The next day when Kaito wakes up, it's because it's cold.
Not actually cold, but colder than with Ryouga on top of him, obviously.
(Ryouga probably left like half an hour ago.)
He sighs, downs some meds, pulls the pillow closer and falls asleep again.
When Kaito opens his eyes again, he feels a lot better.
He rolls over, coughs, checks his temperature. Could be better, but at least it's not horrible anymore.
He checks the clock.
About time to visit Haruto.
He gets up. His phone is blinking.
[LINE | one new message from Ryouga | 16 minutes ago]
Really?
Kaito sighs and opens it.
[dont even think about going to the hospital, just sayin]
[haruto would just catch your germs.]
[im making udon today btw]
Kaito scowls, but the udon is a thing to look forward to.
Of course, he could ignore what Ryouga says, but causing Haruto to have a fever seems like a really bad idea, so he doesn't.
Thirty minutes into lying in bed, Kaito gets his laptop out and challenges Mizael to a duel— what does Mizael even do? High school?— and gets accepted.
Mizael doesn't ask why he's not at work, because Mizael is mostly about dueling and so is Kaito.
The fun is short-lived though as two duels in, Mizael leaves ('Class is starting.') and Kaito is back to boredom and coughing and wondering how Haruto is doing.
(Kaito never realized how annoying being unproductive can be when you're alone.)
So he walks around the house, picks up clothes that Ryouga failed to pick up— because Ryouga can't do any chores that aren't cooking— puts them in the laundry and stares at his phone.
3:50 PM.
Fresh air, then.
He grabs a jacket— it's Ryouga's, but they wear the same size and what does it matter?— and sits down outside on the balcony.
Spots Christopher Arclight.
(Again.)
Kaito doesn't know if it's the fever or the fact that he hasn't thought about Chris as of recently, but he doesn't feel the need to go away, so he sits down anyway. "Will you stop stalking me anytime soon?"
Kaito smirks when he sees Chris' expression go from horror to trying to keep a straight face to looking at Kaito's hands which are still holding Kaito's phone.
"It's for family business."
"You'd think your dad would be smart enough to send Michael if that was the case."
Chris doesn't reply.
Then.
"I didn't know you liked purple."
"I didn't, either."
Not until recently, anyway, Kaito adds in his thoughts.
(Kaito is aware that he might just have gotten used to seeing purple everywhere.)
From Chris expression, Kaito can tell that it hurt even without him saying it. He doesn't particularly feel in any way about that.
Because Kaito didn't do it to piss Chris off.
He coughs. "So, what do you still want here? Michael isn't in the shop, if that's what it's about."
"Then where is he?" Chris bites his lip nervously, and Kaito can tell something is up, because Chris usually doesn't let it show that much.
"Did he run away?" Kaito wouldn't be surprised. Yuuma did mention that Michael had been crashing at his place a lot lately.
Chris nods only slightly.
Kaito goes on, "He's fine. He's probably just sick of what you guys are doing. He'll come back if you wait." Because Kaito is a lot of things, maybe even slightly bitter still, but he isn't cruel.
"You won't tell me where he is?"
"So you can pester him into helping out with that childish revenge? No."
Chris scowls. Kaito doesn't care.
If you care about your brother, you'll leave it at that.
Kaito's phone vibrates.
[LINE | one new message from Ryouga | less than one minute ago]
Kaito gasps, because it's a photo, and not just any photo— it's Haruto, grinning and sitting on the edge of a hospital bed belonging to a person who Kaito can only assume is Ryouga's twin sister.
Another message arrives right after.
[he's fine, stop worrying]
Kaito feels himself smiling.
He texts back, [Good.]
(Kaito and saying 'thanks' doesn't work well together.)
[he said you have to take your meds if he has to take his, too]
[Already took them.]
Kaito looks up from his phone, just to see Chris turning around and going his own way.
It doesn't really matter, because Chris came here for stalking or getting Michael or whatever anyway, Kaito figures.
And since Chris didn't ask any more about Michael's whereabouts, maybe he's learnt a thing, who knows.
This will resolve itself on its own eventually.
Kaito looks back at his phone.
[i also finally got around to buying the c103]
[Nice.]
[anyway i w]
A few seconds of silence, then a slightly blurry picture of Ryouga, apparently reaching for the phone.
His expression is priceless.
Kaito laughs, because it's not the first time Haruto takes someone's phone away.
[Nii-san, send us a photo, too (･ω
Kaito sighs, angles his phone so this looks at least somewhat presentable, takes a photo, hits send. (He must look awful with that reddish nose and the bed hair, but it's not like it matters with those two.)
With a bit delay,
[purple looks weird on you] [(i got my phone back)] [haruto says you should go back to bed]
[Anyway, I'm gonna print out the form now.]
[ah because im moving in?]
[Yeah.]
[alright. okay i g2g now, shop & all]
[If it's too crowded, I can come and help out.] Kaito is bored to death.
[you can stay and watch the house]
[What?]
[you heard me]
Asshole.
So Kaito goes and prints out the form, stares at Ryouga's embarrassing bass guitar, tries to do something about the endless boredom that comes from lack of productivity and interaction.
(He settles for doing some card orders for the shop online, since Ryouga is guaranteed to forget.)
Kaito is in the kitchen and making tea when Ryouga comes home an hour early.
"Are you a workaholic or something?"
"What?"
"You did all the orders for the new boosters and structure decks."
"You'd just forget."
Ryouga scowls in response and proceeds to start preparing the udon.
Kaito smirks.
(Kaito hasn't eaten yet. The way Ryouga looks at him makes it obvious that he knows.)
There's a bit of silence in which it's just the sound of the dishes, the boiling water and Ryouga idly humming, then. "Haruto has been visiting her."
"Your sister?" Kaito had mentioned Ryouga at some point during the last weeks, that's for sure, but he's surprised Haruto actually knew about his sister.
"Yeah. He overheard the nurses saying her recovery is going as expected."
Kaito hears relief in Ryouga's voice. "I see."
They move to the living room to eat, Kaito downs some more meds under Ryouga's supervision ('I promised Haruto to make sure you take them') and they continue where they left off with Duel Monsters.
Ryouga yawns. "By the way. Did you actually finish high school?"
Kaito figures Haruto might've talked a lot, and he shrugs. "Yeah. I just finished early since I was homeschooled. But right after I came here, so."
"No uni for you then?"
"Nah. This is pretty good, too, anyway." 'This' can mean a lot of things. Kaito holds the bowl and appreciates the warmth. "What about you?" With how this conversation is going and how Ryouga is behaving, Kaito doubts the accuracy of the database.
"Dropped out."
"Ah. Just stopped going?"
"Yeah, didn't have the nerve for the documents."
Kaito chooses to not ask about any possibly existing legal guardians or parents. "Mr. Heartland always needs people, so."
Ryouga nods, the corner of his mouth turning up ever so slightly.
As time goes on and they finish their food, Ryouga changes his position and pulls his feet up on the couch, grabs a blanket and puts it over his knees.
Kaito pulls a bit on the blanket; Ryouga scowls and motions for him to move closer.
So Kaito mimics Ryouga's position, scoots closer and gets his share of the blanket.
(This is what happens if communication is not your forte.)
For a bit, Kaito looks at Ryouga's hands- a habit from dueling. Then. "You're missing one ring."
"I gave Rio the other. Told myself I'd give it back to her once I have Number C103."
"I see."
And Kaito doesn't really mind Ryouga idly dropping his head on Kaito's shoulder, outside of—
"Still too spiky."
"Stop complaining."
Kaito ruffles through Ryouga's hair and smirks. "Better."
"Tch."
It's when they go to bed that evening that Kaito notices for the first time— actively, anyway— that a lot has changed.
Maybe it's the familiarity, but Ryouga is more talkative than before, doesn't turn away when either of them undresses anymore, and maybe Kaito should stop staring at Ryouga before—
"What?" Ryouga raises an eyebrow, and the situation is kind of weird because Kaito has been idly staring at Ryouga's collarbone and Ryouga has just stopped undressing mid-motion.
Kaito opens his mouth to say something witty, but there's nothing, so he closes it again.
Then Ryouga smirks. "Are you sure you aren't hitting on me?"
"I could ask you the same."
That retort seemed to work, because Ryouga scowls and goes back to changing into his shark-themed pajamas.
Still embarrassing.