morning we will take the blame,” Kazuha yawns and Heizou nods.
Xiao seems to accept these terms and puts himself and Venti in a more comfortable position with
Venti now in between him and Kazuha, still cuddled up to Xiao’s chest. Kazuha then reaches over
and does him a favor that Heizou has seen the lead guitarist do for his boyfriend plenty of times
and undoes his braids. Gentle fingers unwrap the hair gently after untying the strands, slipping the
rubber bands around his wrist to give back to Venti in the morning. Xiao thanks him quietly, arms
wrapped around his lover’s waist. “Don’t mention it,” Kazuha replies softly before turning back
and cuddling into Heizou who had decided to lay down as well.

The three of them, not really being tired yet, decide to watch another movie together. This time it’s
actually more so a show than a movie. It’s one that Kazuha had mentioned he wanted to start
watching before but never got around to it. They figure now would be a perfect time to do so, so
they decide to watch it. Heizou isn’t sure what it’s about, but that’s because after the first two
episodes which are around forty five minutes long each, he started to get a bit drowsy. The redhead
is eventually the first of the three of them to doze off, cuddled closely with his two partners and
their two friends.

———

When the sun breaks the horizon, Heizou stirs awake with Kazuha already up. “Good morning,
Heizou, how did you sleep?” he asks him in his still hazy state of mind. The redhead takes a
moment, looking around at his surroundings to find that Kunikuzushi is still passed out in his arms,
basically on top of Heizou with his head resting on his chest. The drummer takes a gentle hand and
strokes his boyfriend’s hair, planting a kiss on top of his head before yawning. This makes Kazuha
chuckle softly, leaning down to give his two boyfriends kisses of his own.

“I—“ a yawn, “I slept fine. Great actually,” Heizou replies, stretching as much as he can in his
position. He looks to his left and over Kazuha’s legs to see that Xiao and Venti are still asleep,
curled together in each other’s arms. Or so Heizou thinks Xiao is asleep, but he actually isn’t as he
seems to be silently scrolling on his phone while Venti rests in his arms. Was he even able to fall
asleep? Heizou knows he has trouble sleeping and Venti helps him a lot with that, but he wonders
how it is around more than just Venti. He just looks as tired yet dashing as usual. “And you?”
Heizou asks politely, looking up at Kazuha who is smiling down at him softly.

“I slept just fine,” Kazuha smiles, leaning down to peck Heizou on the lips. Heizou can’t resist the
smile that spreads across his face at the action. Archons, he’s so in love with this man it might just
drive him insane. “I have a request of you and Kunikuzushi today,” Kazuha starts, the sparkle from
his eye slowly growing dull. It makes Heizou tilt his head in wonder as he waits for his lover to
continue speaking. “I would like to take you both somewhere very dear to me because I want you
to meet someone,” he explains and Heizou ponders that for a moment. Well, that doesn’t seem like
that big of a deal, so why does he look so glum?

“Yeah, of course. Why do you look so down about it, though? Is it someone you’re not very fond
of?” Heizou asks and Kazuha laughs, shaking his head. This makes the redhead even more puzzled
as to the different change in emotions.

“Quite the opposite actually. He is someone very dear to me that I would like you two to meet
before we leave Inazuma,” Kazuha further explains and suddenly it all clicks for Heizou.
Realization dawns on his features and he can tell that his boyfriend has figured out that the redhead
has solved the unspoken mystery behind his words as he just continues smiling. Suddenly Heizou
becomes very serious about meeting this person. He must dress his best for him and for Kazuha.
This is a very important moment for them.

It seems that all their talking has woken up Kunikuzushi as he stirs awake on Heizou’s chest. His
nose scrunches up and attempts to nuzzle his face into Heizou’s chest as he stretches. A yawn
leaves his lips as he rubs his eyes before he fully registers where he is and he pushes himself up
and off of Heizou. “‘Morning, princess,” Heizou smiles and Kuni blushes slightly at the pet name
given to him so early in the morning. Early? Wait, what time is it actually? Somebody remind
Heizou to check.

“Good morning,” he replies suspiciously, looking at his two boyfriends with skepticism written on
his features. “Why do you two seem like you’re planning something evil?” he asks, an eyebrow
raised as he sits back straddling Heizou’s waist. The redhead thinks he looks so pretty like this, bed
head making stray strands of his hair stick up in various places and eyes a little puffy from his
sleep. And archons , his morning voice is so cute. It’s deeper than his usual one and it makes him
sound so adorably docile.

“Because we are going somewhere. It’s not an evil place, though, but you should still be well
behaved,” Heizou says, smirking at his last remark. The redhead doesn’t even have time to dodge
as Kunikuzushi reaches above him and grabs a pillow to smack against his face. The action makes
all of them laugh as the bed shakes from the heavy moment. Moments after Xiao politely reminds
them and warns them that Venti is still asleep, so they all apologize, albeit with a little giggle.

“I would leave right now with Venti to get out of your hair so you can take off, but I know if I did
he’d be upset because he didn’t get to wake up and see you guys. He’s missed you all a lot through
all your.. difficulties, ” Xiao explains and it makes Heizou’s heart soft. He’s missed hanging out
with Venti too. They all haven’t had much time to hang out together at the parties they’ve gone to
because they have all been too busy being wrapped up with each other. He hopes this little movie
night with everyone makes up for at least some of it. He still owes Venti and Xiao a lot for being
his stability during all of this. He won’t be able to repay them enough, but he’ll still try.

“It’s fine, we’re in no rush,” Kazuha says and Xiao nods. “Have you seen what the drama has been
about lately? That video of you protecting and sticking up for Venti like that is still widely popular
and has been circulating around a lot. It even ended up on the news,” Kazuha asks and explains,
looking down at Xiao. The lead guitarist then sets down his phone and props his head up with his
elbow, his other hand resting around Venti’s waist as he gives their bandmate his full attention.
“There’s a lot of mixed emotions about it from the little I cared to glance at. Some say you were
being too harsh to an excited fan and then say they’re unstaning you while others are praising you
for doing the right thing because that ‘fan’,” he says with air quotes, “was so blatantly rude to both
you and Venti,” he further explains. “And then you have those who are making video edits of you
and thirsting over you for that, as per usual. Kind of sick and twisted if you ask me. Why would
one ever exploit such a bad incident like that? It just seems so wrong and inappropriate, not to
mention that it’s just not the time for that,” Kazuha concludes and Heizou nods along with him.
He’s not wrong.

“It’s fine, let them do whatever. All I care about is that Venti is safe,” Xiao says, looking down at
his boyfriend and stroking his hair gently, “even if it means my reputation suffers because of it,” he
concludes, a small smile on his lips. They all take a moment of silence to take in Xiao’s answer and
let the soft romantic feel behind it fluster. That is until a small giggle can be heard and Xiao goes
rigid.

“ Aww , baobei ,” Venti coos, untucking his face from Xiao’s chest with a big grin spreading
across his lips, “you’d sacrifice your reputation for me when you were voted second in the most
popular in the group?” he asks, eyes big with adoration. Xiao looks down at him with a twisted
expression that shows his struggle of keeping his facial features in check and blushing like crazy
before attempting to hide. He ends up just bringing a fisted hand to his lips and coughing
awkwardly to buy himself some time.

“Yes, I thought that would be obvious,” he ends up going with and Venti gives him a lopsided grin.
The lead singer reaches up to cup his face before planting a very gentle and very drawn out kiss to
his cheek. They’re so adorable. It’s like they’re still back where they first were when they initially
started dating.

“Thank you, Xiao,” he giggles and Xiao just nods shyly with a faint blush on his cheeks. “But let’s
go, these three obviously have somewhere to be I presume? And as much as I love to sleep and also
hang out with you all, I do still need my healthy dose of my fiancé ,” he says, trailing a finger under
Xiao’s chin and tapping it on his lips. A smirk appears after the last sound of ‘ fiancé’ leaves his
lips, knowing the reaching already.

“ Fiancé ?!” they all say in unisons. Except Xiao, of course.

“Is that the real reason you wanted to hang out with us all?” Heizou asks, eyes wide as he looks at
his two friends like he’s seen a ghost. Venti flips over in Xiao’s arms, pressing his back against his
boyfriend and pulling his left arm over his shoulder and then placing his own left hand on top of
Xiao’s. Their golden bands shine in the morning light and appear almost out of nowhere because—
seriously— where were they before?! Wouldn’t they have all noticed them?! Before he can even
ask this, though, Venti continues speaking.
“Could be,” Venti says, a playful smile to his features. “We’re engaged at the moment guys, it’s
not like we’re getting married tomorrow, ” a pause, “unless we are—“

“What?!” (Everyone including Xiao)

“Kidding, kidding,” Venti sighs, “unless you want to,” he giggles.

“We just got engaged!” Xiao says exasperatedly and Heizou is sure Venti can feel how rapidly his
boyfriend’s heart is beating in his chest. From the way the lead guitarist’s face is now completely
red without any shame and from the way he’s looking at Venti like he’s crazy, the redhead can
assume this little joke was not part of the plan. At least not the one Xiao was aware of.

“I’m kidding, love, don’t you worry. I haven’t even begun planning the wedding because it still
makes my head spin thinking about it. And you’re supposed to help me so I’d never do any of it
without you,” he smiles, kissing Xiao’s hand that hangs over his shoulder. They all coo, even
Kunikuzushi which really shows just how happy they all are for their friends. Maybe one day
Heizou can make the same announcement.

“I’m happy for you two. Will it be a private wedding and kept in secret? Or will you two be
announcing your engagement and such as the day arrives?” Heizou asks because these are also big
questions they should be thinking about. He wonders how they’re even going to get permission
from their record label to come out and if they do, does that mean Heizou and Kazuha ever can?
Part of what makes them popular is the fact that they’re.. ‘available’ so that really complicates
things.

“They’ll cross that road when they get to it and we’ll be right there to help them,” Kazuha answers
instead, smiling at his friends and giving Heizou a reassuring pat to his thigh. Taking the hint,
Heizou asks no further questions that may upset the mood and instead decides to just listen for
now. “When did this happen?” The white haired man asks, resting his head back against Heizou’s
chest and making himself more comfortable.

“Two days ago,” Xiao replies, “after you guys had made up, I waited a day or two before setting
everything in motion. I took him on a little walk which he had no idea was anything other than just
one of our usual romantic outings. One thing led to another and.. I proposed,” he explains,
squeezing Venti’s hand reassuringly. His fiancé looks back and up at him, nothing else but a loving
smile and full hearted love filling his eyes is present on his features as he does so. Xiao mirrors his
expression, leaning down to kiss his future husband on the nose which makes Venti giggle.
“Hopefully this doesn’t offend you, but I’m kind of surprised. I expected Venti to be the one to
propose,” Kunikuzushi comments, folding his arms over his chest where he is still seated on
Heizou’s lap. They all look over to him and Heizou can see the way he swallows thickly, hoping he
didn’t say something wrong.

“I’m not going to lie, I thought the same,” Heizou laughs nervously and Kazuha nods along with
them. Looks like they all thought so and it wasn’t just one of them. Venti just seems more of the
type to be making big moves or decisions like that. Xiao seems more reserved and less confident or
straightforward about his feelings. Heizou assumed he would be too shy to do such a thing.

“No, most people get that wrong about my sweetheart,” Venti coos, bringing and hand up to squish
their heads together affectionately, “sure I may be the one who is more publicity open about doing
things together and such, but once where alone Xiao is just the same if not even more romantic.
He’s like a hidden gem that shines brightest in the dark,” Venti explains and both of the bandmates
and their manager nod. Huh, who would have thought. Looks like Xiao is getting shy about being
exposed to his friends like this, though, if the way he’s avoiding their gaze tells him anything.
“That being said, I think we should head out now and let you guys go do your thing. Have fun and
stay safe!” He says, leaning forward and giving Kazuha a hug, panting Heizou on the shoulder, and
tossing a smile Kunikuzushi’s way.

They all smile back at him before watching the two get up and stretch. Xiao grabs their things
from the bed, including Venti’s unfinished food before waving goodbye and bowing to his friends.
The pair then make their way out of the room with Venti humming a new tune. Guess this means
the start of their glove wearing era if they don’t want to be prematurely exposed to the public eye.
I’m sure none of the band members will mind covering for their friends, though, so it’s all right.

“Now that they are gone,” Kazuha says, turning his attention back to his lovers, “are you two ready
to start heading out?” he asks and the two of them nod. Kunikuzushi slides off Heizou’s lap and
off the bed, stretching just like Venti and Xiao before him before quickly shuffling through his
clothes and picking out something nice to wear. Heizou would say he’s dressing up more than
usual for this occasion as is Heizou, but Kunikuzushi always looks nice, so there isn’t a day that
goes by where he isn’t dressed up more than your average person. That just adds to his sex appeal,
though.

Heizou watches their boyfriend leave to go change in the bathroom before hopping off the bed
himself and getting changed as well. It doesn’t take him very long to pick out something to wear,
so he slips on his garments, grabs his essentials and tidies up a bit before looking over to Kazuha.
His movements seem a lot less agile than usual and as though he lacks energy. Heizou supposes he
understands why, though, and Kunikuzushi will find out soon enough. So, with gentle steps, the
redhead walks over and plants a kiss to Kazuha’s bare shoulder where one lone mole resides. The
action makes Kazuha pause in his movements as he stills. He is in the midst of changing his shirt
when Heizou wraps his arms around his middle and rests his face in the crook of his neck and that
seems to break his demeanor slightly.
The guitarist inhales sharply, shaking his wrist out to keep his emotions in check before exhaling
heavily and leaning his head back against Heizou. He knows this will be hard for him, so he’ll do
everything in his power to make sure Kazuha will be as all right as he can be for where they’re
going. Heizou doesn’t doubt that once Kunikuzushi knows, he will be doing the same. “You’ll be
okay,” he whispers against his boyfriend’s skin, “I’m right here, as is Kunikuzushi,” he finishes
and Kazuha nods, clearly trying to convince himself of the same. Eventually Heizou pulls back,
planting a kiss to Kazuha’s neck before pulling away completely and letting him get changed.

Once they’re all set and ready to go, they head for the door with Kazuha leading the way. Heizou
is already mentally preparing himself for all the emotions him and his partners are about to
experience. It will be difficult, but they’ll get through it, they always do.

———

The car ride there is.. quiet. None of them feel the need to speak for reasons obvious to those in the
know. This is a big step for Kazuha and it’s probably his final step to letting his lovers in
completely. Letting them meet who he was once deeply in love with, only to have it stolen away
from him is like allowing Heizou and Kunikuzushi to see a part of Kazuha that had been missing
and then found and repaired by them. Not replaced— no— because no one ever can replace what
Tomo was to Kazuha, but they can heal him and help him move on and become more than what
Tomo could have been had he not left Teyvat so soon.

In Heizou’s opinion, no one can ever replace a lost loved love. Losing a loved one to death is a lot
different from merely parting ways because the love fell through. When you lose a loved one the
love was never lost, it was ripped fright from you— it’s still there. That’s what makes it so hard to
lose a loved one rather than let go of someone you once loved. That’s why Heizou understands
how hard it’s been for Kazuha to move on from Tomo, especially because they were each other’s
firsts for everything and Kazuha thought he would be his only one.

Yes, Heizou will admit that he feels intimidated that he— not Kunikuzushi because he knows
Kunikuzushi could do it or perhaps he just lacks self confidence— may not be able to be more than
what Tomo once was and be able to heal Kazuha by being at his side. But, he won’t let that stop
him because just as Tomo does, Heizou loves Kazuha and will do anything for him. He’s willing to
wait for his boyfriend to fully heal and be there for him in his journey as he does so, again, right by
his side. Because for Kazuha, Heizou would become a cyclone, fighting to protect him and keep
him safe from bad thoughts that may ail him just as he would for Kunikuzushi.

The solemn mood carries them to a more rural area outside of the main hustle and bustle of
Inazuma City. The houses and buildings turn into trees and mountains with fields for various
different crops. Heizou remembers some of these roads, but he doesn’t know where their
destination is upon them. It seems Kuni seems to recognize some of these parts too as he gazes out
the window whereas Kazuha is sitting quietly, eyes closed and hands folded in his lap as if he’s
trying to keep his emotions in check and breathing under control. Heizou thinks that by now
Kunikuzushi has caught onto their destination and has thus made no effort to ask, which helps the
situation a lot.

By the time they arrive, Heizou is stepping out of the vehicle first followed by Kazuha and then
Kunikuzushi. Once they’re all out, they ask their driver to patiently wait for them because they
won’t be long before Kazuha leads the way. They are at the foot of a mountain, parked just at the
base of it with no path in sight as far as Heizou can tell. He doesn’t recall being in this area before
despite knowing the general area they’re in. But then Kazuha leads them off the trail and sweeps
aside some brush for them politely. Both Heizou and Kunikuzushi make their way under his arm
and Kazuha follows. What greets them on the other side solidifies the redheads assumption of their
destination.

They’ve reached Tomo’s grave.

Kazuha moves past them, footsteps light and quiet and face clear of any emotion. The light from
the sun streams through the open branches in the small clearing against the rock of the mountain. A
sword that seems to be hand crafted is stuck in the ground, a name engraved on its blade. Kazuha
kneels down, folding his legs underneath himself as Heizou and Kuni step forward ever so slightly,
not wanting to be disrespectful. And with a deep breath, Kazuha speaks, “Hello, Tomo, it’s been..
three.. no four years? Since I last saw you,” he takes a breath, his voice cracking at the end with
emotion, “I’m sorry it’s been so long, I tried to run away and escape the pain so I joined 4NEMO to
see if that would work. At first it was a good distraction, but every time we went on tour I’d think
of you and force myself not to visit. I’m sorry, I know I should have said ‘hi’ but—“ he rambles,
taking a deep breath as he lets his head fall. Heizou is by his side immediately, dropping down to
his knees and resting a hand against his back, another over the top of Kazuha’s on his thigh.
Kunikuzushi mirrors his movements.

“Take your time, Kazuha, I’m sure he understands,” Heizou murmurs, rubbing soothing circles into
his boyfriend’s back. He glances over at Kunikuzushi over Kazuha’s body and meets his eyes. He
looks distraught like he doesn’t know what to do, so Heizou gives him a reassuring smile and a
nod, tapping the hand he has rested over Kazuha’s back with his own. This seems to calm Kuni
down a bit and he nods, swallowing thickly as he looks back down at their boyfriend with concern
and worry.

Kazuha wipes his eyes, his usually pristine posture is lost as he slouches in his grief, tears soaking
the ground and his clothes. “Coming back to Inazuma and the thought of coming here again.. I
never imagined it would be this ha- hard ,” he explains and his boyfriends just let him vent, “After
I left I met some really cool friends, Xiao and Venti, Ms. Sucrose, and Ms. Jean. I met Heizou too.
They’re all really cool and they treat me like family just as we used to when we were together
because we expected to grow old together and be a family through marriage you know?” Kazuha
laughs bitterly— dryly— and it makes Heizou frown as his heart aches. If only he could do more
than just be here for him right now. “I’m doing better than I was when I was alone here. I found a
new family within 4NEMO and I even found new love,” Kazuha says, smiling as he sniffles.
Heizou squeezes Kazuha’s hand where it rests over his and the guitarist flips his hand over and
squeezes back. He then grabs Kunikuzushi’s hand and does the same, bringing them to the middle
of his lap so that he can rest his hands over both of theirs.

“This here is Shikanoin Heizou, I met him back when I first joined 4NEMO and I started to
develop a crush on him a year or so after joining,” he explains, his voice a little more happy. He
glances over at Heizou and the redhead gives him a small smile, leaning over to kiss his forehead
with encouragement. The kiss draws a small giggle from his lover which makes Heizou’s heart
swell. He hates to see him upset. “And this is Raiden Kunikuzushi. I met him months ago when he
became the new manager for 4NEMO. It was a complicated process on how we all became a thing,
but we got there,” he laughs and Kunikuzushi leans forehead and bumps his head against Kazuha’s
who does it back. When they do that they almost resemble cats, how cute.

“If I was never going to come here again, I needed my last visit to be you meeting them,” Kazuha
starts again, biting his bottom lip as new tears prick his vision, “I love them, Tomo, just as I loved
you I love them. You don’t need to worry for me anymore, I have them with me now and I’m
doing great. I kept our promise to move on and if love finds me, to engage it. It was hard and it was
a challenge and it hurt , but I did it. I’m okay now, I’ll be okay,” he says, almost as if he’s
convincing himself. Heizou rubs his back again, leaning his weight on him slightly to silently let
him know he’s here for him. A small smile spread across Kazuha’s lips, “yeah, I’ll be okay,” he
concludes, closing his eyes. And with that he takes a deep breath in and exhales heavily before
reopening his eyes and standing.

Heizou and Kunikuzushi stand as well and watch as Kazuha keeps his feet together and presses his
palms against each other as he bows his head. Once their boyfriend has gotten his bow and respects
over with, Kunikuzushi and Heizou follow suit, showing their respects to Kazuha’s lost loved one.
We’ll take good care of him. He’s in good hands, I promise. Heizou tells Tomo inside his head and
it’s almost as if he can hear a small and faint laugh from everywhere around him before it
disappears immediately. It doesn’t scare him, though, in fact, it seemed.. comforting and
encouraging. He wonders what that was or rather— who it was.

When they turn around, Kazuha is patiently waiting for them, smiling softly with red puffy eyes.
Heizou can’t help but crease his eyebrows with worry as he moves forward and wraps an arm
around him, Kunikuzushi going on the other side and doing the same. This time, Heizou holds the
brush out of the way for them as they exit the area and head back to their driver who is playing a
game on his phone. They gently knock on the window to let him know they’re here before filing
into the vehicle and heading back to the hotel.

The drive back is quiet again, but this time the air doesn’t feel suffocating, it feels light and airy
almost as if it’s been cleansed. Kazuha is in the middle again as Heizou and Kunikuzushi rest their
heads on either of his shoulders. Kazuha brings their hands back into his lap once more as he leans
his head against Heizou’s, rubbing his thumb against Kuni’s hand in his.
Yeah, they’re okay. They’ll be okay.

———

“Did you take us there because you know we leave tomorrow?” Kunikuzushi asks Kazuha as they
walk down one of the semi-bustling streets. They opted to hop out of the cab early and walk the
rest of the way back to the hotel so they can all clear their heads. Hopefully they won’t get stopped
by any more fans. They were stopped thrice now and each time one of them had concerns over
Kazuha’s tired appearance. It would make the guitarist tense, but Kunikuzushi would be standing
behind him with a subtle hand on his back for reassurance. Heizou would then be the one to speak
up and make up a lie to a fan— a new one each time so if they go post about this online, no
information will be true or consistent.

He nods, rubbing at his eye before he yawns. “I knew it would be my last opportunity to do this
because if we come back to Inazuma on tour, our next rotation would take us to Watatsumi, not
Narukami,” Kazuha explains, walking in step with his lovers, “I didn’t want to leave without
making sure I’m open and able to give you guys all of me. Meeting him was the last step,” he says,
voice watery. Heizou and Kuni immediately rest their hands on his back, rubbing up and down and
in circles to calm their partner as they walk. Ever since seeing Tomo, Kazuha has been on and off
crying. Seems that he’s too deep in his head right now which is why they decided to take a walk.

“I’m glad you took us. It was nice to meet Tomo and be able to personally reassure him that you’re
in good hands,” Heizou smiles and he sees the faintest of smiles appear on Kazuha’s lips as well.
The redhead then looks around quickly, trying to spot any paparazzi, cameras, or lingering fans
before leaning over and planting a soft kiss to Kazuha’s temple. “We’ll take care of you,” he smiles
and Kazuha immediately pulls back, pausing in his step to look around frantically with his
fingertips pressed to his temple. This makes Heizou giggle and Kazuha turns to him with a
bewildered expression. Seems his plan to distract him worked. “Don’t worry I made sure no one
was looking. To be honest, I’d have done it even if they were,” he whistles, avoiding
Kunikuzushi’s manager death glare. That glare is telling him he, as their manager, would kill him if
he tried that little stunt again.

Kazuha just shakes his head, a little dopey smile appearing on his face as he shoves Heizou with
his body before beginning to walk again. This makes Heizou giggle even more and Kunikuzushi
sigh with a smile on his face. Then as they walk, a voice calls out to them, a familiar one that
makes Heizou pause and in turn, his partners as well. “Heizou! Come here you dry muffin top!”
Kuki yells, running straight for them. Gasp , ouch, such hurtful words said by his best friend.
Kunikuzushi and Kazuha then back up and Heizou screams in his mind of their betrayal as he
prepares himself.
“Uh oh,” is all he says before being put in a headlock by Kuki Shinobu and having his hair all
messed up by her fist. “Ahh! Okay okay! I get it! Ah, ow! Shinobu!” Heizou whines, trying to pry
her arms off of him. She keeps rubbing her knuckles against his scalp and it hurts! His precious
hair is getting tussled in the process, even if it always looked like wind blew through his hair she
doesn’t have to increase its wildness!

“You little shit, trying to leave Inazuma without spending a little more time with your best friend,
huh? I’m gonna throw you in the Arataki Battle Pit and we’ll see what happens next,” Shinobu
says, tripping Heizou and tossing his whole body over her shoulder. He screams, clutching onto her
as he’s dragged off by Kuki and his boyfriends do nothing about it, they just stand there laughing
as they watch him get dragged away. “Stop squirming, you're hurting my shoulder,” she says and
to add emphasis she spanks him! In public! His face goes completely red and he stares back at his
lovers with complete horror as they begin laughing hysterically.

“HELP ME!!” He yells back to them, completely distraught and they just wave! They just WAVE.
This is the betrayal of the century as he’s dragged back to who knows where by this strong ass
woman on the streets. “If you drop me so help me I will shave your eyebrows in the middle of the
night,” Heizou threatens and so Kuki Shinobu immediately drops him. He screams again, this time
bracing himself before he hits the ground and standing up straight with a petrified expression. His
hair is now sticking up wildly and his clothes are all messed up, not to mention he can still feel the
ghost of her hand on his ass. She hits hard , man.

Kuki then crosses her arms and shifts her weight to one side as she stares at him with a frown.
Heizou stares back, placing his hands on his hips and they just stare back and forth at each other.
Then.. tears prick Kuki’s vision and she taps her foot, immediately looking away and wiping her
eyes when Heizou’s face falls and he makes a move for her. “Shinobu..,” he says, taking a step
forward in an attempt to get a better look at her, but she holds out a hand to stop him. Kuki doesn’t
cry very often, not as much as she used to when they were kids, so seeing her cry— in public no
less— is a surprise to him. “I promise I didn’t actually plan to leave Inazuma without saying
‘goodbye’. I would never do that,” he speaks softly, grasping Kuki’s extended hand and placing it
in between his own.

She sniffles, wiping her eyes before looking up at the sky and turning back to him. She bites her
bottom lip before closing the distance between them and thumping her forehead right against his
chest. The action makes Heizou let out a breath of a laugh as he wraps his arms around her
shoulders and sways them where they stand. “You’re an asshole, you made me cry,” she mumbles,
weakly punching Heizou’s stomach.

“So I’ve been told,” Heizou laughs, recalling an event where someone else had told him something
similar. “Tell you what, since those guys betrayed me and let me be stolen, why don’t you and I go
find something to do around this joint. Just the two of us, like old times,” he says, smiling and Kuki
nods against his chest. She doesn’t remove herself from him immediately and it makes Heizou’s
heart soft as he squeezes her very tightly one last time, making her groan in annoyance. He’s had
two too many people cry on his watch today and he will have it no longer!
 “Yeah, okay, let’s do that,” Kuki says once her feet are back on the ground. She steps back from
Heizou and fixes her clothing before looking up at her best friend with a raised eyebrow. Heizou
doesn’t say a word, all he does is place his hands on his hips and smile.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you so much for reading and commenting. Good luck on all your pulls in 3.4
and I’ll see you in two weeks!

Mika.

End Notes

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new fic! I’ll see you next week,

Mika.

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