Chapter Text
When Shidou plopped down on the couch next to Sae, he was more than a little drunk. Shidou was met with a hmph and little protest as he snuggled into Sae.
“Demon.” Sae acknowledged him.
“Love.” Shidou beamed.
Sae raised an eyebrow—at him or the nickname, he wasn’t sure—but Shidou just laid his head in his lap, staring up at the red-headed beauty.
Sae took a swig of his beer. “What?” He tried to sound disinterested.
Shidou was used to this. It was a game. Like clockwork. Shidou would throw himself at Sae, Sae would feign disinterest, and by the end of the night, Shidou would have him pinned to the mattress.
But maybe— just maybe —tonight would be different.
“I like you so much, Itoshi Sae.” If he were a bystander, Shidou might describe himself as sounding lovestruck.
Sae scoffed.
Shidou continued. “I like you more than anyone in the world has ever liked anybody else. I—”
“Relax.” Sae cut him off before averting his gaze to the wall.
Shidou tried to follow it—because really ? A wall ? When he was right in Sae’s lap? The wall wasn’t even a nice color. It was beige. A landlord special.
“Well?” Shidou sloppily lifted a hand to Sae’s chin, trying to guide his gaze back down. He missed and just clocked Sae across the face.
Shidou laughed out a quick, “Fuck.”
Sae swatted his hand away.
“Well, what?”
“Well… I like you, Sae. What do you have to say to that?”
Shidou nuzzled into the same hand that had just swatted him.
Sae sighed. “I say… you should sober up.” Then, with no ceremony, he flicked Shidou’s face away.
Shidou hummed. Well, maybe tonight wouldn’t be different after all. But a guy could hope.
And a guy could cope.
“Aye aye, captain.” He gave a sloppy salute—or his best attempt at one, considering he was horizontal and very drunk—before pushing himself upright.
“Do you want me to bring you water too?”
Sae shrugged.
“You got it.”
Shidou stood up and headed toward the kitchen, not before throwing Sae a wink.
An empty kitchen at a house party was like an empty subway car—there was always a reason people were staying away.
And sure enough, the reason was slumped over the counter: a human lump that was once Mikage Reo.
Shidou ignored him, scanning the kitchen for cups. No regular-sized ones left—just tiny plastic shot cups. He grabbed one and started ripping back shots of water, laughing at the absurdity of it all.
Reo stirred slightly, lifting his head from his arms just enough to recognize the intruder. Upon seeing it was Shidou, he stayed quiet.
Shidou paused his solo water shot game and scanned the bar. He found a bottle with about one shot left, poured it into a glass, then rinsed the bottle and started filling it with water.
As he waited, he made eye contact with Reo.
“Purple Bun! You look like shit!”
Reo didn’t humor him with a response. Just sniffled.
“Want some water?” Shidou asked.
“I’m only drinking liquor.”
“Bad idea! Here’s a shot.”
Shidou took the last shot from the bottle and slid it toward Reo. Reo looked at it like it had personally offended him, but eventually sat up and knocked it back.
“What’s got you down?”
Reo exhaled through his nose. “What the fuck are you doing?” He motioned at the empty bottle of Pink Whitney currently being filled under the tap.
Shidou shrugged. “Love of my life wants water. There are no cups left.”
Reo scoffed. “Must be nice.”
“He’d probably prefer a cup, actually.”
Reo scowled at him.
“So what’s wrong?”
“Boy drama.” That was all Reo mustered.
Shidou hummed. “Well, he’s a stupid fuck, and you deserve better.”
“You don’t even know who it is.”
“I can probably guess. But also, we have the same friend group—whoever it is, you can do better, Reo.”
“I don’t want better. I want him .”
Shidou sighed. “Maybe consider some water.”
He slid a shot glass of water toward Reo.
Reo eyed it. “This isn’t gonna do anything.”
“Then there’s no harm, right?”
A beat. Then, “Sure.” Reo took the shot of water.
Shidou clapped Reo on the back and went to leave the kitchen, but upon setting his sights on Sae and the couch they had occupied just minutes prior, he stopped, hovering in the doorway.
His seat was taken. Blonde hair, blue tips, insufferable tattoo on display—Michael Kaiser. Kaiser was whispering something to Sae, who looked characteristically cold, but Michael’s hand was placed on Sae’s hip, and Sae wasn’t thrashing out of his touch.
He watched as Sae’s eyes met Kaiser’s, their faces too close for anything friendly—Kaiser’s gaze predatory, like he was about to eat Sae.
And then, Sae nodded .
Kaiser’s grin split across his entire face as he got up, yanking Sae with him.
Shidou watched. Watched from the doorframe as Sae—his Sae—got dragged upstairs. He felt his heart stutter. He felt his world erupt. It was as if his insides exploded—and for the first time, the explosion was not welcome.
He was frozen, stuck in place, staring at the stairway Sae had disappeared to, as if willing him to come back down. Willing the image he saw before him to be some sick apparition, so that when his gaze returned to the couch, Sae would be there, disinterested, on his phone, waiting for his demon to come back with water.
But when his eyes fell back on the place where he had sat with Sae just minutes earlier, it was empty.
“What the fuck.”
Shidou took a deep breath. He wasn’t the jealous type. He’d never been the jealous type. But since when was Sae seeing other people? Sure, maybe he didn’t want to label what they had, but they had something.
He stuttered in his movement, suddenly feeling eyes on him. Looking across the room, he made quick eye contact with a wide-eyed Itoshi Rin. Normally, he’d jump at any chance to rag on the younger Itoshi, but this time, he quickly averted his gaze—not in the mood.
He turned back into the kitchen, took the bottle of water in his hand, and hurled it across the room, watching as it shattered against the wall, shards raining onto the floor. He relished the fearful silence that followed.
They had once joked that his crush had softened him. But this—this would serve as a reminder. Even if broken, the shards left of him would cut deep to anyone who dared to poke at him.
His breath heaved—before another bottle met its demise against the kitchen wall. He turned to see the culprit and:
“Fuck yeah.” Uncertain, yet filled with resolve: Mikage Reo.
Shidou nodded.
“Fuck. Yeah.”
“Fuck this.”
“Fuck Sae.”
“Fuck love.” Reo added.
“Fuck men.” Shidou finished.
“I’m trying,” Reo muttered, exasperated, before dissolving into a flurry of laughter that, to Shidou’s surprise, he found himself falling into as well.
“Man, tonight blows.” Shidou spoke.
Reo poured two shots, sliding one to Shidou.
They both took one.
“So, what did Nagi do?”
“What makes you think it was Nagi?”
Shidou gave him an incredulous look before swigging from the bottle.
“He went on a date,” Reo admitted.
“With who?”
“Isagi.” Reo motioned for the bottle back.
Shidou held onto it. “Does Isagi know it was a date?”
“Yeah, that’s how dates work.” Reo ripped the bottle from Shidou’s hands, and Shidou put his palms up in defense.
“Asshole,” Reo muttered, but there was no real bite.
“I don’t see it working out,” Shidou hummed.
“Thanks. It didn’t.”
“Already? What are you bummed about, then?”
“This date… this date happened months ago. I heard nothing about it. I’m his best friend. I’ve been there for everything. Hell, Shidou, I’ve been in l—“ Reo cut himself off. “I didn’t even know if he liked guys. I made myself so obvious. I mean, everyone knew. Just now, you knew it was about Nagi…”
“The past is in the pas—”
“Shut up.” Reo groaned. “I don’t care that ‘the past is in the past,’ that it didn’t work out. Why didn’t he ask me? Why does no one ever ask me?”
“You want someone to ask you?”
“I want him to ask me. He’s all I’ve ever wanted. Why wasn’t it me?”
Reo broke down into a sob. “It’s never me.”
It was quiet for a second before Shidou spoke.
“I understand. Sae and Kaiser are fucking right now.”
If tears could be sucked up and replaced with shock, that’s what Reo would have looked like.
“Huh?”
“Yup.” Shidou held out his hand for the bottle.
“I thought you guys were together.”
“I thought so too.” Shidou laughed—humorless. “We didn’t have a label.”
“Why not?”
“I asked. Hell, I was asking him not even fifteen minutes ago.” Shidou tapped his nails against the bottle.
“Fuck these fucking introverts, man.”
Shidou couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“I’m serious! Who do they think they are? Neither of them has enough personality to be acting like this. I get it, they’re both, like, hot as fuck, but—”
“One of them is hot as fuck,” Shidou corrected.
“Nagi is mine,” Reo practically hissed.
Shidou put his hands up in defense. “You can have him, bro. Obviously, I meant Sae.”
“Nagi is hot,” Reo whined in defense.
“Sure. In, like, a Slenderman… Ghost of Christmas Past way?”
“Is he really that bad? Chigiri tells me all the time I need to ‘stand up’ or whatever, but he has to say that because he’s my best friend.”
“Well, no. He’s just being honest.”
Reo sighed, contemplative silence settling between them.
“I wish there was a way to show Nagi that I’m not always going to be around for him. Like, right now, he’s not worried. He thinks I’ll be at his beck and call whenever. Hell, he thinks he can go on dates, and it won’t matter because I’ll be waiting for him when he gets back.”
“Let me know if you find it. Wouldn’t hurt to show Sae that I have other options if he won’t commit.”
Reo motioned for the bottle back, took a swig, then sighed deeply.
“But I want Sae,” Shidou admitted—words brittle, out of character.
“Maybe we should date,” Reo said, the thought striking him mid-breath.
Shidou cocked his head.
“Not actually, but let them think we’re dating. Or that there’s something going on. Maybe then they’ll realize that if they want us, they need to put in effort.”
Shidou smirked. “I’ll bite. What does this fake dating look like?”
“We can go out there and just, like, flirt or whatever until someone notices.”
“Notices what?”
“Us flirting?”
“Yeah, so, seeing as everyone out there knows about our love lives, we’re not fooling anyone with a little flirt.”
“Then let’s go out there and make out.”
“…What?”
“I don’t know. Any better ideas?”
Shidou was really at a loss for words.
Luckily, he didn’t need to find them.
Because Bachira was at the doorframe.
“If you two are done having emo meltdowns, we’re going upstairs to play Truth or Dare.” And with that, he was gone.
“That’s it. Truth or Dare always gets sexy. We’ll do some crazy shit there.”
“Okay… I like your thinking, Mikage.”
“Let’s do shots. I need more confidence for this.”
“Okay, we can do a shot, but I need you to be a human and not a crying heap of Tinky Winky.”
“Sure.”
And so, the two did their shots and made their way upstairs.
The circle was already forming—Chigiri, Bachira, Isagi, Rin, Aiku, and Sendou sat around, while Nagi, Karasu, and Hiyori were finishing up a game of Mario Kart . Hiyori secured a win just as Reo and Shidou arrived and took their seats.
Reo sat between Shidou and Chigiri, while Nagi made a face from afar before settling down between Isagi and Hiyori.
“This everyone?” Bachira looked up, and after no one mentioned any other players, he set the bottle in the middle.
Giving it a spin, it landed first on Sendou.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Have you slept with anyone in the circle?” Bachira asked immediately.
Sendou paused. “I drink if I don’t want to answer?”
“That’s a yes!” Karasu cheered.
“I wonder who it could be!” Shidou sang, locking eyes with Oliver Aiku.
Sendou turned bright red.
“We need an answer!” Bachira grinned diabolically.
“Fine. Yes.”
The whole circle erupted into cheers.
Sendou took the bottle and spun it. The next victim: Reo.
“Uhh… do you like anyone?”
Oliver laughed before mimicking, “‘Do you like anyone?’ What is this, recess?”
“Shut up, I don’t know him like that,” Sendou muttered.
Rin cut in, irritated, “He didn’t even pick truth or dare yet.” But he was ignored.
“You didn’t see him having mind-sex on the field?” Karasu smirked.
“Okay, okay! Enough. Yeah, I like someone,” Reo admitted.
“Who?” Sendou pressed. Nagi, not-so-secretly interested, shifted slightly.
“I answered my truth! Next!” Reo spun the bottle, moving things along.
The bottle landed on Bachira.
“Dare,” Bachira said, eyes shining.
“Give someone a strip tease.”
Whistles sounded from around the circle as Bachira almost too readily pulled up music, ripped off his shirt, and used it as a lasso before reeling in his victim. He chose Aiku, who humored it far too much. After about a minute, the group's laughter turned into exasperated groans as they begged Bachira to knock it off.
Finally, they succeeded, and the game continued.
Bachira spun the bottle.
It landed on Rin.
“Ah, my favorite monster,” Bachira said, rubbing his hands together mischievously. “Drunk Rin.”
“Truth.” Rin leaned back on his elbows, sipping from his cup.
“Tell us a hot take you have about someone at the party.”
Rin looked like he gave it a second of thought before saying, “I don’t care that Kaiser’s dad hit him.”
Shidou exhaled a laugh through his nose. The faces around the room were aghast.
Bachira bit his knuckle, barely holding in his giggle, then linked arms with Rin.
“See? He just says shit like that! It’s amazing.” Bachira collapsed onto the floor in a pile of laughter.
Everyone else remained stunned.
Rin rolled his eyes. “I know you wanna say something,” he said, turning to Isagi.
“Uh… yeah… just… what ?”
“Okay, yeah, like, it sucks, but he brings it up all the time. There’s no reason I should know about it. He told me mid-game.”
Shidou was biting his hand.
“Can’t believe Rin-Rin is my favorite Itoshi right now,” he muttered.
This earned head whips from Aiku and Sendou, who couldn’t help but be curious about what that meant.
Rin spun the bottle again.
It landed on Reo again.
“Truth or dare,” Rin said dryly, shooting a pointed glare at Sendou. “Because I actually know how to play this game.”
“Dare.”
“Make out with the hottest guy here.” Bachira spoke, stealing Rin’s dare.
A chorus of oohs erupted as eyes darted between Nagi and Reo.
Reo smirked. “Sure.”
Then, without hesitation, he turned to Shidou, grabbed his chin between his thumb and index finger, and pulled him in for a kiss.
“Uh…” The only audible response came from Chigiri.
Reo kissed Shidou with confidence—the type of confidence that came with doing something knowing it didn’t matter. Shidou returned the kiss with a fervor Reo had never experienced before. So this is what people mean by passionate, he thought distantly .
The kiss deepened.
Finally, Chigiri broke the silence.
“Kay, I think you guys did it.”
When Shidou broke away from Reo and briefly glanced around the circle, Rin was giving him a look of distaste. Shidou basked in that look—not because the news would get back to Sae, but because the look was so similar to the face he wanted to see right now.
“Wanna move this to a room?” Shidou whispered in Reo’s ear.
Reo choked. “Uh, yeah, sure.”
He scrambled to his feet and helped Shidou up, coughing—trying, and failing, to be any type of nonchalant.
“We’re gonna go to the master bedroom. Do with that as you will,” Reo announced before dramatically turning on his heel and taking off towards a room.
Shidou’s head dropped as he tried to stifle his laughter at Reo’s very believable and suave announcement. He glanced at Nagi, who looked after Reo, horrified. Upon making eye contact with Shidou, Shidou winked and went to turn around.
“Hey.”
It was Rin. Shidou stopped, barely glancing over his shoulder.
“What?”
“Is Sae your ride?”
“Not anymore.”
“Okay.”
And so, Shidou went after Reo, closing the door behind them.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god—did he see?”
“He saw.” Shidou answered.
“What did he look like?”
“How would I know?”
“You were supposed to be looking!” Reo groaned.
“No, I wasn’t!”
“Well, why would I look?”
“Neither of us were supposed to look. We’d be psychopaths making out while staring at Nagi.”
Reo pouted. “Fine. What do you think he looked like?”
Shidou sighed. “If I were to guess, I bet he went from bored to slightly raising his eyebrows—which might as well be a full telenovela gasp in Nagi.”
This seemingly appeased Reo.
“What now?”
“I don’t know, we hang out?” Shidou suddenly decided to take in his surroundings. “Whose room are we in?”
“Kunigami’s,” Reo answered immediately before suddenly realizing something and running to the closet. “I can finally get my sweater back… if it still exists.”
“Huh?”
“Chigiri borrowed my sweater months ago. My favorite sweater. I’ve been asking, and he keeps saying he left it at Kunigami’s and will get it when he remembers. I don’t believe he has it. I think he lost it and is lying to me.”
Shidou watched in a dumbfounded kind of way as Reo tore through Kunigami’s closet.
“Purple bun?”
“What?”
“What color is it?”
“Purple.”
“I think it’s on top of that shelf.”
Reo looked up and grabbed the purple ball, unfurling it.
“Fuck yeah!” He turned to Shidou. “How’d you know?”
“You love your purple, and it was the only thing in his closet that stuck out.”
Reo nodded and pulled on the sweater.
“I feel like we should be doing something.” Reo sat down on the edge of the bed while Shidou spun in the desk chair.
“What? Don’t tell me you’re tryna kiss me without an audience, bun bun?” Shidou smirked at him.
“We don’t have to do that. But something… to seem like we’re not just sitting in here, taking guesses at what Nagi and Sae look like right now.”
The mention of what Sae might look like at that moment sobered Shidou. He had an idea of what Sae could look like, but that was a view that was supposed to be solely his. He was supposed to be seeing that firsthand—not imagining it. And certainly not imagining it with Sae under Kaiser, of all people.
“Do you think he cares?”
“No.” Shidou’s answer was immediate, but while Reo was asking about Nagi, Shidou was responding with Sae in his mind.
Reo was on his feet before Shidou even noticed him move. Then, he stood in front of Shidou, looking down at him with a face that was more mischievous than annoyed. He grabbed Shidou’s arm, stealing his attention from his own thoughts.
“Then let’s make them care.”
Reo pulled Shidou up and towards Kunigami’s bed.
Shidou’s eyes widened. Was Reo trying to fuck him? Shidou had to think quickly. Did he want to fuck Reo? Not really. He wanted Sae. But if Sae was going to fuck Kaiser, of all people, why couldn’t Shidou do the same with Reo? Was it because he wasn’t attracted to Reo? No—Reo was inarguably beautiful. Was it because of loyalty to Nagi? Absolutely not.
Was it because he was in love with Sae and the thought of being with anyone else made him feel somewhat sick?
That felt closer to the truth.
But it was far from what Shidou wanted, so he decided that the reason would be that he did not want to take advantage of an otherwise vulnerable situation.
“I don’t think we should.”
“What? Are you getting cold feet?”
“Kinda.”
“But… come on, you said it yourself—he doesn’t care.”
“He doesn’t care, but I do, unfortunately. I can’t fuck you right now.”
“Woah, what?” Reo dropped his hand, retracting it.
“I don’t think it’s right.”
“Shidou, look me in the eye. I was not, under any circumstance, asking you to have sex with me.”
“Uh…”
“I’m asking you to pretend to have sex with me.”
“Is this like… a church workaround for dry humping?”
“No… Have you ever seen Easy A ? Let’s just make sounds and say crazy shit.”
That… made a whole lot more sense.
“Oh.” Without missing a beat: “Fuck, Reo… you’re so good!” Shidou put on his best acting.
Reo looked horror-stricken, his face turning bright red.
Reo whispered, “What the fuck was that?”
“What do you mean, ‘what the fuck was that’? You just said, ‘Let’s Easy A it.’”
“Okay, but shouldn’t we build up to it?”
“Oh, I’m sorry—I didn’t realize you were writing a scene. Oh, great porn director, Mikage Reo. Did you order a pizza and forget the tip money?”
“Fine.” Reo braced himself before letting out the most whorish whine Shidou had ever heard in his life—and would probably ever hear.
Shidou couldn’t open his mouth fast enough to let the laugh out, which resulted in him blowing loud air as he covered his mouth, trying to conceal it.
“Where did that come from?” he snickered at Reo.
“Shut up. Say something.”
“I can’t… I can’t—I’m gonna laugh.” Shidou was burying his head in his hands.
“Stop it.” Reo was swatting him. “You’re so big,” he yelled to fill the silence.
Shidou calmed down and took a breath. “Fuck, you’re so tight, Reo.”
Reo whispered at him, “Can I call you by your first name?”
Shidou, still holding back snickers, nodded.
“I’m gonna… I’m gonna put it in you now… Ryusei.”
If Shidou had a hard time holding back his laughter before, now was an entirely different story. He fell off the bed, clutching his stomach.
“What do you mean?” he hissed at Reo in utter delight.
“What?”
“You’re gonna put it in me ? What were we doing before?”
“Huh?”
“Reo.” Shidou was sweating from how hard he was shaking. “We were already having sex. I said you were tight.”
“Why would I be the bottom?”
“Why wouldn’t you be the bottom?”
“There is no way Sae is a bottom!”
“Reo, there is no way in hell you have never heard of a power bottom. If you haven’t, look it up—because that’s your future with Sloth Boy.”
“Shut up.” Reo seemed to consider this for a second. “Sae really bottoms?”
Shidou went to nod before they were interrupted by a very loud knock.
Reo jumped up to go answer the door.
“Reo, wait—”
He did not wait. He swung the door open to meet Kunigami and Chigiri, both slightly wide-eyed. Kunigami looked mad.
“Hello, boys. Can I help you?” Reo drawled out.
“Yeah, get the fuck out of my room. Why would you come in here for that ?”
“ That ? Don’t be so prudish, Kunigami. It’s a bed. At a party. I think you… you know the rest. Right, Shidou?”
Shidou was biting his tongue, feeling a giggle fit brewing, but knew he had to answer.
“Uh-huh. We, um… we had sex.”
Reo nodded while Chigiri looked between the two of them, mouth agape. Finally, Kunigami met Chigiri’s eyes, and Chigiri just shrugged.
“If it’s any consolation, Reo is somehow wearing more clothes than when he went in.”
That absolutely did it. The floodgates were open, and Shidou’s laughter spilled out.
Reo smacked him, but it didn’t stop.
“You also answered the door way too quickly,” Chigiri added.
Kunigami rolled his eyes, but his relief was apparent. “Get out.”
“Wait. First,” Chigiri entered the room with Kunigami in tow and closed the door. “What are you doing?”
“We… We were planning to get… saucy .” Reo cringed, immediately looking at Shidou. “Stop fucking laughing.”
“No, seriously, what’s going on?”
Reo looked at Shidou for support.
“We couldn’t figure out who should bottom, so it took a while?”
Chigiri and Kunigami both deadpanned at Reo.
“What? You guys too? What about me says bottom?”
“First off, it’s not an insult,” Chigiri defended. “Bottoms make the world go round, thank you very much. But, I don’t know. I guess, just… based on your dynamic with romantic partners, it seems like you’d be more into that. But that’s stereotyping!”
“What romantic partners?”
Chigiri gave a sideways, awkward glance at Shidou.
“I don’t care about his feelings,” Kunigami offered, brushing off Shidou’s presence. “Obviously, you like Nagi.”
“Nagi?” Reo seemed deep in thought. “Oh, the white-haired guy? I—”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, Reo.” Chigiri cut him off immediately. “Your drunk ass cannot lie for shit.”
“What?” Reo spoke defensively.
“‘Who’s Nagi?’” Chigiri mimicked.
“Okay, fine, whatever. Shidou and I will discuss the intricacies of our… intimacy and find shelter somewhere else.”
“Okay, using big words isn’t convincing anyone you’re any less drunk. What’s going on?”
“Isn’t he, like… one of your best friends?” Shidou asked Reo, nodding toward Chigiri.
“Outside of Nagi? Yeah?”
“Okay, so we’re fake hooking up to piss off Nagi and Sae. Happy?”
Chigiri’s eyebrows raised, and Kunigami sucked in a breath.
They looked between the two of them—mostly at the guilty-looking Reo, who was averting their gazes.
“Why?” Chigiri finally mustered.
“Because I’m sick of it! I’m sick of how he always just thinks I’ll be there for him. I hate that I’m never his first option. You know he went on a date with Isagi? Fucking Isagi. Why? Why is it that I can pour everything into him, only for him to choose someone else? What does Isagi have that I don’t?!”
"Knock, knock!" The door opened up, revealing none other than Isagi Yoichi. "Did someone say my name?" He beamed, evidently not reading the room.
"Go fuck yourself!" Reo turned around and slumped onto Kunigami’s bed.
Isagi was wide eyed and confused. "Uh… sorry? Um, Shidou, your boyfriend is looking for you."
"I’m right fucking here!" Reo snapped, holding up their façade, but it was evident that tears had pooled over.
"Uh…" Isagi looked afraid, awkwardly glancing at Shidou. Reo buried his face in his hands. Isagi took this as his chance to whisper, "Sae is looking for you."
"Oh? Is he done fucking Kaiser then? I’m good."
Isagi’s eyebrows raised before a flicker of hurt crossed his face. "Oh." That was all he offered before walking out.
"It’s what you fucking deserve, boyfriend-stealer," Reo muttered after Isagi left the room.
Chigiri cut in. "Hey, you guys haven’t dated. He didn’t steal anyone. Don’t take it out on Isagi."
"But everyone knew, right?" Reo lifted his head and spoke to Chigiri with disdain. "Everyone always says they know, and that it’s no secret, and that I’m so embarrassing. But the second I point fingers, you all take his side. Figure it out."
Reo got up, brushing past them and leaving the room altogether.
Chigiri groaned. Kunigami went to his side. "Don’t worry, he’s just drunk."
"He’s kind of right."
Both Chigiri and Kunigami looked up at Shidou’s words.
"Do I think Isagi did anything wrong in general? No, they weren’t dating. But he’s a shitty friend to Reo."
"Takes two to tango," Kunigami offered. "Why is Nagi innocent?"
"I didn’t say he was. I’m just saying… I think Reo is justified."
"This whole taking sides thing… exactly what we didn’t want," Chigiri muttered before laying his head on Kunigami’s shoulder.
"Should we go after him?" Kunigami nudged Chigiri.
"Don’t worry, I got it," Shidou offered, leaving the others to themselves.
Shidou walked out the door, taking in his surroundings. The circle from earlier had cleared up, with some random stragglers mulling about.
"Hey, man."
Shidou turned around.
"You know Sae, right?"
Shidou’s jaw clenched. Michael fucking Kaiser.
"Fuck off."
"He’s looking for his brother, so if you see him, tell him."
Shidou wanted to punch the guy. But if he was going to hold up this fake dating routine with Reo, he had to be unbothered—and not punch the guy for merely mentioning Sae around him.
"Oh, speaking of! Isagi was looking for you."
"Yo-ichi," Kaiser dragged out his name playfully, smiling. "Thanks. Where’d he go?"
"Hm. Well, I told him he could find you fucking Sae. So, if he has any self-respect—home." Shidou saluted him and walked off, not before hearing—
"Fucking not worth it."
Shidou’s head whipped around.
"Excuse me?"
"Fuck off."
"What was ‘fucking not worth it’ ?"
"Not your business."
Kaiser turned to walk away, but Shidou caught his shoulder, ripping him back around and slamming him against the wall.
"What wasn’t worth it?"
Kaiser laughed. He laughed . And then spat in Shidou’s face.
He was fucking dead, was the last thing Shidou thought before he was on top of Kaiser, throwing the first punch.
"Don’t fucking talk about Sae, piece of shit."
Kaiser laughed, returning blows, catching Shidou’s face but unable to flip their positions.
"Don’t touch him ever again."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Shidou heard voices. People were trying to pull him off.
"Relax. Itoshi Sae is too inexperienced." Kaiser wiped blood from his face. "Quite frankly, a boring lay."
Shidou ripped away from the hands pulling him back to give Kaiser an even larger beating. Finally, they successfully separated the two.
A gremlin-esque laugh sounded from the side, followed by—
"Careful, roach. He might get confused and call you daddy ."
Bachira and Rin had officially arrived on the scene.
"Shut the fuck up, Rin." Isagi spoke.
There was nothing quite grounding like Itoshi Rin making the funniest fucking joke Shidou had heard all night. He wasn’t sure where Rin’s distaste for Kaiser came from, but he really needed to start giving him more credit.
The source of anger was now no other than Isagi Yoichi. "It’s not funny, and there’s a reason why no one sticks around you."
Rin scowled at Isagi.
"That’s not fair. It’s not true, either," Bachira said from beside Rin.
"Yeah? Where’s his brother then?"
"Ask Kaiser. He fucked him," Shidou offered—strangely in tandem with Rin in that moment.
Isagi tsked. He held out a hand to help Kaiser up, not looking at him in the process. "Let’s go."
Before leaving fully, Isagi stopped by Rin and Bachira.
"I didn’t mean it. Tonight just blows. Sorry."
Rin walked off, not saying anything. Bachira put a hand on Isagi’s shoulder, as if in forgiveness on Rin’s behalf.
Shidou wondered just who the hell Bachira thought he was to ever be able to grant such an anomaly on behalf of an Itoshi.
Wordlessly, he followed Rin, who disappeared into a room.
Shidou looked at his hands, bloodied from the altercation.
“Fuck.”
“Hey.” A voice appeared behind him. Shidou was really sick of everyone right about now. The voice belonged to Nagi Seishiro.
Shidou nodded, not offering any more acknowledgement.
“Where’s Reo?”
“I’m looking for him,” Shidou said before taking off toward the stairs.
“Um. What did you guys do?” Nagi asked, quite awkwardly.
“You guys are close. Ask him. Friends tell each other everything, right?” Shidou taunted, walking off.
Shidou stepped out into the nighttime air. There was no sign of Reo in any common area of the house. And, quite frankly, even if Reo didn’t need to separate himself from that house, the people, and all the bullshit of that night, Shidou did.
He decided to at least call Reo. He listened to the hum of the ring and the practiced voicemail Reo had recorded. He tried a couple of times, but Reo wasn’t answering, which was annoying. He should be, considering it was technically his job to answer now. Even his fake boyfriend was being cold and dismissive.
Shidou shot him a message telling him that much and began his walk back to campus. Upon trying to stuff his phone back into his pocket, his knuckles brushed against the harsh denim, reminding him of his throbbing hands. Whatever. He didn’t care. He wanted them to hurt. His head was still ringing with Kaiser’s words. Itoshi Sae is not fucking worthless.
Shidou wished that were the case, really. It would be much easier that way. But Itoshi Sae was, unfortunately, everything .
He sighed deeply, already running his brain through some made-up scenario where he could forgive Sae for tonight. Maybe he didn’t actually fuck Kaiser. Maybe Kaiser just needed someone to fix his fucked-up haircut, and Sae, being undoubtedly the most beautiful person in the world, looked like he knew his way around a pair of clippers. But unfortunately, Kaiser’s hair was still a wreck, and Kaiser himself had confirmed that he fucked Sae.
Shidou’s attention was caught by a bar—slightly upscale, open late. The type of place Shidou would never have noticed had he not been trying to prolong his drunkenness as well as find his upscale fake boyfriend.
He walked into the establishment, and while he might normally have been met with faces of distaste, it was too late in the night, and everyone was too drunk to care about the state of another patron.
Shidou made his way to the bar and was pleased to find that not only were they still serving, but his intuition had proved him right—Mikage Reo was indeed at the bar, nursing a fancy cocktail.
“Avoiding me too now?”
Reo scowled. “I’m just sick of it. I’m sick of everyone.”
“You can’t be sick of me just yet. We’ve been dating for an hour tops.”
“Me having to say that I am sick of everyone but Shidou Ryusei is just going to confirm what a low I’ve hit.” Reo swigged from his drink. “No offense or anything.”
Shidou mimed stabbing his heart. The bartender came up, giving a nod at Shidou.
“I’ll have whatever he’s having. Actually, make it two. I don’t trust him not to drink mine.”
Reo rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.
“So, what’s our plan?”
Reo sighed again. “I don’t know.”
The bartender slipped two more drinks in front of them, and Reo was too busy abusing the ice in his cup with a straw to notice a certain someone slink in.
“Uh-oh, your not-boyfriend’s here.”
“Huh?” Reo looked up, and sure enough, Nagi was making his way over to them.
“Hey, babe, you okay?” Shidou asked once Nagi was in earshot. Nagi side-eyed him but refused to acknowledge him with words.
“Reo.” Nagi spoke. Shidou was sure he’d say more, but he didn’t.
“Mhm,” Reo responded.
“Let’s go home.” That was it. Just that. Like it was obvious. Like it was a given that Reo would go with him. Reo stared into his drink. He couldn’t look at Nagi.
Shidou watched, and if he so happened to feel a little rush of glee at the sight, that could die with him. But he wanted Reo to resist.
“Nah. I’m good.” It was small. It was hardly defiant, but defiant nonetheless. For the first time ever in an interaction with Reo, Nagi did not know what to do. He ultimately shot a glare at Shidou before deciding not to push Reo any further. He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, and left.
Shidou basked in having borne witness to the first real crack in Reo’s devotion.
“Hot,” was all Shidou said as he took a sip from his drink.
Reo grabbed the second drink that Shidou had ordered as collateral for this exact situation and knocked it back. There was a look in his eye—wild, like he wanted to scream, or maybe cry, or maybe, just maybe, he wanted to ruin something for the sole purpose that he could.
“You wanna pretend we make sense?”
“Whatever that means.” Shidou grinned at him.
And with that, Reo was pulling Shidou in by his shirt, pressing his mouth to Shidou’s and devouring him. Shidou was caught off guard but leaned into it. Shortly after, he felt Reo’s body tremble, and when Shidou pulled back, sure enough, Reo was crying.
“Sorry,” Reo murmured.
“Don’t be… we both wish it were with someone else right now.”
A beat passed between them, allowing each to wallow in their sadness.
“Come on, I’ll walk you home.”
“No.”
“Um. Yes?”
Reo waved Shidou off. “We’re not walking. Let’s Uber. Put your stop in.”
And with that, Reo handed Shidou his phone and drank what was left of the communal beverages.