'Do you think Yamato is uncomfortable with you sitting on me like this?'

Taichi's hands slide up Takeru's waist just a little, threatening to pull his t-shirt higher. Takeru laughs, wriggling. 'He'll never bring it up, even if he is. It's too mortifying for him to deal with. And anyway, no one else seems to care.'

They've all had hectic weeks; endless assignments and projects and deadlines had been the focal point of all of their months, so Yamato had decided that this sunny day would be a good one for them all to take off from their study schedules - hence the small shindig at his flat. This is the two-bedroom that Yamato now has for himself; Taichi wonders how long Takeru will be able to continue convincing his parents he also lives there for. Taichi briefly imagines he and Sora also living here, the four of them existing like some weird family unit. Like that American show Friends. The place is aided by the fact that Yamato spent some of his band money on the furnishing. He's got really good speakers.

A few beers and some barbecue later, they're all relaxing at the television, playing video games and resting and chatting. Taichi and Takeru are sat on their own on a sofa in the corner, like they are on their own planet.

'Haha, maybe you're right.'

'I'm always right baby.' Takeru says with a confident giggle.

'Hey,' Yamato grouses, turning his wii-wheel violently, 'No funny business you two...'

The couple snicker; maybe Yamato has gotten comfortable with them after all. They know the reason Yamato is sometimes uncomfortable has nothing to do with their being gay. Takeru had been worried, but they understood now that it was more the fact of their being his brother and one of his best friends that got to Yamato sometimes. Though, it helps that they've been together for a while now.

Before Takeru can give the sharp reply he's thought of, Mimi says, 'If you weren't so focused on your brother sitting in his boyfriend's lap like he's supposed to, maybe you'd be winning!'

'Shut up!' Yamato cries, as his Bowser spins out of control again.

Jyou and Sora, who are fourth as Toadette and first as Yoshi ('He's not even good, Sora!' 'I don't know how any of the characters play, ok?! I just picked him 'cause he's cute!') can only jeer in mocking delight. Mimi's Peach overtakes Yamato, leaving them in tenth and eleventh.

'Onii-san, you suck! Gimme your controller-'
'Back off!'
'I'm trying to help you-!'

Koushiro finally looks up from whatever he's working on, and teases bluntly, 'Takeru is helping your score just by fighting with you. How bad are you, Yamato?'

Mimi and Sora dissolve into roaring laughter (Jyou is too busy concentrating), and Yamato barks, 'Enough of this crap! After this, you're versing me Takeru and then we'll all see-'

'Takeru is so good he'll hang back just to hit you with projectiles for like the whole match, and still win.' Defends Taichi, feeling deservedly smug when Takeru squeezes his hand - he can already feel the synergy between them, determination to ruin Yamato's day.

As if he wasn't finding the game annoying enough, with the music and the unpredictability and the savagery that was his friends competing against him.

Sora crosses the finish line, and they cheer for her. This is her second time playing the game now, and she's killing it (Takeru didn't even need to teach her the Daisy Circuit shortcut, she found it on her own by accident). Takeru feels warm boosting someone's confidence like this. When he snuggles into Taichi's lap, Taichi can feel the content radiating. It's so fucking beautiful.

Sora gets up from the floor in front of Yamato's large tv where the players were all sat, passes her controller on to Takeru, and sits down beside them. 'I need a break from all this winning.'

Yamato growls, but doesn't say anything. Everyone but him is watching the screen with a wide cheeky grin.

'So... next game? Says Mimi, offering her controller to Koushiro, who takes it belatedly and shuts the lid of his laptop for once.

Jyou goes to hand his controller to Tai, but he is waved down. One hand sitting on the bare skin just above Takeru's waistline, Taichi declines, 'I'll play later. You go again.' Jyou shrugs and turns back to the tv.

Takeru bounces in his lap, just to let him know that he knows what Taichi is doing. What he is planning. He's giving his silent permission for Taichi to enjoy himself. The week has been really stressful - today is the first day in what feels like forever that they've even been able to spend the whole day together. They owed Yamato big time - if he hadn't insisted everyone be there, they might have gotten caught up in other things and wasted even more time being apart. Takeru was having way more fun pressed against his boyfriend and watching everyone play Mario Kart than he would have preparing for a final.

Taichi lifts his bottle and presses the cold glass against Takeru's neck for a second, making him yell and immediately squirm his way down to the floor. 'Tai'! Don't do that!'

Taichi laughs and says, 'You have to play with no distractions. Otherwise Yamato is going to have a temper tantrum.'

Yamato, who is setting up the next match, turns and actually chuckles with Taichi. 'Hey, it's good for writing lyrics! Fuel for the fire.' He says with a dark smile.

'I'll take your word for it.'

Despite Takeru's easy attitude, when the game begins he's all concentration. He forgot that Koushiro was a video game god. Jyou probably would be too, if he had more time on his hands. They're all so busy... Taichi feels bad for wanting so many stolen moments with Takeru when he's also missed his friends.

'Hey, I think we're out of snacks.' Says Mimi, head buried in Yamato's pantry like she owns the place.

Behind her, by the fridge, Sora says, 'And we have no more wine.'

Yamato, who is as it turns out not above shoving Takeru as they play, quips, 'And whose fault is that?'

'Yours. You should've stocked up.'

Yamato turns and, with a leer, says, 'I'm already stocked, baby, you know that-'

'EW!'
'Oh my god, I think I pictured it-'
'Takeru cover your ears-!'
'It's too late! Oh, the trauma...'
'Yamato-san you dirty dirty man!' Mimi finishes, wide-mouth smile.

'What!' He cries, concentration lost as his Bowser drives off the edge of the track (Koushiro picks Rainbow Road every fucking time). 'Sora and I are together so I can flirt however I want-'

'That's not flirting.' Sora says, red-faced from amusement and a little shame. 'Why can't you be more like your brother. He never makes dick puns.'

'There's so much dick in that relationship he doesn't have to.'

'Onii-san, what. The fuck...?'

Taichi stands up with a jump and says diplomatically, 'I'll take the girls shopping shall I?'

Mimi and Sora cheer Tai as they grab their bags. They leave their coats - the sun is still out and it's cool enough that Taichi might drive with the hood down.

Jyou remarks, 'Any excuse to get your car out, huh?'

'You know it!' He says, jingling the keys and opening the door for Mimi and Sora. Mimi crows 'Such a gentlemen! Sora, I don't know how you put up with-'

'GET OUT MIMI!'

Yamato's growling and howling is clapped silent by the slam of the door as the trio slip down the hallway. Taichi can't wait to feel the sunset on his face, and listen to pop music in his car (he hides the fact that he's more basic than his boyfriend by claiming Takeru sets the station; this is the only time Taichi ever specifically feels himself not being straight).

Mimi says offhandedly, 'Yamato-san is a big baby!'

'He's been really stressed out lately...' Sora says, suddenly awkward. Taichi gets it, though; everyone has been a little distant, stuck into their other responsibilities like concrete. He especially - he sympathises with Takeru, who must feel it more since he's concentrating little on his studies. Taichi is sometimes jealous of that ability of Takeru's, to have raw talent. Just like that.

Wondering why Takeru is so insecure, he pads out under the purple and orange sky, soles grinding on the gravel of the tarmac. 'So who wants to ride shotgun-?'

'Taichi! Wait! Mimi wants to show us something.'

Taichi halts, and turns, bemused. What could it be?

'I found this joint in Yamato's bedside cabinet drawer. It's not rolled up very well is it?'

'Mimi! That's private, you can't just-'

'And I liked the set of panties you keep in there, Sora-chan. Very nice choice.'

'Mimi!' Taichi scolds, stilling both of the girls. 'What are you doing with that? Don't go through people's shit!'

He didn't realise Sora might have been alluding to that. This puts the whole day into a new perspective - did Yamato have a motive to seeing them all like this? Was... was he-?

'Taichi, I'm sure she didn't mean-'

'Wait, why does it matter? Yamato is super against smoking weed, and yet he has this-?'

'He has it for his epilepsy! That's why. And he hates smoking it! It's not funny Mimi. I hope he doesn't notice it's missing while we're gone. Sneak it back where you found it when we're back!'

'I... I thought he was better now...?-'

'He had another seizure just under two weeks ago. And he hadn't had them in ages before that. That's kinda why we haven't been clubbing in a while.' Sora fills in.

'So don't do that again. And forget you saw it.' He finishes, making a mental note to watch Yamato more closely once they're back, and to snatch the controllers off him so that he can take a break without drawing too much attention to himself. He knows that kind of thing gives Yamato anxiety - he's just like his little brother sometimes.

Mimi apologises, and they get back to what they were doing. The flash of light and heat on Taichi's face as he walks out from under the shadow of the building is still just as satisfying as he'd been hoping it was going to be. The hood of his new car (his dad paid for most of it, but he contributed) comes down without fuss, and the girls enjoy the dusk air whipping through their hair.

'What's on the list again?'

'We didn't bring a list.' Says Mimi.

'We didn't bring our wallets either.' Sora adds, pulling laughter out of Taichi.

'Oh it's like that, is it? And what if I didn't have mine on me?'

'You don't, 'cause...' Says Sora, pulling out his wallet from her pocket. '...I have it.'

'Hey!' He says, smacking her shoulder and snatching his wallet back, braking slightly as he takes a hand off the wheel to do so. But he can't help the smile that tears across his face as he declares, 'You two are so fucking cheeky.'

Taichi waits in the car while the girls go in; he couldn't find parking, but nobody is around so he doesn't mind sitting and waiting. He can enjoy Taylor Swift in peace. It helps that within five or so minutes they're already on their way back, Sora carrying the shopping bag full of bottles and packets. Taichi imagines they must have looked like a very efficient whirlwind, to be done that quickly. He trusted them not to go overboard - it probably helps that they could only get what they could carry. Not to say they were weak, but... Mimi isn't exactly famous for being the most laborious of them.

He pops the trunk open, and Sora dumps the bag in the back before shutting the boot and climbing in. 'Alright! Let's go!' Mimi orders, and they're moving on.

Taichi used to always be the leader when they were kids; he was pretty bossy, and confident, and fucking moronic, but full of ideas and well-intended bullheadedness. He hadn't noticed it until Takeru had brought it to his attention, but it was true all the same; nowadays he was more laidback, sedated, less involved or attached (apparently) and more go-with-the-flow. Of course he still had his moments, but, Takeru complained once about having to 'hold his hand' and Taichi just hadn't felt right since. He didn't realise he'd undergone such a personality change - he doesn't always feel so meek. Annoyingly, it also irks him slightly that Takeru felt like bringing it up at all.

It's because he knows it's all so true.

If either of the girls notice that Taichi's use of the gas pedal is slightly more exaggerated, they don't mention it.

Taichi parks in a single swing ('That was so unnecessary, but so hot Taichi-san!'), sets about putting the hood back down, and grabs the bag out the back while the girls wait for him. Now, the sky has reached the golden hour - though it's peach and white and cyan and indigo all at once, the glow on their faces is orange to the point of almost being brown like a yellow shadow. Mimi already has her phone out and is making pouty faces into the camera. He sneaks a kiss on her cheek just as she clicks one - she giggles at the resultant picture, and immediately forwards it to him and to Takeru.

Taichi already has plans to make it his new smartphone wallpaper, just to mess with Takeru.

As they go up the lift, Sora says to Mimi, 'Your highlight is on point today, by the way.'

'Ugh, thanks, but I think I'm just sweaty to be honest.'

'Hashtag natural glow.'

'You look pretty good yourself you know, Taichi. And so does Takeru; doesn't he usually fall apart around exams?'

Taichi shrugs. 'He's coping by not caring at all this time, I think. He's not studying nearly as hard as he could. In all honesty... I'm a little worried. I don't know if I should say something.'

'Maybe not today anyway?' Sora suggests, and that sounds very fair to him. He doesn't even have any words to broach the topic with together yet.

'It's not your responsibility to change his work ethic, but you're more than obliged to give him a nudge in the right direction.' Says Mimi by way of explanation.

'I think he's just... experimenting with his psychology, you know? He's just trying a new strategy for coping under pressure. I'm willing to let him do his thing and just watch him go. My Takeru is so fucking good at getting things right on the first try it almost makes me mad.'

They're laughing, glowing, feeling refreshed from the trip that when they walk back in through the flat door, they radiate cool and easy-breezy. Mimi quickly goes off to replace what she took, and Tai heads straight through to the living area, where he spills the contents of the bag onto the sofa.

Takeru has seemingly given up on playing fair, and is lying on top of his brother who is too determined to win for once (especially now that he's in second place) to allow it to phase him. 'Takeru! Come on, play him for real-!'

'It doesn't matter, Yamato is going to win. I've just sent a blue shell.' Koushiro announces, shaking the wheel in his hands so that Princess Peach flips like crazy on her bike.

'Koushiro!' Jyou yells, having been in first place, 'I thought we had a deal!'

Takeru supplies, 'Fuck that!', And begins to play better, still squirming against Yamato to throw off his brother's game. It would almost be cute if he wasn't a college student. Taichi gives Takeru's hair a ruffle and his shoulder a squeeze before sitting behind him. Looking at the tv, he says jokingly, 'Koushiro, play nice...'

Takeru laughs, and defends, 'Chaos is half the fun in this game, Tai'.'

Fair play.