Ai spots Itsuki talking to Haruka in one of the trailing halls inside of Shining Agency, animated and bubbly. Her hair is tied up in a neat braid, and Haruka is laughing and nodding along at whatever she's saying. The closer he gets, the more clear it becomes that they're talking about composing. It's charming, seeing them exchange advice and build on each other's ideas.
Ai is about to pass them by when Itsuki says, "I have a really good falsetto though, and yours is Ai-chan here!" With that, she throws her arm out to wrap around Ai's middle and tug Ai in. Ai's lips twitch up and he drapes his arm across her back, squeezing her shoulder.
"Good morning Itsuki, Nanami." he says kindly.
"Good morning Mikaze!" Haruka says happily.
"Hey jerkface." Itsuki says, hugging him tighter. "You haven't hung out with me since you've gotten back from the beach."
"It's been busy."
Itsuki looks up at Ai, really looks, and she frowns.
Ah, so she can tell. Ai hugs her a little tighter in assurance.
"I was telling Haru-chan here that high ranges can be fun to play with. Have you ever heard Ai sing Winter Blossom live?" she asks, and Haruka shakes her head.
"No, I don't think so! But I've heard the recordings."
"Doesn't do it justice." Itsuki says proudly, and Ai feels his chest go warm. "And now that he has more practice and comfort with his high scales, it's even lovelier."
"Thank you," Ai says softly. "But it wouldn't be what it is today without your efforts, Itsuki, so thank you for composing for me."
"He's such a charmer when he wants to be." Itsuki teases, and Haruka laughs with a nod. "Do you mind singing for us?"
"Never." Ai says without having to think. "I can't promise it will be up to your expectations as I wasn't prepared to sing yet."
"Don't worry Mikaze," Haruka assures. "Your singing is always amazing!"
"Let's steal a practice room for a bit." Itsuki says, taking Haruka's hand and dragging them both down the hall.
When they find an empty one, Itsuki is off like a shot, getting the piano all ready and checking if it was tuned. Haruka and Ai follow at a more sedate pace, watching Itsuki's quick, precise movements with fascination.
"Yoshino is so. . ." Haruka starts, trying to pick out a good word to describe Itsuki.
"Obnoxious." Ai teases, loud enough to make Itsuki aware of him. "Even worse when tax season approaches."
"M-Mikaze!"
"Learned from the best, jerkface." she replies with a laugh. "Come sit with me Haru!"
Haruka complies with a nervous titter, fixing her skirt so that it's not too intrusive on the bench. She's turned to face Ai, looking open and kind, and Ai is struck suddenly with a realization: that's why people loved Haruka so much. She was always there, a kindness when the world was playing cruel games. If Ai wasn't already in love he might just be enchanted with her.
He just smiles at the thought and sings when Itsuki plays.
"Everytime I hear that song it gets more heartbreaking." Itsuki says when they're done.
"I'm always a little heartbroken." Ai admits before bowing. "I have to leave now, but thank you for having me."
Ai exits with a wave and Haruka can't quite make herself speak. Itsuki sighs and slumps against her.
"He's so sad." Haruka whispers faintly.
"I know." Itsuki replies. "But. . . he's better than before. I'm gonna cheer him on 'til he smiles like he means it."
Haruka smiles at Itsuki, turning towards her.
"You two are close, huh?" she asks.
"Kind of. We're definitely friends." Itsuki replies.
"Then I think you two will be fine," Haruka says sincerely. "Because I'm sure support is what Mikaze needs now."
"You can't fix all of men's problems." Itsuki says with a mockingly sage voice, and Haruka laughs.
"That's what Tomo says too, but I don't see it like that. It's just refreshing to see people grow with a little help. So I hope he doesn't stay sad for long."
Itsuki hums thoughtfully, playing a few notes in a loose melody. Haruka hesitates for a moment before playing on her end of the scale, trying to compliment Itsuki's lazy rhythm, and before long they're building an impromptu song with no end in sight. It's nice, hearing it fill up and bloom between little snippets of conversation, and Itsuki sees what Haruka means.
The sadness doesn't last too long.
"You're kidding!" Ai yells the moment Ranmaru opens the door for him one morning, walking in as if he owned the place. After how much time he spent there and how much he'd organized, he felt a little entitled to the space. "You're an idiot and you're kidding, because you are not quitting rock."
"Who told you that?" Ranmaru asks, closing and locking the door; trying to get Ai out once he's decided is like trying to stop the ocean from churning.
"Who cares who told me, except that it should've been you, as a joke."
"I need to dedicate myself to Quartet Night if this is going to work." Ranmaru says gruffly, walking around Ai into the kitchen. Ai follows him right on inside, a sort of soft anger cutting through his expression. "I can't be split."
"Rock is a part of who you are!" Ai insists, stopping just inside the threshold. "You're cutting your own arm off."
"I'm making space."
"You're making a mistake."
Ranmaru huffs deep inside his chest, slamming his water bottle into the counter. He has to remind himself to not look at Ai, instead going to grab his some god-awful-but-efficient protein powder from a cabinet.
"Ranmaru," Ai says. "Nobody is asking you to give up a part of yourself for this band. Nobody would ever ask that of you. Don't change yourself for this."
No answer. Ai slowly shuffles over to Ranmaru, hand dropping against Ranmaru's side. It's easy to see that the anger was wholly drained out of him, Ai unused to maintaining any level of outward antagonism. This, Ranmaru was used to; a quiet, thoughtful melancholy that tinged every word.
"This is coming from a selfish part of me, but I don't want you to change like that." Ai murmurs, voice catching near the end. "So much has been going on, and now I have to watch you hurt yourself, and I really can't stand it. If I can convince you in any way to just. . . I don't know, I just can't watch you suffer. You love rock, more than you love anything else, and I want to see that love stay. It's important to you, and that makes it important to me that you have it. Don't. . . don't cut yourself off, don't punish yourself, because you haven't done anything wrong."
With that, Ai leans his forehead against Ranmaru's shoulder, a warm weight against his side. It's a mirror to every time Ai had borrowed strength from Ranmaru, except now Ai is trying to pour it all back into him; there's so little after all the suffering, but Ai is nothing if not determined.
"You're wrong." Ranmaru says finally, not looking over. "I do love someone more than rock."
"Will you lose them if you don't let go of rock?" Ai asks softly, wrapping his arms around Ranmaru securely. "Because if the answer is yes, they don't deserve you. If they can't care about all of you, then they shouldn't be a part of your life."
Don't look, don't look, don't look, Ranmaru thinks futilely, because he's already turning towards Ai. Ai lifts his head, loosening his grip but not letting go as he looks up at Ranmaru. He still looks determined, but there's a soft, foggy look on top of it. Ranmaru cups either side of Ai's face gently, and the little sigh Ai let's out melts away any resolve Ranmaru had left.
He's so fucking pretty, so kind despite how rough Ranmaru was with him, tough as nails when he needed to be, and Ranmaru is so busy waxing fucking poetic in his head that Ai closes his eyes peacefully. He looks comfortable there, comfortable in Ranmaru's space, almost like he knows he's carved himself a little spot in Ranmaru's heart.
"Ran?" he asks, quiet and unobtrusive.
"I really," Ranmaru starts, running his thumb across Ai's cheek. "Really want to kiss you right now. I doubt that's the normal reaction to getting yelled at."
Ai blushes under Ranmaru's hands, but he doesn't open his eyes. He still looks comfortable pressed against him, like this is where he belongs, and all the fucking turmoil of the last few days melts away under the weight of how much he wants to kiss Ai.
(Because this is where he belongs, some part of Ranmaru's mind supplies, He's always belonged here.)
It's a disgustingly sappy thought but any rancor he could have for it disappears when Ai says, "then kiss me" as if it's the simplest thing in the world.
Their first kiss is overwhelmingly gentle. Ai shivers and presses closer and Ranmaru has the faint thought of how the hell am I supposed to stop after feeling that? So he doesn't, and Ai is all too pleased to follow, and when they finally do break apart, the look Ai had on had solidified to a dreaminess Ranmaru was too pleased to bear. He drops his arms to hug Ai properly instead.
"This. . . is not how I expected this to go." Ai says after a moment, pensive as always.
"Me neither, but here we are."
That makes Ai laugh a little, lips curling up. He drops his head to Ranmaru's shoulder, nuzzling in comfortingly; he's slowly, nice and slowly, turning a bright pink.
"Odd things happen when I'm brave." Ai whispers. "I came here to be selfish and instead I was rewarded for it."
"You have a weird definition of selfish," Ranmaru says with a huff. "Yeah, maybe you came here because you're afraid, but you did it for me."
"I'd do a lot for you." Ai confesses, refusing to look up. If he looked up right then, he'd probably short circuit with embarrassment. "Because you've done so much for me. And I didn't get it, because why do things for someone who is so hollow. . . ? That emptiness is what I'm afraid is going to happen to you if you give up something you love so much."
Taking a deep breath, Ai leans back to face Ranmaru properly, hot and red and determined. It's the most emotion he's shown since their stint to the beach. He hesitantly brings his hands up to Ranmaru's cheeks, taking in an even deeper breath.
"I can never tell you what to do. But, you are Ranmaru Kurosaki. You're the love of rock and roll, your cooking, your talented voice, your artistic abilities, your mean tongue and kind heart and wild personality. And you're also Quartet Night, you're a friend, you're a mentor. You are all of that, and you don't ever have to give up any of it because you're determined and whole; you're you, and that matters. You're everything you need to be. That's something being around you has taught me; you are everything inside of you, and to see you try and carve some of that out is. . . is heartbreaking.
"I just lost possibly the most important part of who I was, but that's not true. I had propped myself on somebody else, and I hadn't even thought of it until I met you- someone so unbearably comfortable with being yourself that I realized I was never being myself. So all I can ask of you, if you'll allow the selfishness, is to keep being you. If you can do that, then I'll always know that maybe I can be me too someday."
Ai laughs nervously, looking at the ceiling a little because that laser focus look always makes him more shy than usual.
"Just be you. Don't be anyone but you."
With that, Ai kisses Ranmaru's cheek.
"And if being you involves kissing me, I wouldn't be opposed." he whispers, feeling a curl of something more pleasant but much stronger than embarrassment unfurl in him.
"Oh good," Ranmaru says with palpable relief, turning to press Ai against the counter. "Tell me I have time to makeout with you, because you just ticked all my boxes back there."
"An hour and a half, because I have to get ready soon for a filming at 12 and you have an interview at 1:30." Ai breathes out, fingers curling into the collar of Ranmaru's shirt.
"You're just full of good news."