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“TRIANGLE ATTACK!”
With that joyful cry, Misumi tackled Banri to the floor, sending the door clattering.
“Agh!” Like a wrestler tapping out, Banri slapped his assailant’s back. “Get off!”
“It’s your triangle shirt!” Misumi nuzzled against the triangle-shaped logo in question. “Your triangle shirt! It’s my favorite!”
“So what? You coulda killed me!”
“Nuh-uh! Banri’s much too tough for that.”
Grumbling, Banri extracted himself from Misumi’s vicelike hug with some scornful squirming. He climbed to his feet, brushing off his leopard-print pajama pants. “Seriously, don’t go jumping on people outta nowhere. Specially not this late at night. Sakyo’s gonna tear you a new one.”
“But it’s important! Important!”
“Really now.”
“Really! It’s about Kumon.”
Concern settled in the furrow between Banri's eyebrows – though he would surely deny it if anyone pointed it out. “What about him? Is he getting worse?”
“No, no. He’s going to be okay, Izumi said. His fever isn’t high enough to go to the hospital. But Juza wants to stay with him overnight, just in case.”
“Yeah, I know. What’s your point?”
“Well, our room only has two beds. I wanted to make a triangle nest on the floor, but Izumi said I have to sleep in a proper bed. Sleeping in odd positions isn’t good for you, she said.” Misumi’s sunset-colored eyes met Banri’s. “So…”
“So, what?”
“So she though we should have a triangle sleepover!” Misumi bounced with glee. “Doesn’t that sound fun?!”
Banri’s eyes widened. “You’re asking if you can sleep HERE?”
“Yeah, yeah! Can we? Please? For Kumon’s sake?”
“Well, I WAS looking forward to having a room to myself for once. But if you’re not gonna take no for an answer-”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to. I can just go sleep in the attic, like I used to.”
“What? No. You’re not sleeping in the attic like some homeless guy-”
“Or on the roof! The triangle roof!”
“Hell no! It’s gonna rain tonight! Ugh-” Banri ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Fine! You can stay here! But only for tonight, got it?”
“I can?! Oh, hooray, hooray!” Misumi hugged Banri around the middle. “Thanks, Banri! You’re a true triangle friend!”
“Okay, first of all-” Banri peeled Misumi’s arms off him. “My room, my rules, okay? If you’re a guest, you gotta follow directions.”
“Okay!”
“Rule one is no more jumping on me. Doesn’t matter if you see a triangle or not. You gotta ask first.”
“Okay!”
“Rule two is don’t eat any of my snacks. You can eat Hyodo’s, though I dunno why you’d wanna put that shit in your body.” Banri pointed at Juza’s lower desk drawer. “That’s his main stash.” Then he pointed at the upper shelf of the closet. “And that’s his secret stash he thinks I don’t know about. Help yourself.”
“Okay!”
“Rule three is, uh… no talking about triangles past eleven PM. I gotta be at a Spring Troupe practice by seven AM tomorrow, so I can’t stay up all night.”
“Okay! Anything else?”
“I guess that’s it?”
“Yay!” Misumi twirled in place. “This is going to be so much fun!”
Banri shook his head, an amused scoff leaving him. “It’s really not that exciting…”
“But it is! We don’t get to see each other much, you know?”
“What’re you talking about? Since I became assistant director, I show up to Summer Troupe practices all the time.”
“But practice isn’t quite the same as hanging out with friends! And usually we’re both busy during the day. You have school and directing and acting gigs, and I have triangles to hunt!”
“Don’t you also have part-time jobs? Don’t tell me you’re blowing them off to look for triangles.”
“Never, never! I only take triangle jobs, so every day is still full of triangles!”
“Oh, right. Obviously.”
“Anyway, sometimes Banri and I are so busy we don’t see each other for days. It’s like we’re two triangles who never intersect.” Misumi gazed wistfully out the window. “Or two stars on opposite sides of the summer sky…”
“I dunno if I’d go that far.” Banri finally gave up on pushing the smile from his face. “But I guess it’s nice to hang out for once.”
“Yeah!” Enthusiasm restored, Misumi zoomed over to Juza’s bunk-bed ladder. “Let’s talk about triangles all night!”
“Did you already forget rule three-” Banri broke off. “Wait, hold that thought. Are you going to bed in your clothes?”
“Oh, yeah! I forgot. I was so happy to have a triangle sleepover that I didn’t pack anything… But Kumon’s resting, and I don’t want to wake him up. So it’s okay, right?”
“You kidding me? You’re gonna get the sheets all dirty! And sleeping in jeans is a federal crime!”
“It is?”
“Well, no, but it should be.” Banri heaved a thunderous sigh, then tugged up the hem of his shirt. “Here.”
“Huh?”
Pulling off his shirt, Banri tossed it towards Misumi. “Take it. There’s some sweats in the closet you can borrow, too.”
Misumi caught the shirt, but was otherwise motionless. He stared at the triangle logo in bewilderment. “I can borrow your shirt? Your favorite triangle shirt?”
“It’s really not my favorite. You’re the only person who thinks it’s special, in fact.” Banri shrugged. “Just take it.”
Slowly, Misumi’s face stretched into an elated grin. “Really?!” He whirled around, cradling the shirt to his chest. “Yay, yay, yay! Banri’s special triangle shirt! Thank you! I’ll take good care of it!”
“Yeah, yeah. Quit spinning around in circles before you collapse.”
“I’m not spinning in circles,” said Misumi, frowning. “I’m spinning in triangles.” He pointedly oscillated at a tenth of the speed, demonstrating the pattern in question.
“Alright, sheesh. Sorry I asked.”
Not even talk of circles – that most blasphemous of shapes – could bring Misumi’s mood down for long. Humming, he rifled through Banri’s closet, searching for a pair of sweatpants that were suitably triangular. “You’re so nice, Banri.”
“What? Uh, thanks. You don’t gotta make it into such a big deal.”
“But it is a big deal! It’s not just that you’re nice. It’s the way that you’re nice.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Some people act kind, but aren’t actually kind. They smile at you and tell you they like spending time with you, but they don’t really mean it.” Misumi’s voice was quieter than before. “It doesn’t make any sense at all, but that’s just the way the world is.”
Banri paused. “You’ve… met people like that before?”
“Lots of them.” Misumi slipped out of his hoodie and pulled on Banri’s triangle shirt. “But Banri isn’t like that. If something annoys you, you don’t hide it at all. So when you do nice things, I know it’s because you really, really mean it!”
Now changed, he turned to face Banri, only to be met with a faraway look on his friend’s face. Banri was quiet, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
“That’s how you see me?” he eventually said.
Misumi nodded earnestly.
“Huh.” Banri smiled, and the hard, triangular look in his eyes faded for a moment. “Guess I should say thanks, then.”
“You’re welcome!” As if nothing particularly deep had just transpired between them, Misumi scampered up the bunk bed ladder. “Wow! Juza’s bed is so triangular!”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh! There’s triangles everywhere! This package is a triangle!” Misumi tossed a handful of foil wrappers into the air, watching them rain down like confetti. “And these ones have little triangles along the edges, where you open them!”
“Goddammit, is he leaving his candy wrappers in bed AGAIN? I keep telling him we’re gonna get ants!”
“It’s okay! I’ll take them to my room in the morning!”
“That’s not solving the problem!” Banri sighed. “Whatever. It’s too late for this.” He walked over to the wall and switched off the lights, blanketing the room in dim navy-blue.
Misumi lay down, the mattress crinkling as more candy wrappers shifted beneath the sheets. “You’re right. Let’s go to sleep and dream triangle dreams!”
“Sure, go ahead.” Banri climbed up his own ladder with one hand, his phone in the other. “I’ve got a couple login bonuses to claim first.”
“Are you playing games? Triangle games?!”
“Uh, not really. This one’s a pixel-art game, actually, so if anything it’s mostly squares.”
“Oh.”
“...If I see any cool triangles, I’ll let you know.”
“Okay!” Misumi drew the bedsheets up to his chin, the smile back on his face. “You like playing games, huh?”
“Sure. I wouldn’t call myself a ‘gamer’ anymore, but they’re good to let off steam.”
“That’s nice.” Misumi snuggled into bed, the mattress crinkling some more. “I’m glad you have your own triangle of happiness.”
“Dare I ask what the hell that means?”
“It’s simple! My grandpa told me that everyone gets to find three treasures in life. One or two isn’t quite enough, and four is too greedy. But three is the perfect number! If you find the three things you treasure most, your life will be happy and triangular!”
“That so? And your three treasures are?”
“Triangle, acting, and friends!”
Banri snorted. “Shoulda guessed that.”
“What about you? One of your treasures has got to be games, right?”
“’Treasure’ might be overselling it, but… if games includes, like, competing with the Autumn Troupe and stuff, then sure.”
“And acting’s got to be another treasure, right?”
“Well, yeah. That goes without saying.”
“So what’s your third treasure?” Misumi swiveled around in the sheets. “The Autumn Troupe?”
Before his eyes, Banri’s silhouette went still. Colorful notifications from his mobile game bounced on his phone screen, unread and forgotten.
“Something like that,” he finally said. “It’s not just them, though.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Banri glanced over his shoulder at Misumi, almost playful. “There’s some Summer Troupe actors who are pretty alright.”
“Like me?”
“Heh. Don’t push it.” With that, Banri returned to his phone. “That’s 11:01. No more triangles till tomorrow, ‘kay? Go to sleep.”
Misumi nodded, closing his eyes. “Goodnight, Banri.”
“Night.”
For a while, only the soft glow of Banri’s mobile game, and the occasional tapping of his fingers, penetrated the dark. Soon, even that stopped, and there was the quiet click of a charger slotting into a device. As the minutes ticked by, the silence was replaced with the slow, steady breathing of someone in deep slumber.
Only then did Misumi sit up, and twist around, and peer over the divider between their beds.
He watched the trees outside the window casting long shadows over Banri’s face, broken up by shafts of moonlight. There was nothing triangular about Banri now – his squinting eyes, his curving smirk, and his sharp words were absent. Yet he was more captivating than ever, all smooth skin and long eyelashes and sandy-brown hair engulfing the pillow.
“Grandpa?” Misumi whispered. “This is why you told me three treasures was enough, right? Because being too greedy only hurts you in the end.”
He grasped the front of his shirt, wringing it between his forefinger and thumb. The triangle logo warped and crumbled.
“I don’t need a fourth treasure,” he said weakly. “Three is enough. I don’t need four.”
He repeated it a few more times, each one with less conviction, until the only thing passing between his lips was air.
***
When Banri woke up the next morning, his triangle shirt was folded neatly on the bed, the window was open, and Misumi was gone.