“Because it’s new, everyone is talking about it, and Nii-san cannot resist flashy colours, or the prospect of a sugar rush.”
“Hey!” Rin whipped around to glare at the two of them, pointing them with a would-be threatening finger if his tail wasn’t wagging like an excited puppy. “You said you were down to try it out! If anyone here’s in need of a sugar rush, it’s you guys!”
“I never said I was against it, I was just asking!” Ryuji retorted, looking up at the large, colourful candy store before them, and its towering, oddly terrifying depictions of Mephisto as a bubblegum character looming and grinning down at them. “Just feels like a weird place to start off a double date, is all.”
“I think it’s a great place to start!” Shiemi exclaimed, promptly latching onto her boyfriend’s arm and making him wag his tail some more. “Nori told me about it, I’ve been curious too! She said they had products from all over the world! It’s exciting!”
“All right! C’mon Shiemi, we’re ditching those boring losers!” Rin giggled as he pulled his laughing girlfriend along through the revolving doors, but not before Ryuji could call out:
“You’re not ditching anybody, you moron!”
The two soon disappeared inside the store amongst the crowd of students and children, leaving Ryuji and Yukio behind. With a sigh, Ryuji turned to his friend, and found him looking more amused than he thought he would be. His lips stretched in the lightest of smiles, in a way he knew he was trying to hold still, and when Yukio turned toward him, it grew, like he was trying not to laugh, or to hide his own excitement.
“Shall we?”
Ryuji felt his fingers brush against his hand, promptly making his heart skip a beat. He grinned back, and threw his arm around Yukio’s neck, pulling him in close as he guided him toward the candy store.
“Sure thing! Let’s see what it’s all about.”
Together, the two walked in through the doors, and found themselves delving into a dream world of bubblegum and rainbows. Every single square inch of this store was covered in a sea of sugary goodness, from the floor up to the ceiling, even to the second story and filling the aisles to the brim. Ryuji didn’t think there would be a place that could hold what was possibly every single kind of candy on earth, but here he was, trying to understand how they could fit all of it in one single place. It was a cavern full of treasures! …for those who liked candy, that is. Ryuji had never been big on sugar, but walking around, just to look, still made for a fascinating experience. Besides… The candies weren’t why he agreed to come here.
Ryuji wandered through the store, listening to Rin and Shiemi’s excited giggles from somewhere nearby, glancing at every flash of colour and never letting his eyes stop for a second too long on anything of remote interest… until he spotted Yukio again. It made him stop, and look. He could find his shape between a million others, so effortlessly, and no matter how distracting the rest of the world was. Yukio stood in a quiet corner, behind rows of giant lollipops and stacks of colourful popcorn, and faced a wall that was absolutely full of various jars of round, multicoloured marbles. He looked up and down at the jars, up and down again, as though trying to identify every single marble inside them, and Ryuji could see, from where he stood, hidden behind a cover of hanging bags of cotton candy, that he was smiling. It was something small, yet so true, so radiant, so simple. Ryuji could not help but stare, and admire, and imprint that smile in his memories, as well as the wonder that shone so brightly in his friend’s eyes at that moment.
Ryuji decided that if he wasn’t getting anything for himself… he’d at least get something for Yukio.
~~~
9 - Shopping
The farmer’s market was thriving. The vendors called out to them, showcasing their kioskes chock full of all kinds of local produce, with their rich and lively colours and shapes. Vegetables, fruits, cheese, eggs, drinks and sauces, everything was there, and Rin had already picked up quite a few in preparation for their dinner date that night, but now he was distracted. As he paid the vendor in front of him for a freshly-picked batch of carrots, he turned, and saw that Shiemi had wandered a bit ahead, and he found himself unable to move.
She wasn’t doing anything particularly amazing or mind-blowing; she was just walking along the stands, looking down at all the rows of veggies before her, her step slow, almost pensive. What could she be thinking about, he wondered. Was she wondering whether she should get something? Or perhaps… she was thinking about the things they’d discussed in secrecy? Her mind had been wandering aimlessly as of late, and he could see it, in her step, in her stance, in the distance of her gaze…
Rin stashed the carrots into the plastic bag dangling on his arm, prepared to step up to go talk to her, but then a sudden meow called for his attention, and he turned.
“Rin! There you guys are!”
Kuro was dashing toward him across the market, with Yukio and Suguro further away sending arm waves toward him, and Rin smiled, before holding his hand out toward his familiar.
“And where have you been?” he asked as Kuro jumped up his arm and up to perch on his shoulder, purring happily. “We were about to leave without you!”
“Secret cat things!” Kuro replied, making one final jump to flop down on top of his head. “I can’t tell you!”
“Ah, secrets eh? Guess we all have those lately…”
He raised his head back toward Shiemi, and found her staring down almost intensely at a stack of tomatoes, as though the perfect one would float up to present itself to her. With a little smile, Rin made up his mind, and walked over to her. He only had to briefly look over the tomatoes once before reaching out and grabbing one. He weighed it first, turned it around to inspect it, and presented it to his girlfriend, who seemingly jumped out of her thoughts at the present. He felt the words come to him so easily…
“Imagine,” he said softly, “how great it’ll be when we grow our own stuff ourselves. I bet we can make even bigger tomatoes! What do you think?”
Though she appeared genuinely shocked at first, it didn’t take long for Shiemi to reward him with the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, and for the lights in her eyes to shine once again for him. At that moment, when she reached out and grabbed the tomato, and said, in a warm, relieved tone:
“Yes! I’m sure we can!”
…Rin had never been more certain of his decision than now.
~~~
10 - Thief
It was a hot summer day - and what was the best thing to do when it was hot in summer? Stopping for ice cream, of course! Yukio wasn’t here to complain; he’d been feeling so dizzy since Ryuji surprised him with gifts at the candy store because he’d been overthinking things again, so a nice popsicle was just what he needed.
The breeze was nice and pleasant by the overlook they’d taken a break at, with a perfect view of the town stretching all around them down below the hill, and Yukio could just close his eyes, for a moment, and think about how he’d gotten to this point. Again, he wasn’t here to complain. A double date had seemed like a silly idea at first, but now that he was here…
He supposed he’d imagined it to be completely different than a simple pleasant stroll through town. Of course it was kept simple; Rin didn’t like complicated things, and he’d arranged the whole thing himself. Now, if only Yukio could find a way to give back to Ryuji for earlier…
“Oh, Rin, you’ve got ice cream all over your face… Hold on.”
“Huh? How’d it- mmph!”
Shiemi had taken a handkerchief from her bag on the ground and was already washing Rin’s face with it, and his brother let her do it, and even seemed to enjoy the act, as he was leaning in, closer into her touch. Those were the kinds of interactions that puzzled Yukio greatly; he knew it was a normal thing that couples did, they were just looking out for each other, but… How did they do it so naturally? Without overthinking it? Maybe it was overthinking just trying to pin a reason on the why of everything, when it could just be simple, and still he kept spinning in circles in utter confusion…
At least his popsicle wasn’t all over his face, like his twin’s ice cream. Although… Mmmh… If he somehow got some of it on his cheeks, would Ryuji-
“Uh… babe?”
Yukio looked away from his thoughts and back toward Ryuji, but was surprised to find him looking alarmed as he stared at him.
“Mh? What is it?”
“Uh, you’ve got, uh…”
Ryuji pointed, and Yukio just now saw it - from just outside his peripheral, a stretched out, sneaky paw, with all claws extended, was reaching out for his popsicle.
And the thought only briefly slid by him that he could let Kuro swipe at it, to see what Ryuji would do if it fell on his shirt. But only briefly.
~~~
11 - Mysterious
Shiemi was so very happy, and there was no way she was letting her grim thoughts take over that joy, not anymore. She did feel somewhat ashamed that she’d let her doubts put a shade on what should have been a most delightful day, however brief that dark cloud had been, but now that Rin had talked to her about it, she felt like she’d landed back in her sandals. She couldn’t quite explain it, but now that he’d made his decision, she couldn’t look at him without bursting into a wide grin. She supposed she just wanted him to know how grateful she was, and did so the only way she knew how; by peppering him with kisses and hugs.
Not that he looked against any of it by any means. In fact, she dared say that he was worse than her.
And of course, as the day moved on and their double date took them across multiple locations and the delight followed the arc of the sun across the sky, their date companions did notice that they were supposedly acting different, because one time they were being giggling little messes with each other in the middle of the street, Ryuji eventually commented:
“Are you guys okay?”
Shiemi and Rin both looked at him inquisitively, and she replied:
“Huh? Of course we are! Why?”
Ryuji narrowed his eyes on them, crossing his arms as he looked them over almost suspiciously.
“I dunno, something feels weird. Call it my Lightning sense tingling. Are you guys hiding something?”
Yukio hummed, pensively.
“I didn’t want to say it, but… You two have been acting strange all day.”
“For real?” Rin laughed out loud, and waved his hand nonchalantly. “You worry for nothing! What, I can’t laugh with my girlfriend now?”
“Nii-san, I’m just saying, you’re acting mysterious, and it freaks me out when you do that. Please stop.”
“Mysterious?” Shiemi inquired, but Rin didn’t let any of them elaborate and laughed again, a bit too loudly, and Shiemi thought she understood what Yukio was talking about. Rin was just a terrible liar - not that she was any better.
“Well, that sounds like a you problem! I like this being a mystery, so it’s gonna stay that way.”
Shiemi giggled at his declaration - she didn’t think he’d want to keep it for themselves so bad - and reached out to grab and latch onto his arm to try and calm him down, but to no avail. Ryuji scoffed out a laugh.
“Oh, what’d you call it again? Mr. Mistake, right?”
“That’s right!” Rin pointed a thumb toward himself, sending the two of them a silly little wink and a fanged grin. “That’s me! Mr. Mistake! So you’re not getting any of our juicy secrets!” He leaned a bit more into Shiemi’s touch, and urged her to keep walking, as they were close to their last destination. “Now c’mon, I’m starving! I gotta cook all this stuff!”
“You know you suck at lying, Okumura!” Ryuji called with a knowing grin. “We’re gonna find out one way or another!”
And Mr. Mistake looked back, and pulled his tongue at the other. Yeah, Shiemi told herself, that secret wasn’t going to last.
~~~
12 - Heat
Yukio stepped outside the old dorms, for a bit of a breather. Rin wasn’t going to let him touch any of the food until it was ready for fear that he’d somehow cut his fingers and bleed all over the place, which was a warranted fear he had to admit, and so Yukio accepted his fate, and went out to the nearest balcony. The sun was setting and painting beautiful fiery strokes across the heavens, but its warmth did not waver, and so he closed his eyes, for a moment, and enjoyed the wind, in his hair, on his face, and the rays, tickling his skin. And he found it easy to just breathe.
He was tired after a long day out, and yet he felt not a weight, not a single burden on his shoulders - even Rin and Shiemi’s secret wasn’t bothering him too much right at this moment. It felt almost… foreign, to be this calm. It was so very strange, yet he wouldn’t turn back, and so decided to savour this instant of peace…
Until another warmth, a pair of arms, came to wrap themselves around him from behind, making him open his eyes suddenly. Before he could turn his head to confirm who it was, warm lips landed on his cheek, resulting in a rapid drumming of his heart beats to echo up to his head. Without a word, Ryuji left a number of little kisses on that same cheek, all slow, warm and affectionate, without a hurry in the world, all leaving behind a poignant tenderness that left Yukio speechless. And without really knowing, he leaned into it, closed his eyes again, and felt each and every single one of those kisses, and the way Ryuji’s hands went to grab his own, the way he squeezed him, and the way he immediately found an anchor in his gentle hold. Ryuji was like a tree wrapping around him, his arms roots, securing him in place and keeping him standing when he thought he couldn’t, and Yukio wondered, quietly, when he would be able to be the same for him.
Ryuji’s lips lowered from his cheek to his jaw, where he trailed and touched along up to his ear, and down onto his neck. His touches were so gentle, a little caress that spoke a million words and made Yukio feel things that were still foreign… and then he was moving away, rather abruptly. It left Yukio slightly dizzy, and left his heart drumming away up to his throat, but still he smiled at him as Ryuji moved beside him and smiled back. He reached out and grabbed Yukio’s hand, still on the railing before them, and didn’t look away from him as he said, softly, yet in an amused tone:
“Sorry, but you taste like a watermelon. Couldn’t help myself.”
Yukio tried in vain to stifle a laugh.
“A watermelon?”
“Yeah!” Ryuji laughed again, and scratched at his chin as he added almost sheepishly: “I was just going to give you a peck, but then I thought ‘Mmh, this actually tastes good’, so, uh… yeah. Sorry. I think the candies I ate earlier are acting up.”
Yukio sent him a surprised raised of the eyebrows, but then smirked, knowingly.
“Are you saying that ingesting sugar makes you want to eat me?”
He almost immediately regretted saying those words, and it took everything in him not to throw himself over the railing in shame, but it only made Ryuji laugh some more, and step closer to him, so their shoulders touched.
“Wellll…! You’re not wrong there!”
He exhaled, deeply, and looked him directly in the eyes, with that piercing gaze he’s always had, yet with a tenderness that only shone when he was gazing at him, and him alone. The weight of that gaze made a strike of heat rise to envelop his whole face… and then Ryuji decided to land a fatal blow, because he said, in a soft whisper…
“This date idea was a good one, but I gotta say… I’ve been waiting all day for us to be alone.”
His hand squeezed itself around his, in a subtly needy manner, and Yukio smiled back at him.
“The day’s not quite over yet… We still have dinner.”
Ryuji drew closer, and like a magnet, Yukio did too. Their faces were inches apart, and it felt like the heat of the setting sun had only grown in warmth at that very moment.
“All right. I’ll keep you for dessert then.”
Yukio could hardly even be phased anymore; Ryuji was being weirdly smooth tonight, and he wondered if the candies had anything to do with it. They were from a Mephisto-owned shop, so maybe there was something weird about them, but for once, he wasn’t going to complain, because it worked out in his favour. He didn’t trust Mephisto one bit, but he did trust Ryuji… So he decided to be bold.
“You could… haveatasterightnow.”
Ryuji somehow understood what he said through that indecipherable mumble, because he promptly closed the gap between them, with close to no hesitation, and Yukio was ready to meet him halfway, and their breaths mingled, their lips came so close to touching-
“SHURA!! WHAT’D YOU DO TO ALL MY STUFF?!”
“HUH? WHAT’D YOU SAY?”
“I SAID, WHERE ARE MY KITCHEN TOOLS?!”
~~~
13 - Blade
“THEY’RE GONE!”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE GONE?!! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“ON THE ROOF! FORGET YOUR UTENSILS, KIDDO!”
“WHAT?!”
“I SAID-”
Ryuji was mad. Well, not really, now he was just confused, but he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Rin’s voice echoed out of the balcony doors, somehow reverberating all the way upward, from where Shura’s voice echoed back, seemingly from the building’s roof, and they went back and forth, arguing about what happened to the utensils and somehow still not explaining what had gone wrong with them. He and Yukio shared a look, and they both quietly agreed to go back inside and check it out, and it was almost painful to have to let go this suddenly, but the call of the utensils was somehow stronger.
“DAMNIT SHURA, I GOTTA COOK THIS STUFF! I GOT A FISH TO CUT OPEN, WHAT AM I GONNA USE, MY NAILS?!”
“BE CREATIVE!! I’M TOO BUSY TO GO HELP YOU!”
“I CAN TELL!! Goddamnit!”
As they drew closer to the open kitchen doors of the dorms, lovingly renamed Rin’s Domain, they could hear Shiemi speak softly to him and say:
“I’m sure there’s something we can use… Like, uhm… No, that doesn’t cut, uhm… How about-”
“Tch! Be creative, she says… Oh! Wait, I do have a knife!”
“Huh? What- Oh. Rin, no. Rin, don’t! Not with that!”
Yukio and Ryuji walked inside the kitchen just in time to watch Rin, standing at his counter, in front of a fish staring in blank horror as he drew the Koma Sword from its sheath and erupted in bright blue flames. The three of them were left helpless as he aimed the sword down at the fish, saying in a casual happy tone:
“Okay, I’m doing it!”
And immediately the only thought that latched onto Ryuji’s mind at that moment, was how just the other day he watched Rin gut open a demon with that very same sword- And so he was the first to dash forward to stop him.
“NO YOU’RE NOT, YOU ABSOLUTE LUNATIC!”
~~~
14 - Ice
It took a bit of doing, but they managed to find some replacements - and Yukio had to go up to the roof to see what Shura was up to, and came back hopeless anyway - and dinner was eventually on its way. Rin had planned a whole buffet for the four of them, and while Shiemi could not cook to save her life, she did her best to assist him. While the fish was grilling in the oven, Rin started preparing some cold desserts for all of them, including some shaved ice, and while she was helping out with preparing the syrup, she saw him turn his head, and scowl at the other two sitting in the back.
“You guys okay? You’re the ones being weird now.”
“Don’t even ask,” Ryuji replied sternly. “You know damn well what you did.”
“Huh?! What’d I do?!”
“Ryu…”
It only took Yukio to say his name once, and Ryuji huffed, and when Shiemi turned her head briefly, she saw he had crossed his arms and looked to be… pouting?
“Nothing!” Ryuji replied, while Yukio patted him on the head almost jokingly. “Except you almost poisoned all of us with your stupidity-”
“Oh, fuck off with that! My sword is super clean, I wash it every day! I’ve cooked stuff with it before, actually, and Yukio never even noticed.”
“Wait, what-”
“It gives a nice crispy finish that I can’t get otherwise, it’s actually great!”
Shiemi’s eyes widened, and she realized just then that she’d need to sit down with Rin and settle a few rules for when they launched their plans. She wasn’t really sold out on cooking with a demon heart-sword otherwise used for killing other demons. Not totally, anyway. She trusted Rin more than anything, but-
“You actually fed me that stuff?! I can’t believe you!”
“And did I ever give you food poisoning? No? Then there! Now you all can stop whining- and here, taste this!”
As soon as the first cup of shaved ice was done, Rin picked it up from the counter, and practically shoved it in his brother’s hands, taking him by surprise. He threw a tiny spoon at him, and Yukio almost dropped it, but he sat up straight, and though he hesitated, he did give the treat a little taste. As soon as it entered his mouth, he perked up, much to Shiemi’s joy, and seemed to completely forget about Rin’s odd cooking tools.
“Mmh~!” he hummed, delighted, reaching in to take another spoonful. “Ish good. But don’t think I’ll let that whole thing slide-”
“You’ll forget by tomorrow, I bet. Nyuk-nyuk!”
“Nuh-huh! Not that!”
…and Shiemi couldn’t help but stare at Ryuji while the two argued, because he was just sitting there, dreadfully quiet, and was almost glaring at Yukio. She didn’t say anything about it, but he did look like he wanted to punch him, for some reason she couldn’t quite figure out…
How odd. They had looked so cute together earlier…
~~~
15 - Fireflies
Rin was quite proud of himself. Dinner went perfectly; everything was ready in a timely manner despite a few hiccups, and they were all able to sit together on the roof - after Shura had cleaned up whatever she’d been doing up here all day - and just enjoy each other’s company over a delicious meal. At the end of the day, they had all agreed to do this whole double date thing again sometime, and already they were putting out ideas and planning ahead of time, which made him very happy, as it’d been his own idea to do this in the first place.
The sky was clear that night, the air fresh yet pleasant. They all sat together by the edge of the roof, looking over the horizon, and the whole rest of the world spreading at their dangling feet, and for once, neither of them worried about the future, however far it waited. Rin was happy to just sit here, in the growing dark blue of night, with his friends, and just… let tomorrow come when it came. For now, the world was quiet, and Shiemi was leaning against him, and her body was warm and sought his own. He only needed to look down at her, at her smile and her eyes, and see the entire world, and he worried not, because he knew where he was going. Either way… he’d be with her.
“We could go to the beach next time,” Ryuji proposed, in a soft voice, as though he didn’t want to disturb the night air, and Yukio hummed.
“It’d be nice… I don’t get to go very often.”
“And when we do,” Rin snickered, “you hide in the shade anyway.”
“I just don’t want to burn. You know I don’t tan, you’ve got the same issue.”
“And I don’t hide from the sun.”
“And you end up burning anyway.”
Ryuji hummed, wrapping an arm around Yukio’s shoulders and drawing him close to him, in a way that made Rin smile just looking at them.
“I could cover you from head to toe in sunscreen. You’d be a bit slippery, but…”
Shiemi giggled at the image.
“I’m sure it’d help with buoyancy! He could float better in the water.”
“True! We should test it out!”
“Well, uh! Uh… I mean, sure.”
Rin raised his brows at his brother, surprised.
“You actually agree?” he asked, and Yukio’s face promptly turned red. “Who are you and what have you done with my shy little baby brother?”
“Listen,” Yukio started, shooting him a knowing glare, “you know I’m trying-”
“I’m just pulling your leg,” Rin laughed back, reaching over to slap him on the back. “If we get to try out the buttery-”
“Buoyancy.”
“-buoyamshy, then maybe you’ll finally let me bury you in sand!”
“Don’t push your luck, Nii-san.”
“You’re the one who’s gonna get buried,” Ryuji retorted, and they all shared a laugh at the image, and Rin felt good, and light.
And then… out of nowhere… they were surrounded by lights. Small dancing lights, flashing in and out of existence, all descending from somewhere above them, like little stars coming to greet them and light up their world. As they all stared in awe, Rin quickly realized what they were. Fireflies.
And as the little glowing insects surrounded them as a cloud, landed on their arms and shirts and made Shiemi laugh and awe, they all sat back, in silence, and watched the spectacle unfold, under a veil of peace. Shiemi glanced up at him, and it seemed to Rin that her eyes were full of fireflies as well, glowing just for him. The sight alone made him lean down and kiss her, a chaste yet telling kiss that said everything he wasn’t saying to her. She giggled, as she always did when he kissed her that way, and laid her head against him, and he sat back on his palm, holding her close…
“Nii-san.” He turned to look at Yukio. His brother was holding Ryuji’s hand, in a tight grip, but was looking at him, and whispered just for him to hear. “Will you tell me what you and Shiemi-san are hiding? You’ve worried me all day with this.”
Rin grinned back at his brother. He nodded.
“I’ll tell you tomorrow, how ‘bout that? Let’s just enjoy the moment…”
