Speed Skating for the Community!
Title: Speed Skating
Author: perkyandproud
Recipient: The Community
Characters: Oshitari Kenya, Oshitari Yuushi, Atobe Keigo
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The boys belong to Konomi
Summary: “Will I get along with my college roommates?”
Notes: I blame the cold I had and the various drugs I’m on for a lot of this.
Oshitari Kenya sat down in his assigned seat after stowing his luggage. He smiled politely at his seat mates, but then put on his headphones and closed his eyes, hiding behind the wall of sound. Train travel was fast, but it was very hard on him in other ways. As the train started to move him from Osaka to Tokyo, he let his mind drift to the reasons he was headed there with all his important belongings, minus one iguana.
The Oshitaris bred doctors. Family care, research associates, surgery specialists; the type didn't matter, they were all in the medical field and had been back as far as they could trace the line. For someone like Kenya who was a bit of a rebel with his blond hair, facial scars, and “no speed, no life” attitude, a lot of people were surprised when they found out that he had every intention of following in his family's footsteps. Sure he may have toyed with the idea of racing cars or playing tennis, but those could be hobbies, too. Especially for a rich, successful doctor. His luck, he'd end up working for some run down hospital in the middle of nowhere, feeling fulfilled and happy with his humdrum life and never experiencing the high life, he thought with a wry twist to his lips.
If anyone would make it big as a doctor, it would be Yuushi. His cousin could charm the skin off a snake or the bell off an abbot. Kenya was pretty sure it was the glasses. Because he usually saw Yuushi without them and therefore was immune to his cousin's power. Maybe. Yuushi was tricky though. One of the few people Kenya couldn't read. He knew his cousin did it deliberately too. Tricky cousin. And here he was about to spend the next six years with him.
Of course Kenya applied to all the best medical schools, not just the ones in Osaka. Zaizen had given him a silent look of betrayal, but had then scoffed at Kenya's chances of passing their tests. The look on the squirt's face when Kenya was sent acceptance letters by all of them was priceless. Even Shirashi had thought so. He wasn't sure if he should be offended by his friends' lack of faith or not. It wasn't like he was stupid. He just had a lot on his mind.
A foot brushed his leg and he looked up to see someone mouthing, “Excuse me,” as they got up to use the restroom. Too much coffee before a train trip was never a good idea, but at least the man's mother had made sure he ate a good breakfast, traditional Japanese, Kenya noted, before she drove him to the train station. He quickly closed his eyes and went back to his own thoughts. Alone, in his own head, not analyzing and reading random strangers. It was both harder and easier if they were friends. Easier because eventually he just knew everything about them. Even Chitose hadn't remained an enigma very long. Harder, of course, because Kenya had to watch what he said all the time so he didn't blurt out something he shouldn't know.
It was one of those traits that made some Oshitari men fantastic at diagnosing their patients. It also, over the years, made them a few enemies. Fortunately, they also tended to handsomeness and charm, which made it easy to make influential friends. Just look at Yuushi. All the charm and none of the instinctive knowledge. He'd be jealous, but honestly he didn't want to be Yuushi. It was enough getting to be around his cousin. Or to call him. But he wouldn't have to do that anymore. Not with them both going to Todai and Kenya coming to stay with his cousin's family in Tokyo.
Of course, that meant putting up with Yuushi's friends too. Some were okay. Ohtori, Kabaji, and Hiyoshi, still in High School, were decent sorts, kind of quiet, but not the same kind of quiet as each other. Jirou, when he wasn’t sleeping was a bundle of energy and fun, who either didn’t notice or didn’t care when Kenya slipped up. Then there were the deadly duo, Shishido and Gakuto. With the first three he'd assume he shouldn't know something about them, because they wouldn't have told him that information. With the two mouthiest members of the Hyoutei team, however, it wasn't that easy. He usually covered by cracking a joke, something one would expect from an Osakan, even if he personally wasn't very good at them. His teachers said he tended to rush the punch line. But waiting for some minds to think was so painful!
Speaking of more painful; the music he was pretending to listen to slipped from heavy metal to something more orchestral, reminding him of the biggest thorn of them all. Atobe Keigo. Kenya could understand why Yuushi was friends with him, yes. He was handsome, articulate, demanded perfection, and was generous to his friends. But sometimes Kenya worried that...that Yuushi liked Atobe more than he did Kenya. If only Yuushi wasn't so darn hard to read! And such a tease. Really, if Kenya didn't know exactly where he got it from, he'd wonder about Yuushi. But no, again, Yuushi was Oshitari, through and through. So frustrating, really.
But Atobe. Kenya cracked open an eye to see where on the trip he was. As fast as the train was, it was not instantaneous, after all. He settled back again, listening to the strings and booming kettle drums and thought about Atobe. The man was insufferable. Completely full of himself, acting like he was so special with his fancy Insight and all. ‘He did come from England, maybe he thinks he's Sherlock Holmes,’ Kenya thought to himself.
That was pure conjecture, of course. Kenya had never really gotten a chance to get to know Atobe, unlike Yuushi’s other teammates. He was even well acquainted with Taki. But for some reason, he and Atobe never managed to be in the same place at the same time. Kenya heard all about Atobe from Yuushi, naturally, but didn’t have a feel for the man himself to hang those images and stories from. Perhaps Yuushi thought that Atobe and Kenya would tear him apart in a jealousy driven fight, just like in those sappy romance novels Yuushi liked to read. Kenya could see his cousin playing the part of the angsting damsel to the hilt. Not that Kenya would stoop to such a level.
***
Atobe flicked a piece of lint off the sleeve of his jacket as he waited in the limo with Yuushi for the train. Such a troublesome cousin Yuushi had. He hoped the other appreciated the sacrifices he was making for his friend, allowing his cousin to stay with them as well when they went off to school. After all, he didn’t need to get a penthouse in Tokyo proper within walking distance of the school. Atobe had a perfectly good mansion and drivers for that sort of thing. But Yuushi, with that weird southern drawl of his had made it sound like a reasonable thing. Especially since the penthouse had its own tennis court. Just because he wasn’t going pro didn’t mean he was willing to give up on the game he loved, after all. This way it would be easier to find opponents now that half of them had graduated from high school. He wasn’t too sure how good of an opponent the cousin would be, though he could scarcely be worse than Gakuto.
Perhaps he could foist the cousin off on their other roommate, Jirou, from time to time. His friend was actually looking forward to the cousin’s arrival as well, though he wasn’t with them to pick him up, something about a family get-together of his own. Atobe sighed, just a little, as he looked over at Yuushi again, who was sitting, one leg over the other, reading one of those silly trashy romances he liked. Atobe had tried reading one once, but the plot holes and inconsistencies had thrown him from the story, not to mention the characterizations. He tried to explain to Yuushi, but finally had realized that the other was more in love with the idea of being in love, and the details didn’t really matter.
“Your sighing is getting distracting, Atobe” Yuushi drawled as he turned the page. “If the train has arrived, Kenya will be here in a few moments. He doesn’t like to keep people waiting.”
Unlike Yuushi. Which was why Atobe insisted on them using his driver to pick the cousin up. The two of them probably averaged to someone normal, he thought with a snort. Not that he knew much of the cousin other than what Yuushi had told him, but he knew his friend loved to tease his cousin. It was actually rather strange, now that he thought about it. Yuushi spent hours on the phone talking to his cousin, spent time in the summer with him as well, yet Atobe couldn’t really note more than a handful of times he’d met the cousin, and most of those were at a tennis match. He gave Yuushi another glance. The man was as impenetrable to his Insight as ever, drat him. It made a refreshing change, usually, but when he wanted to know what was going on in the other’s head, it was frustrating.
The car door opened, letting in a burst of natural light. Silhouetted against that light, was the cousin, handing his bags off to the driver. “Thanks,” the cousin drawled. It was similar to Yuushi’s, but missed that little edge that made you turn and look at the blue-haired megane when he spoke. The cousin grinned at them both as he slid into the limo and greeted them.
“Kenya!” Yuushi actually put his book down when the cousin got in, patting the seat next to him so that they could sit together. How grade school, Atobe thought with a sneer. The cousin and Yuushi gushed on for a few minutes about family and trips and the like as the car started moving, ignoring him at first. He took the time to give the cousin the once over. Casual clothes for the train trip, no signs of crumbs or spills, must not have eaten yet, hair was rumpled from the earphones he’d been wearing during the trip, however, and….
The cousin looked over at Atobe and their eyes met.
****
“Oh, hell!” Yuushi swore as both Kenya and Keigo went blank and glassy eyed. He’d always suspected this would happen if they met, but he’d finally convinced himself that it wouldn’t. His cousin didn’t call it Insight, but Yuushi knew from a childhood spent with the him, and both junior and senior high school spent with Atobe, that it was almost exactly the same as Keigo’s ability. Of course, Kenya didn’t advertise his. He didn’t have the over the top personality that Keigo had developed to protect himself over the years, after all. He waved a hand between the two of them, but they didn’t react.
“Kenya? Keigo?” He tried their names, but that didn’t work either. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on in those two minds of theirs, but he suspected that by the end of this exchange, if they didn’t burn each other out, they would know each other better than he knew either of them. He admitted to himself that he was most certainly jealous of that. Kenya was his cousin and Keigo was his friend, after all! What if they decided to like each other more than him and he would lose them both?
Yuushi shook himself out of his self-pitying mindset. He wasn’t one of those weak-minded people who couldn’t handle a little plot twist in life. He would just have to make sure that he remained important to both of them. Right now, however, he needed them to snap out of it, or they’d arrive at their destination and the driver would freak out. Atobe Keigo was an Heir, after all, and Heirs did not look poleaxed like this. “Come on, you two, snap out of it!” He cursed again, to himself, even he could hear the note of alarm creeping into his voice.
***
I think we’re freaking Yuu-tan out, Kenya thought and Atobe thought back his agreement. It wasn’t as though the two of them had suddenly become psychic in that eternal moment since their eyes met and their minds and abilities had collided, but it was likely what other people would assume. He could feel Kenya’s resignation at this, but the other perked up instantly when Atobe’s love for the spotlight assured him that few people would realize that it was both of them, not just Atobe who was like this. Kenya snorted at the convoluted logic of that true statement. He wasn’t disagreeing, of course, but he was as amused by Atobe at how difficult it was to tell which one of them was thinking these thoughts.
It really didn’t matter when it was just the two of them, not any more. It was nice to know someone else so intimately, right down to how well they know you. Kabaji came close, Atobe thought, in that he was an open book to Atobe, but never pried into Atobe’s motivations. The trust was there, since childhood and it was enough for both of them. Kenya, having met Kabaji before, agreed wholeheartedly. Yuu-tan is different though, crossed Atobe’s mind. He is refreshing because he has completely sealed himself away so that we can’t read him. Though with two of us, like this, we might crack that nut, he agreed. Atobe wasn’t sure if that he was Atobe or Kenya. He didn’t recall ever using Osakan slang before, but there was a first time for everything, he supposed, since it was something the other him used all the time.
Their thoughts were jumbled together like rice and water. Combining and mixing and becoming something greater than just each of them alone. Though they had been pretty fantastic as individual people, no doubt there. It was a good thing that they’d be living together now, in Atobe’s penthouse, with Yuu-tan and Jirou. Jirou was also not easily freaked out, which made the both of them happy. Not going out in public together until they’d practiced some was likely a good idea. It was like, they were aware they were two separate people, yet at the same time, they were so aware of each other that they weren't. Which strangely, both of them were fine with. Oh, but they still needed to speak to Yuu-tan and reassure him that they were okay. If they were okay.
Speaking of Yuushi, What were they going to do about him? Both examined each other’s feelings for the blue-haired megane with the maddening habits and strange taste in reading material. I feel that way too, Kenya agreed. Even though he is my cousin, yes. Atobe agreed back that he hadn’t ever admitted it, even to himself, because the other was so maddening, and because of his obvious fondness for Kenya. How can I compete with you? they each asked.
***
Yuushi was not freaking out. Just because they were almost to their destination and the two men in the back of the limo with him were completely unresponsive and staring at each other fixedly despite the motions of the road… He closed his own eyes for a moment to take a deep breath as he realized he was thinking in runon sentences. He was better than that. Okay. So Keigo and Kenya’s Insight had melded together in an unpredictable way, that didn’t mean there was anything wrong with either of them. He was sure, whatever had happened, they would eventually come out of it and be their normal, charming, infuriating selves again. Sudden movement pulled him from his own thoughts and he realized that both men were smirking at him. He’d never realized before how similar they were when they did that.
Keigo flicked back his bangs and shot Yuushi a sidelong look that made him quite uncomfortable. It was bad enough when the other would do that during a team meeting, but they were in front of his beloved cousin, for heaven’s sake! ...who was giving him the exact same look. Yuushi fought to close himself back off, but the shock was as sudden and sharp as the heat that flooded his body. ‘Are,” he started once, then cleared his throat and tried again, “are you two quite done, we’re almost there.”
A flick of two pairs of eyes and the smirks grew just a bit wider. “Good,” said Keigo, a hint of drawl in his voice. “We can hardly wait to get home,” Kenya agreed as the two changed positions so they were sitting to either side of Yuushi. “We should discuss the sleeping arrangements,” Keigo continued. “Naturally my bed will be big enough, but I am used to sleeping alone, so there will be a period of adjustment.”
Kenya nodded to Yuushi’s left. “Since you like to be the center of attention, I think you will adjust fairly quickly if you are mostly in the middle,” he suggested, his arm coming up around Yuushi’s shoulders. Yuushi’s breath caught as Keigo did the same on his other side and he registered what the two of them had implied. They weren’t excluding him. He wasn’t going to have to chose between them. This was...tension he hadn’t realized he’d had abruptly disappeared, leaving him leaning back into their arms.
“Well, then,” Yuushi said with his characteristic drawl. “It looks like we’ve finally arrived at our destination.”
Author: perkyandproud
Recipient: The Community
Characters: Oshitari Kenya, Oshitari Yuushi, Atobe Keigo
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The boys belong to Konomi
Summary: “Will I get along with my college roommates?”
Notes: I blame the cold I had and the various drugs I’m on for a lot of this.
Oshitari Kenya sat down in his assigned seat after stowing his luggage. He smiled politely at his seat mates, but then put on his headphones and closed his eyes, hiding behind the wall of sound. Train travel was fast, but it was very hard on him in other ways. As the train started to move him from Osaka to Tokyo, he let his mind drift to the reasons he was headed there with all his important belongings, minus one iguana.
The Oshitaris bred doctors. Family care, research associates, surgery specialists; the type didn't matter, they were all in the medical field and had been back as far as they could trace the line. For someone like Kenya who was a bit of a rebel with his blond hair, facial scars, and “no speed, no life” attitude, a lot of people were surprised when they found out that he had every intention of following in his family's footsteps. Sure he may have toyed with the idea of racing cars or playing tennis, but those could be hobbies, too. Especially for a rich, successful doctor. His luck, he'd end up working for some run down hospital in the middle of nowhere, feeling fulfilled and happy with his humdrum life and never experiencing the high life, he thought with a wry twist to his lips.
If anyone would make it big as a doctor, it would be Yuushi. His cousin could charm the skin off a snake or the bell off an abbot. Kenya was pretty sure it was the glasses. Because he usually saw Yuushi without them and therefore was immune to his cousin's power. Maybe. Yuushi was tricky though. One of the few people Kenya couldn't read. He knew his cousin did it deliberately too. Tricky cousin. And here he was about to spend the next six years with him.
Of course Kenya applied to all the best medical schools, not just the ones in Osaka. Zaizen had given him a silent look of betrayal, but had then scoffed at Kenya's chances of passing their tests. The look on the squirt's face when Kenya was sent acceptance letters by all of them was priceless. Even Shirashi had thought so. He wasn't sure if he should be offended by his friends' lack of faith or not. It wasn't like he was stupid. He just had a lot on his mind.
A foot brushed his leg and he looked up to see someone mouthing, “Excuse me,” as they got up to use the restroom. Too much coffee before a train trip was never a good idea, but at least the man's mother had made sure he ate a good breakfast, traditional Japanese, Kenya noted, before she drove him to the train station. He quickly closed his eyes and went back to his own thoughts. Alone, in his own head, not analyzing and reading random strangers. It was both harder and easier if they were friends. Easier because eventually he just knew everything about them. Even Chitose hadn't remained an enigma very long. Harder, of course, because Kenya had to watch what he said all the time so he didn't blurt out something he shouldn't know.
It was one of those traits that made some Oshitari men fantastic at diagnosing their patients. It also, over the years, made them a few enemies. Fortunately, they also tended to handsomeness and charm, which made it easy to make influential friends. Just look at Yuushi. All the charm and none of the instinctive knowledge. He'd be jealous, but honestly he didn't want to be Yuushi. It was enough getting to be around his cousin. Or to call him. But he wouldn't have to do that anymore. Not with them both going to Todai and Kenya coming to stay with his cousin's family in Tokyo.
Of course, that meant putting up with Yuushi's friends too. Some were okay. Ohtori, Kabaji, and Hiyoshi, still in High School, were decent sorts, kind of quiet, but not the same kind of quiet as each other. Jirou, when he wasn’t sleeping was a bundle of energy and fun, who either didn’t notice or didn’t care when Kenya slipped up. Then there were the deadly duo, Shishido and Gakuto. With the first three he'd assume he shouldn't know something about them, because they wouldn't have told him that information. With the two mouthiest members of the Hyoutei team, however, it wasn't that easy. He usually covered by cracking a joke, something one would expect from an Osakan, even if he personally wasn't very good at them. His teachers said he tended to rush the punch line. But waiting for some minds to think was so painful!
Speaking of more painful; the music he was pretending to listen to slipped from heavy metal to something more orchestral, reminding him of the biggest thorn of them all. Atobe Keigo. Kenya could understand why Yuushi was friends with him, yes. He was handsome, articulate, demanded perfection, and was generous to his friends. But sometimes Kenya worried that...that Yuushi liked Atobe more than he did Kenya. If only Yuushi wasn't so darn hard to read! And such a tease. Really, if Kenya didn't know exactly where he got it from, he'd wonder about Yuushi. But no, again, Yuushi was Oshitari, through and through. So frustrating, really.
But Atobe. Kenya cracked open an eye to see where on the trip he was. As fast as the train was, it was not instantaneous, after all. He settled back again, listening to the strings and booming kettle drums and thought about Atobe. The man was insufferable. Completely full of himself, acting like he was so special with his fancy Insight and all. ‘He did come from England, maybe he thinks he's Sherlock Holmes,’ Kenya thought to himself.
That was pure conjecture, of course. Kenya had never really gotten a chance to get to know Atobe, unlike Yuushi’s other teammates. He was even well acquainted with Taki. But for some reason, he and Atobe never managed to be in the same place at the same time. Kenya heard all about Atobe from Yuushi, naturally, but didn’t have a feel for the man himself to hang those images and stories from. Perhaps Yuushi thought that Atobe and Kenya would tear him apart in a jealousy driven fight, just like in those sappy romance novels Yuushi liked to read. Kenya could see his cousin playing the part of the angsting damsel to the hilt. Not that Kenya would stoop to such a level.
***
Atobe flicked a piece of lint off the sleeve of his jacket as he waited in the limo with Yuushi for the train. Such a troublesome cousin Yuushi had. He hoped the other appreciated the sacrifices he was making for his friend, allowing his cousin to stay with them as well when they went off to school. After all, he didn’t need to get a penthouse in Tokyo proper within walking distance of the school. Atobe had a perfectly good mansion and drivers for that sort of thing. But Yuushi, with that weird southern drawl of his had made it sound like a reasonable thing. Especially since the penthouse had its own tennis court. Just because he wasn’t going pro didn’t mean he was willing to give up on the game he loved, after all. This way it would be easier to find opponents now that half of them had graduated from high school. He wasn’t too sure how good of an opponent the cousin would be, though he could scarcely be worse than Gakuto.
Perhaps he could foist the cousin off on their other roommate, Jirou, from time to time. His friend was actually looking forward to the cousin’s arrival as well, though he wasn’t with them to pick him up, something about a family get-together of his own. Atobe sighed, just a little, as he looked over at Yuushi again, who was sitting, one leg over the other, reading one of those silly trashy romances he liked. Atobe had tried reading one once, but the plot holes and inconsistencies had thrown him from the story, not to mention the characterizations. He tried to explain to Yuushi, but finally had realized that the other was more in love with the idea of being in love, and the details didn’t really matter.
“Your sighing is getting distracting, Atobe” Yuushi drawled as he turned the page. “If the train has arrived, Kenya will be here in a few moments. He doesn’t like to keep people waiting.”
Unlike Yuushi. Which was why Atobe insisted on them using his driver to pick the cousin up. The two of them probably averaged to someone normal, he thought with a snort. Not that he knew much of the cousin other than what Yuushi had told him, but he knew his friend loved to tease his cousin. It was actually rather strange, now that he thought about it. Yuushi spent hours on the phone talking to his cousin, spent time in the summer with him as well, yet Atobe couldn’t really note more than a handful of times he’d met the cousin, and most of those were at a tennis match. He gave Yuushi another glance. The man was as impenetrable to his Insight as ever, drat him. It made a refreshing change, usually, but when he wanted to know what was going on in the other’s head, it was frustrating.
The car door opened, letting in a burst of natural light. Silhouetted against that light, was the cousin, handing his bags off to the driver. “Thanks,” the cousin drawled. It was similar to Yuushi’s, but missed that little edge that made you turn and look at the blue-haired megane when he spoke. The cousin grinned at them both as he slid into the limo and greeted them.
“Kenya!” Yuushi actually put his book down when the cousin got in, patting the seat next to him so that they could sit together. How grade school, Atobe thought with a sneer. The cousin and Yuushi gushed on for a few minutes about family and trips and the like as the car started moving, ignoring him at first. He took the time to give the cousin the once over. Casual clothes for the train trip, no signs of crumbs or spills, must not have eaten yet, hair was rumpled from the earphones he’d been wearing during the trip, however, and….
The cousin looked over at Atobe and their eyes met.
****
“Oh, hell!” Yuushi swore as both Kenya and Keigo went blank and glassy eyed. He’d always suspected this would happen if they met, but he’d finally convinced himself that it wouldn’t. His cousin didn’t call it Insight, but Yuushi knew from a childhood spent with the him, and both junior and senior high school spent with Atobe, that it was almost exactly the same as Keigo’s ability. Of course, Kenya didn’t advertise his. He didn’t have the over the top personality that Keigo had developed to protect himself over the years, after all. He waved a hand between the two of them, but they didn’t react.
“Kenya? Keigo?” He tried their names, but that didn’t work either. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on in those two minds of theirs, but he suspected that by the end of this exchange, if they didn’t burn each other out, they would know each other better than he knew either of them. He admitted to himself that he was most certainly jealous of that. Kenya was his cousin and Keigo was his friend, after all! What if they decided to like each other more than him and he would lose them both?
Yuushi shook himself out of his self-pitying mindset. He wasn’t one of those weak-minded people who couldn’t handle a little plot twist in life. He would just have to make sure that he remained important to both of them. Right now, however, he needed them to snap out of it, or they’d arrive at their destination and the driver would freak out. Atobe Keigo was an Heir, after all, and Heirs did not look poleaxed like this. “Come on, you two, snap out of it!” He cursed again, to himself, even he could hear the note of alarm creeping into his voice.
***
I think we’re freaking Yuu-tan out, Kenya thought and Atobe thought back his agreement. It wasn’t as though the two of them had suddenly become psychic in that eternal moment since their eyes met and their minds and abilities had collided, but it was likely what other people would assume. He could feel Kenya’s resignation at this, but the other perked up instantly when Atobe’s love for the spotlight assured him that few people would realize that it was both of them, not just Atobe who was like this. Kenya snorted at the convoluted logic of that true statement. He wasn’t disagreeing, of course, but he was as amused by Atobe at how difficult it was to tell which one of them was thinking these thoughts.
It really didn’t matter when it was just the two of them, not any more. It was nice to know someone else so intimately, right down to how well they know you. Kabaji came close, Atobe thought, in that he was an open book to Atobe, but never pried into Atobe’s motivations. The trust was there, since childhood and it was enough for both of them. Kenya, having met Kabaji before, agreed wholeheartedly. Yuu-tan is different though, crossed Atobe’s mind. He is refreshing because he has completely sealed himself away so that we can’t read him. Though with two of us, like this, we might crack that nut, he agreed. Atobe wasn’t sure if that he was Atobe or Kenya. He didn’t recall ever using Osakan slang before, but there was a first time for everything, he supposed, since it was something the other him used all the time.
Their thoughts were jumbled together like rice and water. Combining and mixing and becoming something greater than just each of them alone. Though they had been pretty fantastic as individual people, no doubt there. It was a good thing that they’d be living together now, in Atobe’s penthouse, with Yuu-tan and Jirou. Jirou was also not easily freaked out, which made the both of them happy. Not going out in public together until they’d practiced some was likely a good idea. It was like, they were aware they were two separate people, yet at the same time, they were so aware of each other that they weren't. Which strangely, both of them were fine with. Oh, but they still needed to speak to Yuu-tan and reassure him that they were okay. If they were okay.
Speaking of Yuushi, What were they going to do about him? Both examined each other’s feelings for the blue-haired megane with the maddening habits and strange taste in reading material. I feel that way too, Kenya agreed. Even though he is my cousin, yes. Atobe agreed back that he hadn’t ever admitted it, even to himself, because the other was so maddening, and because of his obvious fondness for Kenya. How can I compete with you? they each asked.
***
Yuushi was not freaking out. Just because they were almost to their destination and the two men in the back of the limo with him were completely unresponsive and staring at each other fixedly despite the motions of the road… He closed his own eyes for a moment to take a deep breath as he realized he was thinking in runon sentences. He was better than that. Okay. So Keigo and Kenya’s Insight had melded together in an unpredictable way, that didn’t mean there was anything wrong with either of them. He was sure, whatever had happened, they would eventually come out of it and be their normal, charming, infuriating selves again. Sudden movement pulled him from his own thoughts and he realized that both men were smirking at him. He’d never realized before how similar they were when they did that.
Keigo flicked back his bangs and shot Yuushi a sidelong look that made him quite uncomfortable. It was bad enough when the other would do that during a team meeting, but they were in front of his beloved cousin, for heaven’s sake! ...who was giving him the exact same look. Yuushi fought to close himself back off, but the shock was as sudden and sharp as the heat that flooded his body. ‘Are,” he started once, then cleared his throat and tried again, “are you two quite done, we’re almost there.”
A flick of two pairs of eyes and the smirks grew just a bit wider. “Good,” said Keigo, a hint of drawl in his voice. “We can hardly wait to get home,” Kenya agreed as the two changed positions so they were sitting to either side of Yuushi. “We should discuss the sleeping arrangements,” Keigo continued. “Naturally my bed will be big enough, but I am used to sleeping alone, so there will be a period of adjustment.”
Kenya nodded to Yuushi’s left. “Since you like to be the center of attention, I think you will adjust fairly quickly if you are mostly in the middle,” he suggested, his arm coming up around Yuushi’s shoulders. Yuushi’s breath caught as Keigo did the same on his other side and he registered what the two of them had implied. They weren’t excluding him. He wasn’t going to have to chose between them. This was...tension he hadn’t realized he’d had abruptly disappeared, leaving him leaning back into their arms.
“Well, then,” Yuushi said with his characteristic drawl. “It looks like we’ve finally arrived at our destination.”