Chapter Text
A little after 9 AM, a silver car is parked outside a familiar apartment building. The window is rolled down on the driver’s side as the car’s owner waits inside. The car’s owner waits inside with the window rolled down on their side. Moments later, the redhead walks out of the building’s entrance with a box in hand and heads towards the back of the car.
“And that’s the last of it.” Quickly slamming the car’s trunk shut, Rikki walks up to the side door and gets inside the passenger seat. Just as he puts on his seat belt, his loving but annoying brother starts the car.
“So, are you ready to head out now? Not going to say your goodbyes to Reoha?” Yutaka teases as he checks the rear-view mirror.
Usually, Rikki and Reoha are never too far from each other, so Yutaka’s used to the sight of the two attached by the hip by now—a comment thrown around constantly by their peers, friends, and family alike. However, when he came by early in the morning to help load Rikki’s luggage, he hadn’t seen a wisp of purple hair nearby.
“… I saw her in the morning. She had to leave.” He pauses before adding, “She has a checkup at the hospital today.” Rikki leans against the window.
The older man studies the redhead’s face before letting out a quiet sigh. He gets the hint not to continue the subject, so he starts the car and drives to the main road.
The redhead shifts in his seat. “But yeah, I should have everything packed.” While fiddling with his phone, the black screen glitches between blue and the colors of the rainbow, so he discreetly covers it.
He chuckles under his breath. They sure are impatient.
The man quickly glances at him before smiling.
“If not, then you know I can come back to pick up anything you left behind.” Considering the car is already on the main road, Rikki finds this funny.
Leaning forward, he inputs the address Tsumugi sent him in the car’s GPS.
The screen loads as the automated voice calls out, “In 300 feet, turn right.”
Both stay quiet on the way there. The automated voice chimes from time to time, the radio plays a slow jazz song, and the occasional traffic noise subtly fills the space.
Today’s the day Rikki finally moves into the dorms.
A few days ago, Tsumugi sent an email to IDOLiSH7 about their new living arrangements — a dorm. That email included the address and the time for moving in today, but she added that the agency wouldn’t be able to support everyone’s moving expenses.
Which is why his stuff is packed in the back of Yutaka’s Subaru Forester. It wasn’t a tough choice to ask who to drive him there. Rikki already knew his brother had moved to Tokyo because of a job transfer, so it would be easy for him to pick him up at Reoha’s place.
Though he didn’t expect his mature and responsible brother to call in late to work just for today. Still, it makes his heart warm that his brother did this for him.
Soon they arrive at their destination.
His brother parks somewhere nearby. The roads in the area are narrower than Rikki expected, so he’s surprised that his brother was able to park without a dent to his car.
They hop out of the car. Rikki goes to the back of the car to take out his suitcase, while Yutaka takes out the trolley from the back seat. After piling the boxes onto the trolley, they head towards the nearest entrance. What Rikki thinks is the front door, anyway.
Just as Rikki gets closer, he spots Tsumugi near the door. At the same time, so does she.
“Riku-san, welcome! You’re earlier than I expected.” She greets with a smile.
Well, he made sure to arrive 30 minutes early to avoid the hustle and bustle of everyone moving in at the same time.
Meanwhile, the older man behind him can’t help but raise an eyebrow at the sudden name. Since when did Rikki start letting anyone call him “Riku”?
Tsumugi curiously glances next to him. “And this is?”
Oh, right.
“Ah, this is my brother, Yutaka. He’s helping me move my stuff for today!” Rikki grins proudly.
Yutaka smiles gently. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Takanashi-san. Thank you for looking after Riku.”
Of course, his brother noticed. Nothing can get past this detective, but he’s glad that his brother caught on and switched to Riku.
“Likewise! I’m Takanashi Tsumugi, the manager of IDOLiSH7! Our agency is glad to have Riku-san with us. The door is already unlocked, so both of you are welcome to come in and unpack everything.”
“Thank you, Tsumugi-san!” Rikki smiles.
With their luggage in hand, they walk through the entrance. As they pass the living room and kitchen area, Rikki can’t help but think how much this resembles a dorm. Rikki randomly chooses a room and walks in, with Yutaka closely following behind him.
Just as Rikki thought, the room almost resembles a dorm room, minus the shared bathroom that connects to the next room. Also, he’s a little surprised there’s already a bed. There’s even a desk. Did the agency put in some of the basic furniture for them?
Quietly, Yutaka scans the room. “Any particular place you want me to put these in?”
Rikki looks around. “Uh, you can put those two boxes by the desk and that one by the bed.”
…
“Riku.”
A pause.
Immediately, Rikki flinches subtly. What he hopes is not obvious to his brother’s trained eye.
A strange tension slowly builds in him, so he lets out a small laugh to relieve it.
He can’t tell if it works.
“What’s up? You haven’t called me that in years.” He faces away from Yutaka while keeping a light tone.
“Hm? I thought you were okay with being called Riku since your manager called you that. I admit, I’m surprised to see you respond to the name after so long, unless it’s from your parents.” Yutaka turns to him as he crosses his arms.
“What happened to the boy who kicked up a fuss being called Riku all those years ago?” He mildly teases.
Honestly, the older man is incredibly shocked.
When Yutaka first met the redhead years ago, he introduced himself as Rikki, but once he met the boy’s parents, he learned his real name was Riku. After some time, he noticed that Rikki prefers being called that instead of his birth name. To the point that everyone close to him, except his parents, no longer call him Riku. Of course, the redhead knew this, but made no attempt to fix it and kept calling himself Rikki.
The only times Yutaka’s seen Rikki acknowledge his birth name were when the redhead was with his parents or for legal purposes.
So imagine his surprise when Rikki didn’t try to correct the young woman about the name.
“Haha, funny,” Rikki sarcastically laughs. “You know some idols use stage names instead of their real ones.”
“Yes, but aren’t stage names usually nicknames. In your case, it’s the opposite.”
“Hey, Riku might be my legal name, but it makes a great stage name!” He huffs as he sets a box near the bed.
Yutaka chuckles under his breath at the redhead’s sulking. However, he can tell that Rikki doesn’t want to continue the topic, so he decides to focus on unpacking the boxes.
The sound of boxes and cardboard reaches Rikki’s ears, so his body relaxes. At some point, he knew he would be questioned sometime — what he hopes is some DAYS later — by his friends. He can imagine the teasing and jokes flying around, especially getting the worst of it from Shiki, that crazy bastard.
Still, knowing Yutaka, he won’t ask anything unless Rikki’s ready to bring it up, and for that, he’s grateful that he hasn’t yet.
But he has his own reasons for this, and he knows that while his friends might question the sudden change, they would never really push him for answers unless he was comfortable sharing first.
Half an hour later, the room finally looks like a room.
His sheets and bedding are arranged neatly on the bed, his laptop set up on the desk, and his clothes folded and tucked into the drawers. Clearly, it looks like a young boy’s room.
“So this will be your new home, then.” Yutaka fully looks over at him.
Rikki gives a small chuckle. “Looks like it.” Yet the warmth doesn’t reach his eyes.
This is where he’ll be living. Indefinitely.
A hand reaches out and pats his shoulder before giving a small squeeze. Rikki looks over to see Yutaka giving him a light smile.
This expression.
He knows. And mostly, it’s the one he needs to see. The trust and support in his brother’s eyes slowly dissolves the mess inside him.
“Thank you.” And he really means it.
“No problem.” His wine eyes soften as he reaches out to ruffle his kid brother’s hair.
Rikki sees his move but lets him have this moment before swatting the hand away. His brother chuckles before crossing his arms.
“So, you’re all set then?”
For sure, he answers with a confident smile. “Definitely.”
So Yutaka only responds with a soft smile of his own. He knows full well that this young man, his 18-year-old brother, will do just fine.
And if there comes a time when Rikki needs a listening ear, he’ll be there. This they both know.
[✦✦]
After they finished unpacking everything, Yutaka decided he should leave and let Rikki hang out with his group members, so he said his goodbyes.
Then, a few minutes after Yutaka left, the rest of IDOLiSH7 arrived with their stuff. The older members were quite surprised that Riku arrived earlier than everyone else, but complimented him for being on top of things.
Even Iori was surprised, given how he stared a few seconds longer at him with an incredulous look.
Ah, did he really give off the impression of an irresponsible person?
Riku just gave a bright smile in response.
After that, everyone went to choose their rooms and unpack, while Riku lingered in the living room area and helped Tsumugi unpack the kitchen utilities. Then, he started cleaning around the living room.
Of course, he made sure to wear the proper protection.
In the middle of cleaning, Riku clearly heard the shouts of Mitsuki and Nagi, along with some cries.
So that just confirmed his worries — thin walls.
He sighs. Guess he’ll have to be careful when he calls at night.
A few of the members start trickling into the living room, like Mitsuki, Sougo, and Yamato. They also begin helping out by moving any leftover boxes, decorating, or placing any items. With their help, cleaning up became easier as they finished in half an hour.
Riku rests on a nearby couch and checks his phone for a bit.
Time really did fly by, and it went much faster than he expected.
His room is all set. The kitchen area is done. The living room is neat and clean.
Now, that just leaves…
Straightening up from his seat, Riku looks around. “By the way, have you seen the manager?”
“Iori and the manager went out to talk,” Sougo replies.
Ah, so this must be the start of the idol producer…
Hmm, did he just not notice the two stepping out?
The redhead sighs mournfully, “Then, I guess I’ll wait until they finish. I have a feeling Iori would be annoyed if I interrupted them.”
With a laugh, Mitsuki walks closer to Riku. “You don’t have to worry, Riku. If anything, Iori loves taking care of people like you and the manager the most!”
Riku blinks.
Does Mitsuki mean “cute” people? So far, Riku’s already caught on to Iori’s preference for anything cute, but he’s not sure if that applies to people too. Tsumugi he gets because, appearance-wise, she’s small and cute, along with her hardworking attitude that adds to her charm.
But him?
Riku admits his appearance leans more towards the softer side compared to the sharp and masculine look. In the past, he’d been annoyed with it, but he’s made peace with how he looks.
Handsome, okay. Boyish, sure. But cute?
He doesn’t see it, but it’s not like it’s the first time he’s heard that.
So, he responds to Mitsuki with a smile. “Then, I’ll take your word for it.”
Then, he claps his hands together, getting the attention of everyone. “So, since we finished cleaning up, how about we all play a game to get to know each other better!”
“Game? That sounds fun! I’m in!”
“It’d be nice to take a break.”
“So what game are we thinking?” Mitsuki asks.
Riku tilts his head. Let’s see… an icebreaker game would be ideal since the group is just getting to know one another. The problem is that most of the ones he knows are probably uncommon in Japan.
An easy game that’s easy to teach…
Oh!
“How about two truths and a lie?” He suggests with a bright smile.
Everyone grows confused, but Sougo’s face lights up.
“Oh, do you mean that game from America? I know it’s a popular game in the West.” Sougo points out, and he’s absolutely correct.
“That’s right, Sougo-san! And it’s pretty easy too! We each tell three things about us, and two have to be true, so everyone else has to guess which is the lie. Pretty easy, right?”
Mitsuki smiles. “Sounds good!”
“OK.” Tamaki hums.
“Sure, let’s play. Then, how about adding a reward for the winner?” Yamato asks with a sly grin. He can’t possibly be thinking about drinking this early?
“Hey, ossan!” Looks like Mitsuki thought the same thing.
“That’s a great idea, Yamato-san! How about the winner gets a free drink or snack from the losing members!” Riku grins excitedly.
Everyone agrees, while on the side, Yamato’s expression wilts a bit. As everyone takes a seat on the couch, Riku begins the game by starting first.
“Ne Rikkun, how do we win?” Tamaki asks as he slouches back.
Riku hums with a smile. “How about each time someone guesses the lie, that counts as a point, so the person with the most points in the end is the winner. And we can play paper, rock, scissors if there’s a tie. All in favor!” The redhead energetically raises his hand.
Mitsuki laughs at his exaggerated gesture, but follows his lead. The rest — Sougo, Yamato, and Tamaki — raise their hands with smiles.
With a grin, Riku starts, “Then I’ll start first if you guys don’t mind. My favorite food is hamburger steak, I saw a ghost outside my house when I was little, and once I met ZERO.”
[✦✦]
At the end of Riku’s turn, almost all 4 of them guessed his lie. He admits it was quite an outrageous lie that it was obvious.
To say the least, the game went on to last 3 rounds. Midway the 2nd round, Nagi joins them with an excited glimmer in his eye. To make it more engaging, everyone agrees to add a different theme with each round. It did prove to be more fun since everyone laughs at funny and ridiculous truths that everyone shares.
After a full round of laughter, Yamato, with tears in his eyes, remembers having a deck of cards in his room and asks Riku if he can fetch them so they can play cards. The next second, Mitsuki pounces on Yamato and starts scolding him for using the younger members to do tasks he can do himself.
Honestly, Riku doesn’t mind, but still saves Yamato from Mitsuki’s wrath.
After calming Mitsuki down, he quickly makes his way to the hallway.
Let’s see, Yamato said his room is on the left side, the second door. Riku approaches the supposed room, so it should be this one.
However, once he opens the door, he comes face-to-face with Iori. And Tsumugi. Both sitting on the floor.
Riku blinks. “Eh? Iori?”
Did he get the wrong door!?
And he just interrupted the first secret meeting between the two, didn’t he?
Then, there’s the iconic frown and glare on Iori’s face.
“Nanase-san, it’s quite rude to open a door without knocking first.”
“I’m sorry, Iori! It wasn’t my intention to interrupt your conversation. I was looking for Yamato’s room, but I guess I got the wrong room. My bad!” Riku gives an appeasing smile.
Iori sighs. “Which is why you should have knocked first to check whether anyone was inside before barging in like you did just now. Nanase-san, you should be more mindful of your surroundings.”
A few times, Iori has chided him for the smallest things, but he doesn’t mind. After all, he knows Iori isn’t doing it out of malice, so he doesn’t really get upset by his words.
But that doesn’t stop him from teasing Iori once in a while. “It’s my bad for coming in, but you really should put up a name tag on your door, no, all of us should! That’d be a lot easier for everyone!” He grins as if he’s solved the root of the problem.
A small tint of pink travels to Iori’s cheeks. He faces away from Riku while cupping his mouth.
“…Cute.”
“Hmm?” Riku tilts his head. Of course, he won’t explicitly call Iori out.
Iori splutters, “I mean—! Nanase-san, that isn’t the point. Besides, I’ve already finished everything I needed to discuss with the manager.”
Oh? So, their positions have already been decided? Well, hopefully, the topic he’s been wanting to bring up doesn’t change Tsumugi’s mind.
He perks up immediately, “That’s great! Manager, if you have time there’s something I need to talk to you about. We can talk in my room too.”
Tsumugi blinks before nodding, “Eh? Of course!”
Iori slightly narrows his eyes at his sudden request, then coughs into his fist. “Then, Manager, thank you for taking the time to meet with me. Also, Nanase-san, I hope you will be more mindful next time.”
That look, he’s definitely suspicious. In Riku’s mind, he can’t help but hope Iori doesn’t ask Tsumugi later.
To Iori’s words, he responds with a chuckle and a wave.
The two walk out of the room with Riku leading the blonde woman to his room. Once inside, the redhead moves a chair near the bed and motions to Tsumugi to take a seat. Then, he sits on the edge of the bed as they sit facing each other.
Once settled, she asks with a smile. “So, Riku-san, what did you want to talk to me about?”
He gives one in return. Well, here goes nothing.
“Manager, I hope this can stay between us,” He pauses for a second. “The truth is, I have asthma.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Eh?”
He softens his voice. “I’m sorry for hiding it from you and the others. I needed a job, and when I got scouted, I thought this was my chance. I wasn’t sure if the agency would have hired me if they knew about my asthma.”
After all, being an idol is tough work. The singing, the dancing, the fame, the media, and the stress that comes with it. These are not ideal conditions for his asthma.
Slowly, Tsumugi smiles gently. “I’m glad you told me this; otherwise, I’d have been extremely angry if you hid this from me until you passed out.”
Riku laughs internally. That might’ve been true in another life—a different time.
Then she tilts her head. “But what made you change your mind about telling me?” She freezes. “—Still! I’m glad that you told me.”
Oh?
“Actually, I discussed this with the president a few weeks ago. I was relieved that he wasn’t bothered by my asthma, but his reaction was similar to yours. He was upset that I hid it at first, but he understood why I did it.”
On the day IDOLiSH7 met, in fact. That day after the audition results were announced, he slipped away to chat with the president. He was surprised but, nonetheless, relieved when both Banri and the president were accepting of his condition. Everything went well.
He never did intend to reveal his medical condition to anyone. After all, he’s been living like this for the past five years, so he’s well aware of how to take care of himself. As the person in question, he knows his limits better than anyone. If he's being honest, he’d rather be bothered by sore muscles than pitying eyes.
He quickly focuses back on the blonde. “But I think the president was glad I told the truth instead of hiding it forever.” Riku grins as he lightly teases, “You two really are father and daughter, huh.”
A small blush appears on her cheeks, but she quickly composes herself. “That—! So… are you going to keep your asthma hidden from the group? I’m sure if you can explain why to the others then—!”
“Manager. I hope this can stay between us. I’m sorry that I’m being unreasonable, but I hope you’ll respect my wishes about keeping my condition private from others. At least for now.”
He can see that his last comment eased her worries a bit since she didn’t further persuade him. Even though he knows what he’s asking from her is strange. Telling her and asking her to keep it hidden from the others, but it’s a choice he’s made before coming here.
A strict expression settled on her face. “Okay. I understand. I’ll do my best to support you, but I hope you will be clear with me about your condition. I will not risk your health to keep your asthma hidden!”
She looks concerned for him, Riku thinks idly. At least for now, he knows she’ll watch his back. He can live with that.
“Thank you. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I promise you, even with my asthma, I won’t break. IDOLiSH7 will succeed.” He gives the sweetest smile he can muster.
Later that day in the practice room, Tsumugi announces to the rest that Nanase Riku will be the center of IDOLiSH7. Everyone congratulates him, so he does his best to respond enthusiastically to their words.
Something dramatic, maybe? He smiles confidently. “I’ll do my best as IDOLISH7’s center!”
His position as center has been decided, and everyone here has grown a bit closer.
Everything seems to be going well.
[✦✦]
Until it wasn’t.
“We’re idols! You guys lack focus, especially you, Tamaki and Nagi!”
The meeting room is in chaos.
In fact, the group’s almost coming apart before their second live show.
IDOLiSH7 held an outdoor performance at a park. It was a small performance, but still a success, as a crowd formed gradually at the end of each song.
However, things started getting messy when some members, specifically Tamaki and Nagi, got distracted at the end. That didn’t sit well with Mitsuki.
Which is why Mitsuki decided to host an intervention in the meeting room to help them be more “professional,” but it doesn’t seem to be working as well as he thought.
For one, Nagi runs to the TV once his favorite anime, Magical Kokona, starts and doesn’t pay any attention to the meeting.
Then next, Sougo starts scolding Tamaki for his irresponsible behavior, and, in turn, Tamaki argues back.
Riku sighs. Well, there was bound to be some trouble. He can already imagine it’s not gonna be easy living with 6 guys.
“Let’s take a break from performing.” Iori’s calm voice envelops the room.
Riku whips his head towards Iori.
What?
“Is what the manager is saying.” He smiles as he motions to Tsumugi standing behind him.
Oh, has the high school manager thought of a plan? Which explains why Iori’s using Tsumugi as his shield at the moment.
Then Riku observes everyone in the room. Honestly, he has an idea of what Iori has in mind, and he has to admit the raven-haired teen is pretty clever to have thought of that.
But why is he getting a bad feeling?
It wasn’t until later when Tsumugi gathered IDOLiSH7 in the practice room that his bad feeling was confirmed.
“Until TRIGGER’s concert, we’re not performing for a month?”
No performing, Riku can handle that. Besides, this gives him plenty of free time to visit Reoha and the others, make a few quick visits to the SEKAI, and he needs to work on that choreography piece…
But then….
“And no singing or dancing until the concert.”
No dancing!?
His body freezes. Even his smile falters for a second.
He did not sign up to be an idol for this!