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After reposting the announcement for his own third-anniversary merch, Leo suddenly remembered that Claude’s latest post was still yesterday’s desperate plea to his mane-san.
He sighed, opened his own X page again, and scrolled back down to the photo and caption from when he proudly shared the keyboard he bought from his best bro. He stared at it for quite a while before finally closing the tab with a helpless smile.
He knew Claude too well to be upset—there was no frustration, no disappointment.
Just a small, occasional sense of “what a pity.”
On Leo’s page, anyone could see the warmth between the Immortal Duo through stream announcements, merch posts, and various updates.
But on Claude’s?
Aside from thumbnail reposts featuring both of them and the rare stream notification he remembered to share, the place was… quiet. Much quieter than his.
Leo knew perfectly well that Claude simply didn’t like using X.
He remembered the man showing his 3D debut promo image on stream, and he never once lacked verbal support for Leo.
Still… there remained that faint, indescribable ache of wishing for just a little more visible presence.
The sudden buzz of his phone pulled him out of those thoughts.
He saw the name on the screen, and without hesitation, his lips lifted.
“Hello? Mm… yeah. I’m coming over now.”
Leo reached the house—one he knew better than anyone besides its owner—in record time.
He rang the doorbell, and Claude opened it looking just as exhausted as always, though unable to hide the quiet anticipation of going out for dinner together.
“Give me a moment. I’ll head out as soon as I use the bathroom.”
“Okay—”
Familiar with every step of this place, Leo scrolled through his phone while pacing around, using the waiting time to squeeze in a few more steps. With any luck, his “coach” would assess today’s progress without needing to take a deep breath and politely reword his feedback to keep his blood pressure down.
Maybe it was because he always gravitated toward this corner, or because he had spent the longest hours here when helping Claude move in—but somehow Leo found himself wandering near the computer desk.
Normally, he would respectfully avert his eyes.
But today, something extremely bright and extremely obvious was displayed on the monitor, and he couldn’t stop himself from leaning closer.
It was the “【久我レオ】3rd Anniversary Merch Set” checkout confirmation page.
Leo’s eyes widened, his long lashes fluttering like he was rebooting his brain again and again to verify what he was seeing.
Instinctively, he switched his phone to camera mode and snapped a photo—evidence of something he absolutely never expected—just before the man who had only gone to wash his face and use the restroom returned to the room.
Claude did not mention the purchase at all.
During dinner he simply chatted as usual—about their VALO plans, about Leo’s workout schedule—nothing out of place.
It wasn’t until they were about to part ways at the subway entrance that Claude, looking vaguely embarrassed—and perhaps shy—lifted a hand to pat Leo’s shoulder. In a low voice, he muttered:
“Congrats on your three-year anniversary, bro.”
Then, perfectly timing his escape, he hopped onto the arriving train and vanished from sight.
Left standing on the platform, Leo blinked in surprise—until his phone buzzed.
A new message appeared, as if to make up for the earlier, awkward attempt:
“Congratulations on three years. My best bro.
Thank you for being here.”
Leo covered his mouth with a fist, unable to hide his smile as he boarded his own train.
He opened the precious photo—the proof he couldn’t stop staring at.
You really don’t make this easy for me, my bro.