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There was nobody in the world Yaotome Gaku hated more than his partner. Sure, Orikasa Yukito was extremely talented. His singing was great, he could play almost any instrument, and he was a talented dancer, but he didn’t seem to care about any of it. He rarely smiled, unless he was specifically told he needed to do it as part of choreography or an interview, and he never did it in private. If he wasn’t working, he was moping facedown on any flat surface possible, and if he fell asleep, it was nearly impossible to wake him again. He seemed resentful of everyone in his life, from the fans to Gaku to the office workers to Anesagi to Trigger’s songwriters-- especially , it seemed, Trigger’s songwriters. He had complaints about every song, from the lyrics to the melody to the key it was written in, as if he had literally any experience with songwriting. Luckily, though, he complained about that less than he had in the past, though he never pretended to acknowledge their talent; instead, he claimed not to care. Yuki, it seemed to Gaku, didn’t care about anything.
At first, they had fought constantly, about everything. Yuki was lazy and awful and annoying, but when he got angry he got really angry, and could give as good as he got. But soon enough, he had stopped getting angry at Gaku, when he tried to have a fight. This was annoying, but that was better than the alternative: when Gaku would try to lecture him about his behavior, his actions, and suddenly and without warning Yuki would be in tears. He never explained why, and never made any effort to change his behavior, but he would cry for thirty minutes to an hour and be even worse than usual for the rest of the day--unless they had a live or an interview or something, in which case his behavior would somewhat improve. Gaku seriously couldn’t wrap his head around what the guy’s deal was, or why he was an idol when he clearly hated every single aspect of it. He had no friends in the industry--a lot of people (Gaku included) actively hated him--he looked down on his fans--except, for some reason, some guy named Sunohara Momose, who he never actually spoke to but would often stare longingly at from out of sight--and though he had seemed to enjoy singing a little at first, he didn’t seem to care for it at all, anymore.
There was something seriously wrong with Orikasa Yukito, but Gaku wasn’t going to be the one to get to the bottom of it. He already spent way too much time and energy dealing with that guy on the clock, and besides, he had actual friends he could bother with!
For example: once, Trigger had had a shoot in Okinawa. Yuki had said something about drowning himself in the ocean and lay facedown in the sand for a couple hours, but Gaku had gotten changed into a disguise and gone wandering around town, and met the oldest son of a fisherman. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke was kind, and fun, and smart, though slightly oblivious, and they had hung out in every moment of Gaku’s free time that weekend and still texted nearly all the time.
Another example: Gaku worked in his grandfather’s soba shop in the evenings, and sometimes, a few years ago, he’d get orders from a certain hospital room, where a teenager was visiting his twin brother in the hospital. Nanase Tenn was the biggest bitch Gaku had ever met, but he had a great sense of humor and clearly shared Gaku’s values about family, and they had gotten to chatting at the hospital, and still texted now that Tenn’s brother was doing better. Both twins aspired to be idols--apparently, Tenn had even gotten scouted to be one once when he was thirteen, though it had fallen through (“And, in retrospect,” he’d said when he told Gaku about it, “that man really seemed like a predator, so I probably dodged a bullet there.”)--and so sometimes Tenn would ask him questions about the idol world and such. Gaku couldn’t help but wish that Tenn were a member of Trigger instead of Yuki--or, honestly, even if Yuki was still around. Have it be a three-man Trigger. Let Gaku work with someone he actually liked for once.
That would be the dream.
Actually, Gaku’s dream Trigger would be himself, Tenn, and Ryuu. He was sure it would be far more fun singing with his two best friends rather than the terrible Yuki. Besides, Tenn was talented and passionate about music, and Ryuu was a hard worker and kind-hearted enough to work his hardest to succeed, though Gaku had never heard him sing, so he was sure that they would do amazing.
But life was life. Life was life, and Gaku didn’t think his would ever change. After all, what could change it? Sure, Trigger was getting bigger and bigger. Sure, other than literally everything about Yuki, he enjoyed being an idol. But neither of those things seemed like they would be changing his life or anything.
And then, one November night three years after Trigger’s debut, he delivered some soba to a pair of siblings living together, and suddenly, shockingly, things began to change.
Two days after Momo’s birthday, he and Ruri decided to order in. There wasn’t anything in particular driving this decision: no occasion had come up, it was nothing special at all, but neither of them had particularly wanted to cook, and, since their parents had died in a car accident on their way to Momo’s college graduation a couple of years prior, there was nobody else to cook food for them. The soba place was very good, anyway, and the deliveryman was prompt. Momo thought privately that he looked a lot like Yuki’s new partner, but he didn’t mention it, because that was a surefire way to kick off an argument with Ruri.
Luckily, Ruri didn’t seem to notice this--either the deliveryman looked less like Yaotome Gaku than Momo thought, or she just didn’t pay enough attention to Trigger to recognize him--and struck up a nice conversation with him while Momo got out his wallet to pay for the soba.
Then his phone rang.
“Sorry, do you mind if I…?”
“No, go for it,” said the soba man.
Momo pulled his phone out of his pocket. The Caller ID said it was from some care facility, but Momo was the sort of person who needed excitement in his life, and so always answered the phone when he was called.
“Hello?” he said.
“Hello,” said a young woman’s voice, “is this Sunohara Momose?”
Momo had a choice to make. He didn’t think it was a scam, though it was too early to tell; he wasn’t sure whether or not it would be appropriate to give a fake name.
He erred on the side of the possibility of entering into a battle of wits with a possible scammer, though, and said, “Yes, it is. How can I help you?”
“I have a birthday message for you” what the fuck “from one of our long-term coma patients, who has recently awoken” what the fuck “from a four year coma, and wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”
“...I see.” This was the weirdest scam call Momo had ever gotten. He really ought to stop engaging with scammers and go back to credit card fraud. “Um...who’s the message from?”
“A young man named Ogami Banri--”
“What the fuck?!” Momo choked.
He hadn’t heard from Ban or Yuki in years. After the accident at Re:vale’s fifth anniversary, he had gotten several boxes full of all of both idol’s things with a note from Yuki reading I’m so fucking sorry, Momo, but I couldn’t just let him die and when he’d tried to contact the idol about it, had learned that his cell phone number had changed. He hadn’t heard anything from or about either idol for a year until Yuki debuted as Trigger with someone Momo had never met before. His style was utterly alien and something felt just slightly off about him, but he was still Yuki, and Momo still supported him with his entire heart and soul.
And now: this. Ban, in a coma--or, at least, recently awakened from one. Yuki vanishing only to debut with a different partner, somehow looking sadder than before. I’m so fucking sorry, Momo, but I couldn’t just let him die. The storage room Momo still rented, filled with evidence of the life of two best friends, suddenly cut short by--
Something else had to be going on here. It had to be.
“Ban--” Momo said. “Ban was in a coma?! He has a birthday message for me?! He was in a coma for four years?!”
“What!” said Ruri.
“Yes,” said the lady on the phone.
“This isn’t a scam, is it?” Momo demanded. “I know I’ve ticked off a lot of scammers, but using Ban’s name like that is really cruel!”
“Why would this be a scam?” said the lady. “We’re a renowned neurological care facility! I know that Kujo man’s death threats may make it seem like we’re not entirely above-board, but we can’t do anything about that!”
“Death threats!” said Momo. “What the fuck?!”
“Oh, you don’t know…?” the woman said. “I probably shouldn’t say anything, then…”
“Ban is one of my heroes!” Momo said. “If someone is threatening his life, I want to know, so I can put a stop to it!”
“Someone’s life is in danger?!” the soba man said. “Who? What’s this about?!”
“You don’t know Ban from Re:vale?!” Ruri said, as though this were a personal slight. “Come in--seriously--we’ll tip extra. Re:vale is the best idol group ever.”
“I’ve never heard of them,” said the soba man.
“You know Trigger?” she asked.
“...Yes.”
“Trigger sucks.”
Momo flipped her off.
“Re:vale is far superior in every form.”
Momo nodded in agreement.
“You know Yuki from Trigger?”
“Unfortunately,” said the soba man.
“He was originally in Re:vale! And they were the best! And then--”
“What the fuck do you mean,” Momo said into the phone, “what the fuck do you mean this Kujo guy is threatening Ban’s life so that Yuki stays in Trigger?!”
“What?!” the soba man said.
“You can’t tell anyone!” the lady on the other end of the phone said quickly. “We haven’t even informed Ogami yet--he only recently woke up, and he’s still in the very early stages of recovery. His motor cortex was very severely impacted by Kujo’s actions--”
“What actions,” said Momo, as Ruri started up a Re:vale video and the soba man made several shocked noises.
“Well, the light he rigged to fall, for one--”
“It was rigged?!”
“...Maybe we ought to discuss this in person, Mr. Sunohara.”
“Maybe we ought to discuss this with the police!”
“We would, if we were able to,” said the woman on the phone. “However, Mr. Kujo has made it very clear that if any word of this reaches the police or the press, he will no longer pay for Ogami’s care--which would kill him immediately--and if somehow it were paid anyway--for example, if that idol friend of his went behind Kujo’s back to pay for it with his own money--he would have Ogami killed, and make sure we lost our funding, so we couldn’t provide care for any of our patients.”
“Sweet fuck,” Momo whispered. “But...you told me.”
“Honestly,” the lady said, “we all thought you already knew.”
“All…?”
“Ogami’s friend,” she said. “The idol Yuki. When Ogami was transferred here, in the deal that nobody would be informed of Yuki and Ogami’s...situation with Kujo, Yuki claimed to have already told you everything that happened. The resulting argument wasn’t pretty, but you were listed as an emergency contact and someone who knew the truth of the matter.”
“Oh,” Momo said, and then, “oh, I see! Because if Ban woke up and was released into my care, Kujo wouldn’t be able to touch him anymore! So Yuki was making a plan to get Ban to safety!”
“That does appear to be so, yes,” said the lady. “But you understand why you can’t let anyone else know?”
Momo looked over to where the soba man was watching Re:vale on their television, mouth open in shock and awe, as Ruri steamed silently on the couch next to him.
“Uh, yeah, totally,” he said. “I swear I won’t tell anyone else in the world.”
“Good,” the woman said, relieved. “Do you want to hear your birthday message?”
“Yes, please,” Momo said. “Is...is Ban doing alright?”
“He’s on the road to recovery,” said the lady, “though he still isn’t fully aware of reality yet. You could say that though his brain is mostly awake, part of it’s still dreaming.”
“What do you mean?” asked Momo.
“He...is unable to grasp that Re:vale no longer exists, and hasn’t yet realized that he hasn’t seen Yuki in four years, most often,” said the lady. “Though there are other things, as well.”
“Oh,” said Momo. “Well...when I come to visit him, I’ll bring lots of Re:vale stuff to help him feel better!”
“I’m glad to hear it,” the lady said. “His message to you is that he wishes you a happy birthday, and hopes that you enjoy your twenty-first birthday. He apologized for not being able to get you a gift, and hopes that you know that he holds you in very high esteem.”
Momo’s face turned immediately a bright red, and he sank to the floor, holding in a scream. Ban held him in high esteem. Ban held him in high esteem. Momo honestly thought he might cry.
“Ban’s so cool…” he whispered. “He’s the coolest, most handsomest man in the world!”
“Amen!” said Ruri.
The lady on the phone laughed. “I’ll tell him you said so,” she said.
“Thank you!” Momo said. “And--and tell him I said thank you for the birthday wishes, and I’ll be in to visit him soon!”
“I will,” said the lady. “Thank you. I’m sure your message and visit will really brighten his day.”
Momo felt his face turn redder. “I--I really hope so!” he said. “Seeing him, or Yuki--even if it’s just a picture or a recording, it really brightens mine, too!”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said the lady. “Have a good day, Mr. Sunohara.”
“You too! And I hope Ban does too!” Momo said, and then hung up. He sat on the floor to the sound of Our Incomplete Selves and cried for a couple minutes. Ban--had been in a coma for the past four years, after this Kujo man, whoever he was, orchestrated an attack to take out Re:vale and, presumably, use Yuki’s talents for himself. Yuki--was being blackmailed into singing with Trigger, had to live every day in fear of slipping up and losing Ban forever. And Momo hadn’t known. He’d just--sat there, and cheered, and if he’d noticed anything off about his hero, he had shrugged it off as Trigger being different from Re:vale.
Well, Trigger was different from Re:vale, that was for freaking sure.
Momo sniffled for a bit, but wiped his tears and headed over to where Ruri was indoctrinating the soba man into being a Re:vale fan.
“Hey, Sis,” he said, “we should probably let the soba guy get back to work. We’ve kept him way too long.”
The soba man shook his head. “No, it’s alright,” he said. “I already texted my grandfather and told him I wouldn’t be able to make it back, since an emergency came up.”
“Rule #6 of being a Re:vale fan,” Ruri said, “you cannot be hornier for Ban and Yuki than my brother. But hot damn, you seem to be getting close.”
“I’m not horny for them,” the soba man said, screwing up his face in disgust. “I just want to get to the bottom of this coma-blackmail thing.”
“Don’t we all,” sighed Ruri.
“Oh, right, about that,” Momo said. “You can’t say anything to anyone about this, ok? Apparently the only reason I was told is that Yuki tricked them into thinking he’d already told me, so that when Ban’s off of life support, I can bring him to safety.”
“Why weren’t you told about this?” asked the soba man. “I mean, if you and Yuki are so close.”
“We--we aren’t that close!” Momo said. “It’s just, I used to help them out a lot...and he and Ban would always talk to me...and take me out to dinner...and text me about random stuff...but we weren’t friends! They’re so handsome and nice and cool, and I’m just...me.”
“Don’t sell yourself short like that,” said the soba man. “You seem real handsome, nice, and cool to me.” Then he winked at Momo, who turned red again, and Ruri started snickering. “Seriously, though, we can’t just let this go on now that we know about it,” the soba man continued. “This really pisses me off! I mean, geez, up until now I just thought Yuki was the worst partner in the universe and someone not at all suited to idol work--”
“Ex cuse me?!” Momo yelled. “Yuki’s great! He’s an amazing partner to Ban, and I’m sure he’s great to Yaotome Gaku too, and he’s one of the most talented musicians and songwriters I’ve ever known! Or heard! Or heard of!”
“Speaking as Yaotome Gaku,” said the soba man, “because I am, because that’s me, Yuki’s been a pretty shitty partner.”
“You are not,” said Ruri.
“Am so.”
“Prove it!” said Momo.
“Bet,” said the soba man, and pulled out his phone, and pressed FaceTime on the contact labeled Useless Ass. It rang, as the soba man held the screen of the phone facing the siblings, and Momo leaned forward, hoping against hope that it would be Yuki who picked up.
It was.
“What do you need?” asked Yuki, looking absolutely miserable.
“Yuki!” Momo cried, lurching forward and grabbing the phone out of Yaotome Gaku’s hands.
Yuki’s eyes widened, and he leaned closer to the phone. “Momo?” he said. “What’s going on? Are you okay? They aren’t going after you too, are they…?”
“By they, do you mean that Kujo guy the hospital lady mentioned?” Momo asked. “Or do you mean like...the multiple scammers and con artists I’ve scammed and conned when they were trying to scam and con me?”
“What?” Yuki said.
“My life has gotten boring without Re:vale in it.”
“That...doesn’t sound boring,” said Yuki.
Momo shrugged. “I try to keep it interesting. How have you been doing?”
“Happy birthday,” said Yuki, instead of answering. “Sorry my congratulations are late. I’m legally not allowed to speak to you, but since you’re calling from Yaotome’s phone it’s probably okay.”
“Thanks,” said Momo.
“Do you like Trigger?” Yuki asked. “I hate it, but I think I’d like it a little better if you enjoy it.”
“Yuki, I always have and always will support everything you do with my entire pussy,” said Momo, “but I want you to be happy first and foremost.”
“What’s a pussy?” asked Yuki.
“I am not surprised that that guy doesn’t know,” muttered Yaotome Gaku. “He’s probably never seen one in his life!”
“I bet you’ve never seen one, either,” Yuki snapped.
“That’s irrelevant!” Gaku said.
“I could show you one, if you’d like,” Ruri said.
“Excuse me?!” Momo said.
Gaku turned bright red. “I--um, thank you for your kind offer, but…”
“I was talking to Yuki,” she said.
“I mean, Yuki’s definitely seen a pussy before, he’s seen mine,” said Momo, “but is that really important to talk about right now?”
“I’m sorry what!” said Ruri.
“Ah, I see,” Yuki said. “I just googled it.”
“I’m in hell,” whispered Yaotome Gaku.
“Congratulations on getting a cat, Momo. I’m glad your cat enjoys me as well.”
Ruri burst out laughing.
“...Uh, yeah,” said Momo. “Anyways, back on topic--”
“Yuki’s had sex with someone?” said Gaku. “Someone like Momo ?”
“Yes,” said Yuki. “We tried inviting Ban but he said he wasn’t interested and left to spray bleach on his eyes. Apparently he never wants to see me naked in this life or any other.”
“I’m liking the sound of this Ban guy more and more by the minute.”
Ruri and Yuki both lit up like a Christmas tree.
“I’m in love with him!” they chorused.
Ruri glared at the phone.
“I’m in love with Momo, too,” Yuki added.
Ruri glared harder. Momo choked.
“S-since when?!” Momo demanded.
“Since we got your letter,” Yuki said. “And then when you beat up all those guys for us on stage and we met officially.”
Momo felt himself blushing even harder.
“Right, great, apparently even Yuki has feelings and those feelings are deep and abiding love and horniness for Momo and Ban,” said Gaku. “Can we please get to the subject at hand?”
“What even is the subject at hand?” asked Momo. “Things stopped making sense around the time I got that phone call from the care facility.”
“The people taking care of Ban?” Yuki said, leaning forward. “What was it about? Is he ok? Kujo hasn’t...he didn’t...do anything to him...right?”
“He’s starting to wake up,” Momo told him. “They were passing along a birthday message to me.”
Yuki gasped, and then tears collected in his eyes and started down his cheeks. “He’s awake…” he murmured. “He’s awake...how’s he doing? What did he say in his message? Is he mad at me? What did he say to you?”
“I, um...the lady I talked to said he wasn’t really aware of what was going on yet,” Momo said. “Apparently he thought I was turning 21...and he doesn’t know Trigger...exists.”
“He’s going to hate me when he finds out,” Yuki said miserably, wiping his eyes. “He’s going to hate me for going on and being successful without him...he’s going to hate me for saying yes to Kujo...he’s going to hate me for getting a new partner...he’s going to hate me because I gave up on, on everything! He’s going to hate me because I don’t enjoy music anymore!”
“That definitely isn’t true,” Momo said. “He’s Ban! He’d never hate you! Plus, I’m sure you had a good reason to go with Kujo in the first place.”
Yuki nodded, still sniffling. “I couldn’t afford Ban’s hospital bills,” he said, “but Kujo could. So I signed some stuff...a lot of it...and he paid for everything. But--Ban never wanted me to sign anything if he wasn’t there to make sure I didn’t get exploited, and if he read the contract, he’d be furious. At everyone, because he’d say they were exploiting me. I don’t want him to be upset...I just want him to recover and be able to sing again. I think I’d be able to enjoy music again, if it was Ban’s.”
“I’m sure,” Momo said. “Your and Ban’s songs are still the best I’ve ever heard. And he’d be getting mad for you, not at you!”
“We became friends because of music,” Yuki said miserably. “That’s why we met, and why we started talking, and why we formed Re:vale. What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me now?”
“He’s your best friend,” Momo said stubbornly. “If it were Ban who wanted to give up singing, and you who didn’t, would you want to stop being friends with him?”
Yuki looked offended. “Of course not! He’s Ban,” he said, as though that explained everything--and maybe, to him, it did.
“And you’re Yuki,” said Momo. “You’re his best friend Yuki, who he’s known since high school and who he definitely loves a lot.”
“Not like that,” Yuki said.
“Well, there’s more than one kind of love, you know,” Momo told Yuki. “And no matter what kind, Ban definitely loves you. There’s no question about it.”
“...Thanks,” Yuki said quietly. He wiped his face. “I probably look really pathetic right now, don’t I…?”
“No, of course not!” Momo said.
“You always look pathetic, but your best friend’s life is in danger and that’s been held over your head for four years, so it’s fine,” Gaku said. “I honestly can’t imagine how I’d feel if it were one of my friends in your Ban’s position. I doubt I’d be as put together as you’ve been...honestly, I’d probably already have committed arson.”
“If I move against Kujo, Ban dies,” Yuki said. “I would do anything to keep Ban alive. I don’t care what’s asked of me, I’ll do it.”
Momo paused, thinking about that, and nodded. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Whatever I do about this...I’ll leave you out of it.”
“Don’t you dare let them hurt Ban,” Yuki said.
“I won’t!” Momo said quickly. “I won’t, don’t worry! I just meant--maybe Kujo might start finding himself having a harder time with credit card scams, and stuff.”
“And I can have my friends Tenn and Ryuu look for information and proof of what Kujo’s done, so once Ban’s somewhere safe, we can move against him,” said Gaku. “They aren’t officially connected to us in any capacity, so Kujo shouldn’t notice them.”
“I have proof,” said Yuki. “I’ve kept records of all of our conversations and deals and everything, because Ban’s going to want to go over them. I could give them to you.”
“And Yaotome’s friends Tenn and Ryuu can keep them somewhere safe!” Momo said. “I’ll be our point of contact with Ban, since I’m already going to see him this weekend, and since Yaotome has an image of being a bit of a playboy, we can have Ruri pass along messages from me and Ban to you guys.”
“Tell Ban I miss him,” said Yuki, his voice wavering. “A lot.”
“Of course,” Momo said.
“Thanks,” Yuki said, and then he hung up.
“Huh,” said Gaku. “That was really uncomfortable.”
“How many competitors for Ban’s heart do I have?!” Ruri wailed.
“I’m not in this competition!” Momo said. “Promise!”
“Why is this what you two are worried about?!” said Gaku.
“It’s not! We’re mostly worried about Ban!” said Momo.
“I can’t believe my own brother had a threesome with--”
“It wasn’t a threesome, Ban wasn’t interested!”
“And you didn’t invite me?!”
“Yuki’s gay, Ruri!”
“No wonder he doesn’t know what a pussy is…” Gaku mused.
“Can we please stop talking about this,” Momo begged. “I don’t want to think about Yuki’s sex life. I don’t want to think about my sex life. I don’t want to think about my sister’s sex life. Ban doesn’t have a sex life, so we’re safe on that front.”
“I can fix that,” Ruri said confidently.
“The man’s coming out of a coma,” said Gaku.
“Well, I never said I’d do it now!” she said. “I can wait until he’s recovered!”
“Jesus Christ,” muttered Gaku. “What is wrong with you people?”
“Well, as soon as I take a minute to think about the situation I’m going to cry for the next eight hours, but I don’t want to do that in front of Yuki’s new partner, so I think I’m going to joke about my own and Re:vale's attractiveness instead,” Momo told him, which was slightly more honest than he wanted to say, but he was teetering on the edge of a total nervous breakdown with one foot on a banana peel and not entirely in control of his mouth at the moment.
“It’s okay,” Gaku said. “I’ll leave you guys in peace. I need to go to the Nanase household, anyway...it’s early enough that Tenn probably won’t kill me for throwing rocks at the window, because that brother of his most likely isn’t asleep yet. Nobody goes to sleep at, uh, 11 PM, right?”
“I usually go to bed at 9,” Momo said.
“Nobody civilized sleeps before midnight,” said Ruri.
“Great, so the brother’s probably awake,” Gaku said. “When I met him, he didn’t really seem to be the type to go to bed early...I’ll see you guys later.”
“See ya!” Momo said with a smile, but as soon as the door closed, he let it fall. “...I think I’m going to head to bed now,” he said. “See you in the morning, sis.”
“Yeah,” she said. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
“I know,” Momo said. “I just...some things, I don’t know if I’m ready to really talk about, outside of jokes.”
“Alright,” she said, smiling. “Sleep well.”
Momo smiled back at her. “Enjoy your Ban videos,” he said.
She chuckled a little. “You know me!”
It took Gaku around thirty minutes to get to the Nanase household. The lights were all out, but he was sure that was fine. After all, it was a weeknight, which meant teenagers stayed up late doing homework--or, at least, that was what he assumed. Gaku was no longer a teenager, and had done his level best to flush his teenage years out of his brain entirely.
He headed around the outside of the house until he stood under what he was fairly certain he was in front of the twins’ bedroom, and reached into his pocket for the handful of pebbles he’d grabbed on his way over. He threw them three or four at a time, and pretty quickly, the window opened up, Tenn’s younger brother leaning out.
“Iori?” he said.
“Uh, this is Tenn’s friend Gaku!” Gaku said. “I need to talk to him about something...is he awake?”
“He can be!” Riku said. “He goes to sleep at 8 every night, so I’m sure he’s had plenty of sleep by now!”
Gaku paused. That couldn’t be right. “How much sleep do you usually get per night?” he asked.
“Well, that depends on if my boyfriend Iori comes over!” Riku said.
Gaku choked. Tenn’s innocent little brother, indeed...
“Usually, I get around five or six hours, but if Iori comes over we usually do stuff and end up getting closer to three or four, depending on what we do and how long it takes!”
“Damn,” said Gaku. “And in the same room as your sleeping brother?”
Riku cocked his head in confusion. “No? The video game screen lights up the room, which might wake him up, and if we’re talking that might wake him up too, so we usually go down to the living room,” he explained.
“Oh, so you aren’t having sex,” said Gaku.
It was hard to tell in the dark, but Gaku thought Riku was blushing. “No…” he said. “I mean, we’re only teenagers, after all. And Tenn would make Iori the smoothest eunuch ever made if he caught us trying!”
“I can definitely see that,” Gaku said. “Alright, wake him up--I’ve gotta talk to him about some guy named Kujo.”
“Kujo?” said Riku. “Has he been coming around again?”
“Wait, you know him?” asked Gaku. “Is he that possible predator that kept coming around when you guys were thirteen?”
“Yeah,” Riku said. “I mean, I was in the hospital for a lot of it--someone messed with my prescriptions, and the club was failing, so we got into a lot of debt really fast, and I had to stay overnight in the hospital a lot, so I don’t really know much about him other than what Tenn’s told me, and...at first he didn’t say much about him because he wanted something that was just for him, and then later he told me he thought he was some sort of child trafficker and he wants to protect me from that. You probably know more about him than I do, honestly.”
“I mean, yeah,” Gaku said, “but that’s mainly from sources other than Tenn at this point. You guys’s connection to Kujo could be useful in this, but it could also be dangerous. Do you mind waking up Tenn for me? I know we were joking about it earlier, but I’m serious this time.”
“Oh, I was serious too!” Riku said. He disappeared from the window, and then the lights came on in his room. There was a moan, then the sound of water being poured, and then a yelp.
“I am going!” came Tenn’s voice, “to string you up like the scarecrow you are!”
Riku yelped, and there was a loud thumping sound.
“Tenn, you’re going to wake up Mom and Dad and then they’ll kill us!”
“They’ll kill you, you’re the one who’s up past your bedtime!”
“What bedtime?! We stopped having a bedtime at twelve!”
“Your bedtime, stupid, is at eight! Why are you even up!”
“Your idol friend came to visit!” Riku said, dodging the question. “He wants to talk to you about Kujo, for whatever reason.”
“Blech,” said Tenn, and then he appeared at the window. “Gaku, why the fuck are you here talking about Kujo at midnight? Don’t you know Riku needs his sleep?!”
Gaku grinned, and considered that he might get to see Tenn blow the gasket of his brother complex if he mentioned that Riku was sneaking unsupervised time with his boyfriend while Tenn was asleep. But he was here for a reason, and he figured that since Riku appeared to be waiting for his boyfriend, Iori might show up anyway and Gaku would get the show for free, without making himself the target of his friend’s sleep-deprived ire.
“Sorry, sorry!” he said. “It’s an emergency, though...you know my useless partner?”
“Yes?”
“I figured out what’s up with him earlier tonight,” Gaku said. “Apparently, Kujo is blackmailing him into being a part of Trigger by holding his best friend’s medical care over his head.”
Tenn swore. “Does that freak have any other methods?” he grumbled. “I bet he talks to Yuki about ‘surpassing Zero’, too. Surpassing Zero my ass! What does the friend think about it?!”
“The friend’s capacity to think is really in question,” Gaku said, “seeing as Kujo managed to provide him with enough head trauma to send him into a four-year long coma that he’s only just started to wake from, and his grasp on reality is about as strong as yours when you start talking about your brother’s fragility.”
“Excuse me?!” Tenn said. “Riku is extremely fragile! His asthma is severe, and it caused him to have terrible pneumonia and bronchitis when we were children. He’s still weak from it, and because of that I’m his only friend. He hasn’t even had a crush yet! He’s fragile, and innocent, and--”
“Is this a bad time?” asked a teenage boy, walking into the garden.
“Who the fuck are you,” said Tenn.
“Why are you awake?” asked the boy.
“Iori! Hi!” said Riku. “Tenn’s friend came to visit him tonight, so we’re all awake! Tenn, I’m sure you remember Iori, my boyfriend, since you two have met so many times!”
“I’m sure I don’t,” said Tenn, glaring at Iori as though he was the devil himself. Iori glared right back at him, though Riku seemed cheerfully oblivious.
“Riku, do you want to come back to my place tonight, so we don’t bother your brother?” asked Iori.
“What,” seethed Tenn.
“Sure!” Riku said happily, seeming to glory in his brother’s overprotective irritation. “I’ve still got my bag packed from the last time I spent the night--I’ve got pajamas, a toothbrush and toothpaste, any supplies we might need…”
“Izumi Iori,” Tenn growled as Riku vanished from the window, “if you and my brother have anything resembling sex, I am going to give you all-expense-paid bottom surgery and then drown you in the deepest depths of the ocean.”
“How do you know we haven’t already?” Iori called back. “I come over at night a lot.”
Tenn growled--actually, literally growled--as Riku reappeared in the window and began cheerfully climbing down. Gaku was impressed, honestly; he’d rarely spoken to Tenn’s brother before, and this vibrant, healthy Riku was a far cry from the fragile waif he’d met all those years ago in the hospital as Tenn bragged to Gaku about what a good caretaker he was. However, the pure joy Riku seemed to take in annoying his brother seemed like far more of a hindrance than a help, if Gaku was to be entirely honest. He needed Tenn focusing on bringing Kujo down, not on his brother’s dating life.
But, with a cheerful wave, Riku left alongside his boyfriend Iori, and Tenn looked like he wanted nothing more than to commit a murder, but eventually looked at Gaku and said, “You can come up if you want, you know.”
“Alright,” Gaku said, and started clambering the trellis that Riku had used to get down. It was harder than Riku had made it look, but he guessed the 17 year old had plenty of experience sneaking past his overprotective brother, while Gaku, who lived on his own, had no need to sneak out at all. Tenn helped him in, and pulled out a desk chair.
“So,” he said. “You wanted to talk about Kujo and your partner. Blackmail, you said?”
“Yeah,” Gaku replied. “Apparently, he may or may not have smashed Yuki’s first partner’s skull in with a falling light, and the friend went into a coma for the past four years, and so Yuki’s been forced to be a Trigger member and hates it, and has been living his life in constant fear of his friend dying because of his actions.”
“If Kujo can’t find a medical problem to exploit he’ll create it, I guess,” Tenn said. “What a monster! And all because he’s irrepressibly horny for Zero. What do you want Riku and I to do about it?”
“You and Riku?” said Gaku. “I hadn’t planned on asking him to help.”
“If Riku’s helping us take Kujo down, then he’s less likely to imply he’s having sex with his boyfriend to get on my nerves,” Tenn said. “As soon as his health took a turn for the better he started getting really annoying. Half the time he doesn’t even let me pick out his clothes for him anymore!”
“You have issues,” Gaku said. “I really, really think therapy might be a good option for you.”
“You have thoughts? I hadn’t noticed,” Tenn said snidely. “Anyway. Taking Kujo down. Is there a plan?”
“I mean, if we mess this up or get caught, a man is going to die,” Gaku said, “so there isn’t a plan to take him down per se, but Yuki’s...boyfriend? Old flame? Former fuckbuddy? I don’t know, their relationship is really unclear...but this guy named Sunohara Momose has got the beginnings of the plan, and he’s the one who Yuki was apparently originally relying on to get his former partner to safety, and he seems good for it. Apparently he cons con artists in his free time, so I’m leaning towards trusting him.”
“Sounds fun,” said Tenn, who definitely needed a lot of therapy. “What’s his plan?”
“Apparently Yuki has evidence of all of his transactions with Kujo, so I’m going to ask you and Ryuu to hold onto them,” Gaku said. “Since apparently Kujo is also that guy who tried to groom you when you were thirteen, do you think you could get anything against him from that route?”
Tenn shook his head. “It’s creepy, and if he were an idol I think we might be able to get to the tabloids to imply stuff, but he was very careful to never make it sexual in any nature. He didn’t do anything illegal, unless he really did mess with Riku’s medicine, but that was four years ago, and we won’t be able to get any sort of proof of it. It just means that Riku and I will be very enthusiastic to help take Kujo down. Maybe Riku could aim some of his annoying little brother energies at getting close to Trigger from the outside, maybe put a couple cracks in Kujo’s favorite idol. We’ve actually considered that before, and know how we’d go about it...the only problem would be getting good enough tickets to put Riku and Yuki in proximity, but if we’re officially doing this to take Kujo down, then I could ask Ryuu to ask his stepdad for money for tickets to take the three of us to a Trigger concert, since Riku and I want to be idols and you and I are Ryuu’s best friends, so of course I would want to go to a concert with him and my precious twin.”
Gaku blinked. “You’ve thought this through,” he said.
Tenn shrugged. “You told me once that Yuki was managed by a man named Kujo,” he said. “I thought it might be the same Kujo I knew, and that’s part of what helped me realize he really wasn’t as great a guy as he pretended to be. Riku and I’ve discussed it at length, though I tried to keep him from realizing everything that went down between the two of us and how Riku fit into it all, and we have at least the beginnings of a plan. However, since a man’s life is at stake, I doubt we’ll be able to go as heavy-handed as we were thinking.”
“By which you mean…?”
Tenn shrugged. “Kujo promised he’d make me an idol, and then he up and vanished. This was all when I was a young, impressionable, easily traumatized child dealing with schoolwork and caring for my sickly brother, who had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. Now I’ve grown up, and I realized that the reason he never did is he chose someone else, who I have proof is lazy, unmotivated, rude, and largely hated by everyone else in the industry, including his own partner. I want to get into contact with Kujo, but I have no way to reach him, so I get to a Trigger live, find a way to speak to Yuki when the cameras are on him, and say all of this, including just enough information on Kujo to make it clear that he was manipulating and taking advantage of a young, impressionable, easily traumatized child who was already under a lot of pressure, and then I have a breakdown on camera begging to know what I did wrong that caused him to throw me away. I also namedrop Yotsuba Aya, a young girl who has recently been taken by Kujo and whose older brother is desperately searching for her. This will bring the brother in Trigger’s and Kujo’s direction like a shark that has scented blood, and, since as far as I can tell the boy is entirely unhinged, he’ll definitely raise a big enough stink that people will notice. I find a way to get on camera and act shocked that Kujo’s kidnapped a young girl. His reputation tanks, Riku publically worries about a man like that going after his brother, the two of us get shot into the spotlight and hopefully get offers from agencies to make us into idols.”
“Holy shit,” said Gaku. “You’re an evil genius, aren’t you?”
“I try,” Tenn said, looking pleased. “Riku was the one who found out about Yotsuba Aya, though. He was in the hospital a couple years back and ran into her and Kujo there, and he follows her on Instagram. We haven’t contacted her brother about it because we want his reaction to be realistic when he finds out she’s been kidnapped on live television.”
“Why did I never know you were this unhinged?” asked Gaku.
“You never asked,” Tenn replied.
Gaku shook his head. “Wow,” he said. “We’ve got to set up a groupchat for this plan so you and Sunohara Momo can be unhinged little evil geniuses together.”
Tenn hummed, pleased. “That sounds fun,” he said, “but it’s late, so either go to bed--you can have Riku’s, since he won’t be back until tomorrow and he deserves to have someone else sleep in his bed for running off with his terrible boyfriend like that, or you can leave so I can get my full eight hours in.”
“Geez, okay, okay,” Gaku said. “I’m going. Get your eight hours of sleep and plot your evil plots, mastermind.”
Tenn shot him a winning smile. “Don’t bother me at midnight and I won’t plot them against you, superstar!”
“What, you’ll save your evil plans for your brother?” Gaku asked.
“Only if he keeps being especially annoying. I wish I were born an only child,” said Nanase Tenn, the biggest brocon of the planet, whose entire personality had been wrapped up in being an older brother when he and Gaku had first met and who had only just started coming out of his shell a year ago. “My life would be far better if I were born an only child.”
“It gets kind of lonely, sometimes,” said Gaku, the only only child in his friend group. “Plus, you and Ryuu are always talking about how much you love being older brothers in our group chat.”
“Yeah, when Riku’s doing what he’s supposed to,” Tenn grumbled. “It was so much easier when we were little. He’d always listen to me then. Now he’s running off at all hours with his boyfriend and teasing me every day, and half the time he doesn’t do as he’s told at all!”
“I mean, he is growing up,” Gaku said. “You guys are seventeen now. It’s only natural to have a rebellious streak.”
“He shouldn’t be rebelling against me, though,” Tenn complained. “I’m his brother, not his parent.”
“I mean, how much parenting do your parents actually do, though?” Gaku said.
“Oh, fuck off and go home, don’t project your daddy issues onto me,” said Tenn. “Riku's and my relationship with our parents is fine and normal! Healthy, even. I should know, I’ve read many parenting books.”
“You are so messed up,” Gaku said, in awe, totally unaware of how much more messed up Tenn had the potential to be, and then wished him goodnight and climbed back down the window trellis and left.
Momo made it to the long-term neurological care facility at 1:27 on Saturday. He allowed himself five minutes to cry in the car about poor Ban’s fate before wiping his eyes, getting up, and heading inside.
“I’m here to visit Ogami Banri, please,” he said to the lady at the reception desk.
“Of course!” she said. “Just sign in here, and I’ll give you your visitor badge.”
“Awesome, thanks!” said Momo with a bright grin. He didn’t mention Kujo’s death threats and she didn’t ask; he had no idea who here knew and who didn’t, and he didn’t want to endanger Ban by saying anything.
He signed in, and clipped on the visitor badge, and followed the nurse down the hall until she stopped at a room labeled 301 with a small plastic plaque reading ‘Ogami B’, and he knocked before pushing the door open.
Even after nearly four years of Ban’s whole world being this room, it seemed blank and impersonal. It was almost too neat, and the only decoration on the walls was a generic picture of the ocean. His bed was surrounded by blinking and beeping monitors, and on the bedside table was the only personal thing in the room: a single picture of Ban and Yuki in their performance clothes, slightly sweaty and disheveled after a long day’s work, arms around each other’s shoulders. Ban was laughing, and Yuki was smiling at him, and it was unclear just from looking at it if the photographer had captured them when Yuki was in an unusually open mood, or if it was a candid shot.
Momo, the person who had taken the picture, knew the truth: it was mostly candid, but Ban had known their picture was being taken. Momo had been taking pictures all day, for their Christmas show, because it was Yuki’s birthday and Ban had convinced Momo to help him make a collection of photos to commemorate the day. For that picture, Yuki had cracked a joke as they walked offstage, and Ban had laughed for nearly five minutes at it, and Momo had been fortunate enough to snap the photo at the exact moment Ban started laughing, and capture Yuki’s pleased grin.
Yuki had insisted Momo help him do the same for Ban’s birthday the next fall, but by the time Ban’s next birthday had rolled around, Re:vale had fallen with the light on their fifth anniversary, and neither Ban nor Yuki was anywhere to be found.
Momo walked closer to Ban’s hospital bed, pulling a chair up right beside it. Ban’s formerly muscular limbs had withered away after four years in a hospital bed, but when he saw Momo, his hand twitched and face turned to see him.
“Hi, Ban,” Momo said with a smile. “I’ve missed you! How are you feeling?”
Ban’s mouth twitched into a pale smile. “Hey, Momo,” he said softly. His voice was soft, and slow, and raspy from disuse. “I’m...well enough. How are you?”
“I’m doing well!” Momo chirped, making sure to keep his smile firmly affixed to his face. Ban deserved to see someone smiling, after all. He’d been all alone, without anyone who knew him, for so long already. “I’ve missed you a lot. I’m glad I was able to come and visit you!”
Ban frowned, confused. “Missed me…? You were at the last Re:vale show, weren’t you?”
Unfortunately, Momo thought, remembering the fallen light, the confusion and fear, Yuki’s terrified screams.
“Yeah, but...that was so long ago, Ban!” Momo said. “It feels like forever ago...I’ve really missed you.”
“Don’t be silly, Momo,” Ban said. “It was only a few days ago, wasn’t it?”
Momo thought about how the lady on the phone had said that most days, Ban didn’t realize that there’d been an accident, that four years had passed, that Re:vale was long gone. He wondered where Ban thought Yuki was, why he thought Yuki left him alone when he was injured and confined to a hospital bed.
He didn’t ask.
“Right, yeah, of course,” Momo said quickly, making sure to smile at him. “It just felt like forever! You guys are my favorites, you know!”
“You’re our favorite, too,” Ban said. “Yuki talks about you all the time, you know?”
Yuki and Ban hadn’t seen each other in four years. Momo felt his heart squeeze in his chest. “Yeah?” he said, gently reaching out and taking Ban’s hand.
“Yeah,” Ban said. He smiled faintly. “I sent him to go talk to some of the staff, so he can make more friends. He needs more friends than just me and you, you know…?”
I thought Yuki was the worst partner in the universe and not at all suited to idol work, Yaotome Gaku had said. Yuki had been saved in his phone as “Useless Ass”.
“Yeah,” Momo said. “You think he’s getting along with them?”
“Well, he hasn’t come back yet,” Ban said. He was still smiling. “I worry about him a lot...sometimes it feels like that’s all I do. I hope he comes back soon.”
“Yeah,” Momo whispered, “me too.” He paused and swallowed. “I actually...ran into him a bit earlier,” he said. “He said to tell you he misses you, a lot.”
“That idiot,” Ban said fondly. “Doesn’t he know if he gets lonely he can just find me…?”
“I...he wants to make you proud,” Momo whispered, but Ban didn’t reply. When Momo looked over at him, he saw that Ban had fallen back asleep, and a jolt of fear shot through him and rattled him to the bones--had Ban fallen back into the coma?! How was he going to explain that to Yuki?!
Momo frantically texted Ruri about it before googling Someone woke up from coma fell back asleep help. Google was mostly unhelpful, with articles about people who woke up from comas and not what happened when someone who used to be in a coma fell back asleep, but eventually he found an article that explained that waking up from a coma was a process and that it was perfectly normal for recovering coma patients to sleep in and out of consciousness for a while.
sissy baka: dumbass everyone needs sleep i’m sure ban’s just tired from all the hard work he’s doing to get better!!!
...Right. That...made a lot of sense, actually.
“Sorry for panicking, Ban,” Momo told the sleeping man. “I worry a lot, you know...you need to focus on getting better. We’ll keep you safe in the meantime. I promise.”