Hinoka smiles at him the moment he steps into the room, a smug grin that does nothing to set Takumi at ease. He frowns, opening his mouth to question her, but Hinoka beats him to the punch.
"Mikoto, can you and Sakura get me something from the cafeteria? The nurse didn't bring me a huge breakfast and sitting here has made me… hungry." Takumi knows his sister can feel the heat of his glare through all the bullshit she's spouting, but Sakura just nods excitedly, already bouncing on the balls of her feet. Mikoto just raises an eyebrow as she turns from the peonies that she's arranged in the vase. Takumi knows that she knows Hinoka's bullshitting the whole thing by the unimpressed look Mikoto gives her, but she relents nevertheless.
"Is there anything for lunch that you want in particular?" She asks, and Hinoka taps her chin in mock contemplation. Takumi notes, rather quickly, that she's got an IV drip stuck in her hand. Her eyes dart up to the ceiling, then over to her nightstand where the peonies sit in their vase, then finally back to Mikoto.
"Some sort of warm curry would be nice." Hinoka says at last, laying back into her pillows. "With extra spice too. The food here is so bland." She sticks out her tongue in disgust, and Mikoto rolls her eyes fondly, with a smile plastered to her lips.
"Come now Sakura, 'Princess' Hinoka would like some lunch." Mikoto says as she starts for the door, and Takumi steps to Hinoka's bedside to let her through. Sakura follows her shortly after, chirping about something Takumi can't hear nor care about. For in front of him is his sister, pale and sweaty and smiling softly up at him from her place among the sheets.
"It's good to finally see you again." Her hand glides up to ruffle his hair, and he lowers his head so she can. "I thought you might've been avoiding your big sister, but I know that's not the case." Takumi frowns, but Hinoka's hand caresses his cheek with her thumb. "Now pull up a chair and sit. It's more comfy that way." She slaps his cheek lightly, and Takumi does as told, grabbing one of the chairs from its place against the wall to pull it up to her bedside.
Hinoka's smile has morphed again, back into her smug grin that made him uneasy in the beginning. "So, Takumi, the man of the hour." She grabs his hand quickly, squeezing it softly as she rests their hands on her stomach. "I've been hearing some interesting rumors about you." Takumi perks up, and so does Kamui from his place by the door.
"Uh, what?" Takumi swallows down his unease as Hinoka tightens her grip on his hand. She motions for Kamui to sit on the other side of her bed, and he quickly obliges.
"Rumors?" Kamui asks as he pulls up a chair to the other side of Hinoka, interest sufficiently piqued if Takumi can tell from his raised eyebrows and gleaming eyes.
"Azama told me about your little crush." The morning comes back to him in flashes, and his jaw slacks as his heart hammers again his ribcage. The smell of smoke, the taste of bitters on his tongue, the relief of letting loose about his feelings, and, if only briefly, he remembers the warmth of Leo's hand in his hair from long ago. His cheeks color in shame as he dares sneak a look across the bed at his brother, where Kamui's eyes look ready to pop right out of his head.
Takumi can feel his stomach drop as his brother's eyes turn on him, incredulous. "Crush?" Kamui sputters, and Hinoka twists, stretching out her arm to grasp Kamui's hand as well. "You have to tell me now!"
"No. No, no, no. Hinoka, please don't. Please don't say anything, for fucks sake." Takumi covers his face with his hand, trying his damnedest to avoid Kamui's piercing gaze. "Hinoka, please."
"Loose lips sink ships, my dear brother! But how romantic and tragic! Unrequited love!" Takumi's gut bubbling with something akin to embarrassment. He feels like throwing up.
"I don't have a crush on him!" Takumi cries, trying to hide his reddened face by planting it into the sheets at Hinoka's side. "I-It's not like that at all!" Hinoka's hand strokes his hair back, attempting to coax him into looking at her, but he doesn't budge. But her hand is firm as she buries it under his chin, tilting his head up to meet her eyes. They're so full of life and confidence and spirit. Her smile is blinding.
"It's okay, young padawan. It's gay culture to have a crush on your roommate. You wouldn't be sufficiently gay if you didn't fall in love with a straight man at least once. Subaki notwithstanding." Takumi groans, looking away. Subaki was nothing more than mere teenage infatuation, and he would appreciate it greatly if people would stop bringing it up. One night of embarrassment and needless flirting was more than enough of the narcissistic prick.
But Kamui is still sitting at the other side of the bed, dumbfounded. He blinks once, twice, and then Takumi can't bear to meet his gaze again as his brother processes the information. "What?!" He shrieks, standing up so fast that he knocks the chair over. "You have a crush on Leo? Why didn't you tell me!" Takumi's mouth draws into a stiff line, pointedly looking at the sheets, the white walls, the flowers they'd brought, anything but his brother who was so desperately vying for his attention.
"You bet your ass he does" Hinoka laughs, loud and booming and enough to cut through the haze of Takumi's hearing. "But alas, Azama has told me that the object of Takumi's affections is a straight man. Unless?" Ah, that's right, Leo's straight, probably as straight as they come. He exhales, long and tired, as he thinks about how he's lost his chance with Leo before he even had a chance. There's no way a man like Leo could ever be anything but straight, Takumi's luck just purely sucks.
But when he turns back to his siblings, Hinoka waggles her eyebrows at him, like she's on to something, and Kamui scoffs.
"Leo's pretty not straight. At all." Kamui says, and he says it with such confidence that it gives Takumi pause. "You like Leo right? That's who you're talking about?" Takumi hesitates for a brief moment, scowling. His fist clenches around Hinoka's hand tightly, before he nods his head.
"Is that bad?" Takumi asks solemnly. "I feel like it might be bad to fall for your roommate."
"No, it's not a bad thing at all." Kamui's smile relieves him somewhat, bringing him down from his agitated high. "In fact, I think it's rather natural to fall in love with someone who you spend a lot of time with. Especially if you're living together."
"I never said love! Love is not on the table right now!" Takumi's cheeks go red again. Hinoka squeezes his hand, and he looks to her brilliant smile.
"Regardless of how you want to classify your feelings right now, him not being straight means that you have a chance! So instead of blowing this chance, you should just blow him!" She tops off her pep talk with a wink and a smirk. Takumi doesn't think it's possible for his cheeks to get any redder.
"By the way.." He starts, trying to will the blush from his face. "What exactly do you mean he's not straight?" Kamui's eyes light up.
"He's bi, very bi." Kamui shrugs with a smile. Takumi's about to question that statement before Kamui continues. "Does this mean I can be a matchmaker for the two of you? Please let me be the matchmaker! I'll be the best matchmaker ever!"
Takumi's about to retort before Hinoka butts in with a shout. "Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match!" And now it's too late. If there's one thing that binds Kamui and Hinoka, it's their mutual love of musicals.
"FIND ME A FIND!" Kamui shouts, and Takumi buries his head back in the sheets.
"CATCH ME A CATCH!" They shout in unison, and Takumi groans before a calm voice cuts through the awful harmonization.
"Goodness, I'm gone for ten minutes and you three are already getting noise violations?" Mikoto smiles from her place in the doorway, and Sakura shuffles in behind, holding tight to a tray of steaming curry.
"In my defense, it was them and not me." Takumi says, moving back from the bed to allow Sakura to place the tray of food in front of Hinoka.
She says a little prayer before reaching for her spoon, but pauses before touching the curry on her plate. Takumi raises an eyebrow from the chair he sits in as Hinoka turns to him.
"Go get 'em tiger!" She whispers playfully. His cheeks burn red.
It's early evening by the time they leave, but one question has stuck in his mind. Mikoto and Sakura are far enough ahead of them in the halls to keep this conversation between the two of them.
"Kamui." He says quietly, just loud enough to get his brother's attention. Kamui turns to look back at him curiously. "How do you know that he's bi?"
"Leo?" Takumi nods, trying his best to look anywhere but at his brother, but Kamui smiles in a way that's meant to be reassuring. "He commented on the bi pride flag I have in my room, and then he asked me where he could get one." Kamui says, and then makes a disgusted face as he continues. "Then he complained about Dr. Shura being too hot, with a bunch of extra details that I really didn't need to know." That's fair, Takumi thinks. Dr. Shura is unfairly hot for a middle-aged man. Takumi wouldn't mind an otter like that around him at any given time of the day, but now's not the time to think of Dr. Shura.
Takumi sighs, and something bubbles up from his gut again. It takes him a moment to place it, but he's.. excited. This could happen, he has a chance now. "Fuck.. Alright, I guess this is for real now."
"It's always been real, Takumi. You just didn't know." Kamui's right. Leo's been bi this whole time, actually bi. He's attracted to guys, and he's been attracted to guys since the moment Takumi bumped into him in the hallway. He's got a shot, he can really make this happen. Kamui interrupts his internal monologue with a snort and a grin. "Soooo… matchmaking?"
"No. No matchmaking." Takumi says, with what he hopes sounds like finality. "I want to do this right. I'm gonna do this right." Kamui opens his mouth to retort, but Takumi's phone dings from his pocket. When he checks the sender, he can't help the derisive snort that comes out of his nose. "Speak of the devil." He opens his phone to three consecutive messages from Leo.
leo astarot (4:58 PM): I've certainly been better, but haven't we all?
leo astarot (4:58 PM): Question: Do you like dogs?
leo astarot (4:58 PM): Or most specifically, do you like pictures of dogs?
He's quick to type out a response, cheeks burning as Kamui stares at him knowingly.
Takumi (4:58 PM): I'm usually more of a cat person, but dogs are good too. Why?
Leo immediately sends him eight pictures of his dog (a Nohrian Shepherd by the looks of it), including two blurry selfies with said dog. They make Leo's face look even more round than usual and the angle is off but the thought behind it makes Takumi squirm.
"Kamui, I can't. He sent me pictures of his dog." Takumi whines. "Ugh, it's too cute."
"Can I see?" Kamui asks, and Takumi hands his phone over without a second thought. It's a moment before the telltale clicks of typing and the quick swoosh of a sent message, and Takumi freezes. "Kamui?" His heart stops in his chest as he looks up to meet Kamui's smirking gaze. "What the fuck did you do."
"A favor." He says, depositing Takumi's phone back into his hand and turning to catch up to Mikoto. "I am the matchmaker after all."
His phone is cold in his grip as he reads the message Kamui sent to Leo once over, panic rising in his chest.
Takumi (5:01 PM): Your dog is soooo cute, but not as cute as you! (´・ω・`)
"Oh fuck."
A/N: oh boy this is a lil late, but here it is. I haven't really proofread it a lot so sorry if there are any errors but i really just like... want to get into the next part because it's totally going to be more interesting to write.
I also have notes about this chapter if anyones interested:
- Nohrian Shepherd's are the equivalent of Australian Shepherd, and Leo's is named Brynhildr because that's just what i'm doing now.
- Brynhildr is best girl
- Leo is smart, and knows that Kamui sent that message. Takumi is unaware that he knows.
- Shura is damn hot and anyone who disagrees has to leave me a comment and tell me im wrong :)
- Sakura is getting lines next chapter and I can't wait